What is Said About 
 
 THE 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL 
 
 Experiment Station. 
 
 Opinionsofthe Press ANDTHE People.! 
 
 Published by Order of the 
 
 Board of AaTiculture. 
 
 ^-> 
 
 RALEIGH: 
 
 P. M. Hale and Edwards, Bkoughton & ( O., 
 
 State Printers and Binders. 
 
 1S<S0. 
 
What is Said About 
 
 THE 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL 
 
 Experiment Station. 
 
 Opinions of the Press and the People. 
 
 "-11 V - -T ■: , Published by Order of the 
 
 ''Board of Agriculture. 
 
 RALEIGH : 
 
 P. M. HALE, AND EDWAEDS, BROUGHTON & CO., 
 
 State Prmters and Binders. 
 
 1S80. 
 
Univ of north Oaxotoa 
 OCT 1 '^ ^93® 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 At a recent meeting of the Board of Agriculture, the 
 Chemist was ordered to place in the hands of the Finance 
 Committee such letters and newspapers as were on file at the 
 Station criticising and commenting on its work. The Com- 
 mittee were instructed to make a few selections from the 
 letters and to publish the same for distribution in the State. 
 Acting upon these instructions, the Finance Committee re- 
 spectfully submit the present pamphlet to the farmers of 
 North Carolina, with the hope that it will tend to increase 
 the usefulness of the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 The reasons which influenced the Board in ordering this 
 publication will be readily understood. It is absolutely 
 necessary to the usefulness of the Station that our farmers 
 should have full confidence in it. To secure this confidence 
 among the thousands who have had no opportunity of in- 
 specting the work or testing its accuracy for themselves, is 
 the reason for publishing the opinions of men who have had 
 the opportunity to judge of the value of the analyses, tests, 
 &c., or whose experience renders them competent to express 
 an opinion. 
 
 It is the desire of the Board of Agriculture that the Sta- 
 tion should continue to do much useful work for the farmers 
 of our State, in whose interest it was established. 
 
 THOS. M. HOLT, 
 WM. H. CHEEK, 
 Finance Committee. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C, Feb. 27th, 1880. 
 
Opinions of tlie Press and tlie People. 
 
 In a letter to President Battle, Gov. Jarvis writes as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Executive Department, 
 Raleigh, N. C, Feb. 2, 1880. 
 
 Whatever may be the criticisms upon the Department of 
 Agriculture, I believe it has done and is doing a good work 
 for the Agricultural interests of the State. The protection 
 it has given the farmer in the matter of worthless fertilizers 
 through the Experiment Station at Chapel Hill, is worth, in 
 my opinion, a hundred times all that has been spent. The 
 fidelity of Col. Polk in collecting the samples of these fertili- 
 zers, and the skill and im})artiality of Dr. Ledoux in ana- 
 lyzing them, entitles them both, if they had performed no 
 other work, to the thanks of the farmer. I greatly regret 
 losing Dr. Ledoux. His place will be hard to till. We look 
 mainly to you to get a good man for the position. 
 
 Thos. J. Jarvis. 
 
 New Haven, Ct., Dec. 16, 1879. 
 
 I find in my travels through your State that you have the 
 full confidence of the intelligent planters and dealers also, and I 
 think you have reason to be proud of your successful at- 
 tempt to establish a first class Experiment Station. I took 
 particular pains to ascertain the feelings of the planters and 
 heard not a word except in commendation of your work ; 
 
6 
 
 also expressions of gratification at your prompt and satis- 
 factory responses to letters they had written you for inform- 
 ation, &c. 
 
 H. L. Dudley, 
 
 President Quinnipiac Fertilizer Co. 
 
 Battleboro, N. C, Feb. 12, 1880. 
 
 I have just seen and read your " Annual Report of N. C. 
 Experiment Station " for 1879, and have obtained much 
 knowledge of commercial fertilizers of which I have here- 
 tofore been much in thetlark — a condition in which you 
 will find many farmers all over the land. I have bought 
 guanos and chemicals for years, at random, simply on testi- 
 mony of agents who offered them for sale. Now I think I 
 know more what I am buying, and by the analysis I am 
 enabled to secure the fertilizers most suited to my land. 
 
 John D. Bullock. 
 
 Enderly Stock Farm, 
 Charlotte, Feb. l&h, 1880. 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station has already accom- 
 plished a great and beneficial work for the agriculturists of 
 our State, and, if its future is not blighted by hostile legis- 
 lation, it is destined to become a power of itself sufficient to 
 protect us from those who deal in fraudulent fertilizers, 
 chemicals, seeds, &c. The Station simply turns the light 
 upon a fraudulent article so that he who runs may read : 
 " Fraud ! fraud ! " and if there be any so blind that he will 
 not see, he deserves to plant his crop " upon the sand." 
 
I hope the Station may continue its great and good woric 
 and I regret that " our Pioneer" has been called to other 
 tields. 
 
 8. B. Alexander. 
 
 Boston, Mass., Dec. 24, 1879. 
 
 Many thanks for your Annual Keport. It is a most ex- 
 cellent document, and did it not contain anything but your 
 table of Fertilizers, the State might well afford to pay for 
 the expenses of your department. 
 
 •Marshall P. Wilder. 
 
 White Hall, Ky., .Jan. 9, 1880. 
 
 Your Report for 1879 was duly received and read with 
 (jreat interest. We just begin to realize the idea that agri- 
 culture as a science and an art is even now in its infancy, 
 and that there is room in it for the ablest minds. Wishing 
 you continued success, I am truly, 
 
 Cassius M. Clay. 
 
 Ravenna, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1870. 
 
 It is a work (the Report) that I shall take great interest 
 in reading, and being President of both the Agricultural 
 and Horticultural Societies of this county, I shall endeavor 
 to have members of both Societies derive information from 
 the same. 
 
 Horace G. Beebe. 
 
LocKviLLE, N. C, Sept. 12, 1879. 
 I am deeply interested in your work, and am glad you 
 
 J. H. WiSSLER. 
 
 are making a success. 
 
 Lafayette College, 
 Easton, Pa., Sept. 19, 1879. 
 
 It (the Report) contains much valuable information and 
 should promote the interests of agriculture in other States as 
 well as in North Carolina. 
 
 Trail Green, (Prof.) 
 
 Washington, D. C, Sept. 20, 1879. 
 
 You are doing a vast amount of excellent work, and I 
 congratulate the people of North Carolina that they are push- 
 ing ahead so rapidly in the good work. 
 
 Peter Collier, 
 Chemist U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
 
 Raleigh, N. C, Sept. 22, 1879. 
 
 Accept my thanks for a copy of your very interesting and 
 instructive Report of the Experiment Station for the cur- 
 rent year. Upon its receipt I commenced its perusal, and 
 found the matter therein embraced treated in so practical 
 
9 
 
 and attractive a style, that I was unable to lay it aside until 
 I had given it a full examination. 
 
 Wm. R. Cox, (Judge). 
 
 Warrenton, N. C, Sept. 20, 1879. 
 
 Please accept my thanks for the valuable record of your in- 
 valuable Station received a few days ago with your compli- 
 ments. 
 
 W. J. White, 
 
 University of Rochester, Sept. 15. 
 
 You have placed me under special obligations in kindl} 
 sending me a copy of your excellent report. Such work as 
 you are doing must prove of inestimable value to your State. 
 I am sorry that the State of New York is 7iof sufficiently ad- 
 voMced to enable me to reciprocate your favor in kind. 
 
 A. A. Lattimore, 
 Professor of Chemistry. 
 
 Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 24, 1879. 
 
 I am much interested in your work and I trust that the 
 farmers of North Carolina will fully appreciate what is be- 
 ing done in their behalf. You have settled the value of 
 "soluble silica" in a most satisfactory manner, 
 
 Andrew S. McCreath, 
 Chemist Penn. Oeol. Survey. 
 
10 
 
 New York, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1879. 
 
 I regard it as a model Report. Especially is it valuable 
 to farmers for the practical manner in which it imparts in- 
 formation. 
 
 William Fullerton, (Judge). 
 
 Charleston, S. C, Feb. 14, 1880. 
 
 Accept my thanks for a copy of your "Annual Report of 
 the N. C. Experiment Station," a work which reflects mucli 
 credit upon the author. I have carefully looked through its 
 pages, and find everywhere the marks of conscientious labor 
 directed by scientific skill. 
 
 C. U. Shepard, Sr. 
 
 Peekskill, N. Y., Oct. 4, 1879. 
 
 Your Report for 1879 to hand. Accept my best thanks 
 for same. You seem to have done an immense amount of 
 work. 
 
 A. H. Elliott, Chemist. 
 
 Middletown, Conn. 
 
 Accept thanks for your very excellent Report for 1879. 
 Am glad to see evidence of so much activity and useful 
 \work. W. 0. Attwater, 
 
 ProJ. of Chemistry. 
 
11 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1879. 
 
 I am sure your publication will please and instruct me 
 very much ; and as for the great value of your undertaking, 
 the purpose of your Institution, its present and future pos- 
 sibilities, there seems to be an unlimited field for conferring 
 benefits — yea, great blessings upon your own and other 
 States. I hope that before many years pass, all the States 
 will have Experiment Stations endowed with fully as much 
 limit and authority as your Establishment seems to have. 
 
 Samuel B. Rice. 
 
 Philadeli'hia, Pa., Sept. G, 1879. 
 
 I have looked through it [the Report] and found it to be 
 unexpectedly interesting and valuable. I was especially 
 pleased with your comparative trials of Popplein's Silicated 
 Phosphate. I congratulate you upon the admirable charac- 
 ter of your work. 
 
 Wm. U. Wahl, 
 Editor Engineering and Mining Journal. 
 
 New York, N. Y., Sept. 17, 1879. 
 
 You must have done a " pile " of work since your Direc- 
 torship began in North Carolina. 
 
 Chas. M. Stillwell, Chemist. 
 
12 
 
 Littleton, N. C, Sept. 12, 1879. 
 
 Will you do me the kindness to send me a copy of the 
 Annual Report of the North Carolina Experiment Station 
 for 1879? I know of but one in this vicinity and that is 
 esteemed very highly ; and it is impossible for all to read 
 that one. 
 
 W. F. Young. 
 
 New Haven, Ct., July 10, 1879. 
 
 The samples of Cow Pea are received. They are accept- 
 able as illustrating a crop of so much value to Southern 
 Agriculture. I shall be glad to receive your Report, and 
 have none but pleasant anticipation in its perusal. I fully 
 appreciate your difficulties in conducting the Experiment 
 Station at Chapel Hill ; and, so far as I am am able to judge, 
 you have done wisely and well. I assure you of my hearty 
 sympathy and best wishes. Any reciprocation of your kind- 
 ness in supplying me with these samples, that you can sug- 
 gest, it would give me pleasure to make. 
 
 S. W. Johnson, 
 Director Ct. Experiment Station. 
 
 Tarboro, N. C, Sept. 25, 1879. 
 
 I thank you for your manly defence of the Station at 
 Chapel Hill. I am sure the Eastern portion of North Caro- 
 lina are pleased with the Station under your management. 
 
 J. R. Thigpen. 
 
13 
 
 PouGHKEEPsiE, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1880. 
 
 The Annual Report %of the North Carolina Agricultural 
 Experiment Station, for 1879, is a document that will be of 
 great service to the community, whether agrarian or other- 
 wise. Happily, our people almost throughout the Union 
 are waking up to the importance of these interests. Until 
 I had the pleasure of hearing your lecture at the Metropoli- 
 tan Hotel in New York, and reading this Report, I had no 
 idea of the enormous production of adulterated seeds. Our 
 Legislature, in times past, gave a cursory, inadequate atten- 
 tion to the subject, but very little practical good has re- 
 sulted therefrom. The article, too, on mineral and well wa- 
 ter, will, I think, open the eyes of many. 
 
 Robert Sanford. 
 
 [Hale's Weekly.] 
 Now is the time when farmers wish to know what they 
 buy in fertilizers,and, of course, Dr.Ledoux's analyses of those 
 for sale in North Carolina are printed for the benefit of 
 readers of Hale's Weekly. They will be found among our 
 " Farm and Garden Notes." The license tax paid on these 
 fertilizers by their manufacturers has supported the Agri- 
 cultural Department without having taken a dollar, directly 
 or indirectly, from the pocket of any North Carolina tax- 
 payer, unless he were also a fertilizer manufacturer. Before 
 the Department was established 107 brands of fertilizers 
 were sold in North Carolina. Of these, as we had occasion 
 to note when urging the Agricultural bill before the Legis- 
 lature of 1876-'77, some were so worthless that they were 
 re-shipped here from Georgia, which had its Department in 
 operation and would not allow them to be sold there; one of 
 them of large sale here being four-fifths sand. The license 
 
14 
 
 tax and the chemical analysis have driven out the worthless 
 article, thus protecting honest dealers against fraudulent man- 
 ufacturers, while the benefit to the farmer has been very great. 
 The fertilizers are much better and their prices ma- 
 terially LOWER. They are sold here just as cheaply as in 
 Georgia, which has, as we have, a license tax, and as in Vir- 
 ginia and South Carolina which have not. One manufac- 
 turer tried to advance prices when the Department was es- 
 tablished, but soon learned from the good people of Pamlico, 
 upon whom the experiment was made, that it was useless. 
 So we think that our friend of the Elizabeth City Economist 
 is in error in saying that " the fertilizer manufacturers ad- 
 vanced $50,50^($20,500?) for the support of the Agricultu- 
 ral Department, but they get it back from the farmers, of 
 course, and as they admit." If they "admit" such a thing 
 it is doubtless in the hope of dissatisfying the farmer and 
 inducing the repeal of a law which they fought long and 
 bitterly before and after its passage, and in and out of the 
 courts. There is no getting around the three well- 
 
 CNOWN FACTS : THAT THE MANUFACTURERS PAY THE |500 
 TAX, THAT THEY MAKE BETTER GOODS THAN EVER BEFORE, 
 AND THAT THEY SELL THEM AT LOWER PRICES. 
 
 CONNECTICYT EXPERIMENT STATION, 
 
 New Haven, Ct, Dec. 27, 1879. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Ledoux : * * * I should have scarcely 
 dared undertaken to direct the Experiment Station here, 
 had I not been able to get Drs. Jenkins and Armsby, who 
 had special training in the Laboratory of the Scientific 
 School for two years, then worked in my private Laboratory 
 for a year, and afterwards a year in Europe, and a year m ore 
 in this country, one at Middletown, the other at Rutgers' 
 Scientific School. They came to me each with five years 
 
15 
 
 special training — none too much for the work they have to 
 do, which is very responsible, * * for, as you know, we 
 have but half-a-dozen schools in the country — I might say 
 not half a dozen — where young men are trained thoroughly 
 as chemists, and of those who graduate from them., not 10 
 per cent can be trusted to make a fertilizei^analysis without 
 further drilling. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 S. W. Johnson. 
 
 Johns-Hopkins Unh^ersity, 
 
 Baltimore, Jan. 5, 1880. 
 
 Peof. a. R. Ledoux : 
 
 Dear Sir — I was glad to learn that you had decided to 
 take Mr. Mager for your assistant, for I know that you will 
 have a thoroughly competent man. The more experience 
 I have in chemical work, the more the conviction is forced 
 upon me that a thoroughly reliable, conscientious analyst 
 is a very rare thing. This is, to a great extent, due to the 
 weakness of human nature, but also, particularly in this 
 country, to the inefficient character of the training to which 
 students of chemistry are subjected. I do not think it is 
 possible to make a thorough analyst, even out of good material, in 
 less than two years of solid, laboratory work. As you know, there 
 are few, if any, institutions in this country, in which this 
 amount of time is devoted, or can well be devoted to chem- 
 istry. In the colleges, which are intended to give general 
 training rather than special, to devote enough time to chem- 
 istry to make an analyst would be worse than absurd — it 
 would be next to criminal. Fortunately, this view prevails 
 pretty generally, so that graduates of colleges are never, as far 
 as my experience goes, thorough or even tolerable analysts. At 
 most, such graduates have a weak smattering of the subject 
 
16 
 
 of analytical chemistry, which would be of very little value 
 in a responsible situation. For the kind of work in which 
 you are engaged reliable assistants form, of course, one of 
 the chief conditions of success. I am sure that in Mr. Mager 
 you have a man of just the right stamp. He has worked 
 with Fresenius at Wiesbaden, to begin with, and then he 
 has worked for the past two years and a half uninterruptedly 
 in my laboratory, where I have had daily opportunity to 
 judge of his ability and other qualities. He has been en- 
 gaged also for some months as my private assistant in car- 
 rying on an investigation requiring the greatest delicacy of 
 manipulation, and this work he has done to my entire sat- 
 isfaction. I itepeat to you here the most cordial recommen- 
 dation of him, in complete confidence that you will not be 
 disappointed. 
 
 In conclusion, I only regret that there was not a vacant 
 place among my assistants, which would perhaps have ena- 
 bled me to keep Mr. Mager here, where I should very much 
 like to have him. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Ira Eemsen, Prof. Chemistry. 
 
 Wilmington Farm, 
 Henderson, N. C, Feb. 16, 1880. 
 
 Dr. a. R. Ledoux : 
 
 Dear Sir — In my opinion, no country stands more in need 
 of such an institution [as the Experiment Station] than 
 North Carolina. 
 
 Having recently arrived here from England, I found the 
 mode of farming very different from what it is there. Here 
 it seems to be the method to crop the land as long as it will 
 produce a crop, without any return to the soil, which must 
 ultimately prove to be very destructive, if not ruinous. It 
 
17 
 
 is something new to an Englishman to see "worn-out" 
 land, but such was the kind of land that I had the misfor- 
 tune to purchase. By practicing the English system of 
 cultivation, and by the very kind and able instruction I have 
 from time to time received, from you, I am slowly recujterating 
 a small portion of my three hundred acre farm. I feel glad 
 that the Government of this State has called into existence 
 such an institution as the one of which you are the manager. 
 It is a safe authority to which we unscientific farmers can 
 apply for instruction in the pursuit of our calling. 
 
 It seems that the time has come when the occupation of 
 tilling the soil is no longer to be carried on in a state of 
 drudgery. Science has nobly come to our aid to assist us in 
 the divinely instituted and most scientific calling man has 
 ever pursued. 
 
 I had occasion to state to the Honorable Board of Agri- 
 culture, a short time ago, that the Experiment Station not only 
 throivs around the farmer a sofe-giiard, "protecting him from the 
 unprincipled manufacturer of spurious fertilizers, but also leads 
 him on in the sublime path of scientific agriculture. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 R. Marston. 
 
 (Extract from Gov. Vance's Annual Message, Jan. 1, 1879.) 
 I call your attention to the report of Dr Ledonx, Director 
 of the Fertilizer Control Station. It is gratifying in the ex- 
 treme. You will perceive, that the quality of the Fertilizers 
 sold in the State has steadily improved, and the market 
 value of the improvement amounts to more than $100,000 in 
 two years. This is caused obviously by the fact that, know- 
 ing their wares were to be subject to a rigid scientific test, 
 the dealers were careful to make them come up to the mark,, 
 and many others have quit the market altogether. 
 
(Wilmington Keview, September, 1879.) 
 Agricultural Report. 
 
 We have received the " Annual Report of the North Car- 
 olina Agricultural Experiment Station for 1879." The work 
 comprises about 200 pages and is compiled by Prof. A. R. 
 Ledoux, the State Chemist, by direction of the State Board 
 of Agriculture. The book shows the workings of the Ex- 
 periment Station at Chapel Hill, which is under the imme- 
 diate supervision of Prof. Ledoux. It contains many valua- 
 ble formulas for fertilizers, indicating those which are best 
 for special crops. This is the first Annual Report, and it is 
 -a source of pride to think that the entire work is in all its 
 completeness a North Carolina production, and even the 
 paper upon which it is printed was manufactured within 
 the confines of the State. 
 
 (Mrs. C. P. Spencer, in the Chapel Hill Ledger.) 
 
 Dr Ledoux's Report. 
 
 This pamphlet contains about 200 pages, is well printed, 
 on good paper, and presents altogether a creditable appear- 
 ance; the whole work, paper, printing, binding, drawings, 
 &c., being entirely a North Carolina production. It gives a 
 complete review of two years work of the Agricultural Ex- 
 periment Station at this place under Dr. Ledoux's charge, 
 and if any one in the State is disposed to find fault with this 
 department of the Agricultural Board, now is their time to 
 take it up, scrutinize it carefully and state their grievance. 
 
 One charge at least against the officials of this Station 
 cannot be made, namely: that they do not earn their sala- 
 ries. The laws regulating the State Board of Agriculture 
 require a great amount of work from this Station. It is ex- 
 
19 
 
 pected not only to analyze and report upon fertilizers, seeds, 
 soils, marls, minerals, waters, crops and all sorts of experi- 
 ments in field and domestic industry, and carry on a very 
 large and increasing correspondence in relation to this work, 
 but is required also to make all analyses for the State Geo- 
 logical Survey, for the State Board of Health, and for all 
 cases of suspected poisoning. The objects of the Station 
 becoming generally understood and the attention of business 
 men and farmers being fixed upon it, the work and corres- 
 pondence increased in the first year so ihat Dr. Ledoux was 
 compelled to employ two assistants, and in the second year 
 a third, so that there are now four gentlemen who give their 
 whole time, often working far into the night when the work 
 is pressing. And if'any grumbler sliould think that analyz- 
 ing fertilizers and the like is pleasant work, he should by 
 all means come and try it. 
 
 In the two years existence of the Station three hundred 
 and seventy-eight analyses have been made — comprising 
 not only fertilizers, soils, ores, mineral waters, &c., but seed 
 tests, pine straw, drugs, beets, &c. The list presented, and 
 the samples of correspondence given in connection are in- 
 structive, showing the range of inquiry and present de- 
 mands of our agricultural population. In one year Dr. 
 Ledoux has written or dictated to his Secretary replies to 
 1,924 letters of inquiry. How to make vinegar? How to 
 prepare bones for manure? What fertilizer to buy? How 
 to plow for cotton? How to restore gray hair? What 
 grasses are these? What insects? How to cultivate beets? 
 What about mica mining? What about kerosene? What 
 about sassafras oil ? One would suppose Dr. Ledoux had 
 opened a general intelligence office. It shows that our peo- 
 ple are waking up. A spirit of inquiry is a revival spirit. 
 
 The Report gives formulae and directions for composting ; 
 results of a few field experiments made with fertilizers fur- 
 nished for the purpose to some half dozen Orange county 
 farmers who sent in their reports; details of sugar-beet 
 
20 
 
 raising; of the cow-pea and its value; of cotton seed; of 
 certain marls and mineral waters, &c., &c. 
 
 We found it all good and valuable reading, evidencing a 
 practical mind, and a great share of plain, invaluable com- 
 mon sense in the accomplished and excellent gentleman at 
 the head of the Station. We feel sure that Dr. Ledoux is a 
 great acquisition to the working force of the State; a man 
 whose scientific acquirements and general fitness for his 
 office are equalled by the prudence, good sense and amia- 
 bility that "have characterized him since his first coming 
 amongst us. 
 
 [Statesville Landmark, September, 1879.] 
 We do not wish to be understood as being opposed to the 
 Experiment Station : far from it. We have always been 
 one of its most ardent friends and warmest supporters. The 
 Landmark has before pronounced this Station " the cloak 
 that protects the farmer from fraud." And we believe that 
 its head, Prof. Ledoux, is the "right man in the right place," 
 a gentleman, a scholar and a scientist of the first order. 
 His prompt attention to duties and the skillful management 
 of his department have endeared him to the people of his 
 adopted State, especially the farmers. 
 
 [Raleigh Observer.] 
 
 The following we clip from the American Agriculturist. It 
 should be a matter of pride to our people that in the midst 
 of so much abuse of all that is Southern, a Northern jour- 
 nal will hold us up as an example worthy of imitation by 
 other States, and accord to any of our State departments 
 such hearty praise as we find below : 
 
 " Dr. A. R. Ledoux, chemist in charge of the North Car- 
 
21 
 
 olina Experiment Station, has just sent out a report of the 
 investigations for the past year. The examination of seeds 
 as to tlieir purity has revealed some striking mixtures, the 
 Dodder seed, for example, makes up a good part of some 
 clover seed. The treatment of the velvet grass {Holcus lana- 
 tus) showing that this generally concluded worthless grass 
 is of merit as a renovator of worn out lands in the Southern 
 States, has already been noticed by us, and is of real value. 
 An analj^sis of the cow pea of the Southern States supplies 
 what has long been needed, and gives information that can 
 be found nowhere else. The last third of the report is de- 
 voted to the analyses of fertilizers, which have done much to 
 free the market of worthless brands, and raise the best fer- 
 tilizers to their proper place. This portion of the work of 
 the Experiment Station is perhaps that in which its utility 
 is more directly manifest than in any other ; for it must have 
 already saved large sums to the farmers of the State, and will 
 save still more in the future. North Carolina has a right to be 
 ■proud of the advanced position she has taken in agricultural mat- 
 ters, and rnay already be cited as an example to other States. It 
 would be of untold benefit if every intelligent farmer in the State 
 could have this Report and study its teachings.^^ 
 
 [Hale's Weekly.] 
 At the last meeting of Pomona Grange, of Cabarrus 
 county, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : 
 " That we regard the establishment of the Department of 
 Agriculture of North Carolina of grea-t benefit to the farmers 
 of the State, that we hope the Legislature will foster it, and 
 that we have entire confidence in Col. L. L. Polk as our 
 Commissioner of Agriculture, and in Prof. A. R. Ledoux as 
 our State Chemist." This is an honest and outspoken ex- 
 pression of the feelings of Pomona Grange, which they ask 
 the press of the State to publish. 
 
22 
 
 PiTTSBORO, N. C, Sept. 13, 1879. 
 
 Dr. a. R. Ledoux : 
 
 Dear Sir — I am greatly obliged to you for the " Report of 
 the Agricultural Experiment Station." It is both interest- 
 ing and valuable, and I heartily commend the ability and 
 skill which you have exhibited in your most laborious po- 
 sition. The Station is doing a great good, and I consider it 
 even more than the right arm of the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 A, H. Merritt. 
 
 Henderson, N. C, Sept. 21, 1879. 
 
 Dr. Ledoux : 
 
 Dear Sir — I duly received the report of the N. C. Experi- 
 ment Station, for which please accept my sincere thanks. 
 Its valuable contents must prove highly beneficial to those 
 wdio are trying to recuperate the worn out soils of North 
 Carolina. I am proud to become a citizen of a country that 
 both sees and feels the necessity of advancing its agricultural 
 interests by the establishment of such an institution. 
 
 R. Marston. 
 
 Note — Mr. Marston is an Englisliinan by birth. 
 
23 
 
 Report of the North Carolina Experiment Station. 
 
 [The Rural Messenger, Petersburg, Va.] 
 
 The first Annual Report of the Director of tlie North Car- 
 olina Experiment Station lias lately been received, and we 
 deem it proper to extend it at least a passing notice. In the 
 compass of about 200 pages Professor Ledoux has condensed 
 a large amount of information pertaining to his State that 
 cannot fail to be of value to every farmer who will give it 
 perusal. Among much other matter of an interesting and 
 utilitarian character, we find papers on composting, the su- 
 gar beet, analysis of pine straw, the cow pea, cotton seed, 
 marls, mineral and well waters, minerals and ores, soils, 
 chemicals and fertilizers, and from which stores of informa- 
 tion may be gleaned for the practical farmer. Considering 
 the youth of this station, much work calculated to advance 
 agricultural art has been done, and we cannot but regard 
 Nort.h Carolina as fortunate in having a corps of such effi- 
 cient and industrious toilers in the grand work of further- 
 ing scientific farming, or farming on scientific principles. 
 The Report is intended to be useful to farmers, and is writ- 
 ten in a style suited to the comprehension of the poorest ed- 
 ucated among them. This is important. The work of the 
 Station is for the instruction and benefit of the actual bread 
 producers of the State. No calling more needs the aid of 
 thinking men ; no calling needs more the benefits to be de- 
 rived from a division of labor. Tlie field is too broad — the 
 details are too multitudinous for any one man or mind to 
 master them all ; and we rejoice that the farmers of our sis- 
 ter State will, or may if they choose, share in the benefits to 
 be derived from the labors of such men as Ledoux, Kerr, 
 Battle, Holt, Tiiigpen and others. 
 
 The history of the North Carolina Experiment Station is 
 an interesting one. The expenses of the Station, amounting 
 
24 
 
 to $7,670 in two years, costs the farmers and the tax-payers 
 of the State not one cenf— being met by a license tax imposed 
 on the manufacturers and sellers of fertilizers. The income 
 of the State Department of Agriculture from this source is 
 about $15,000 j^er annum, of which the Station receives say 
 $4,000 yearly. And yet many people and some papers in 
 the State have seen fit to criticise adversely some of the 
 work of the Station ! And that, too, while it has only been 
 able, in the brief period of its existence, io get ready iovwovk. 
 We are not the- champion of the Station, and have no inter- 
 est therein, except what we may feel for the improvement of 
 agriculture everywhere, but we must be allowed to say that, 
 in our judgment, such persons and journals would do their 
 State a greater service by giving the workers in the Experi- 
 ment Station that moral encouragement and support they 
 stand in need of, and without which it must be a failure at 
 last. Instead of crying it down, or searching for Haws with 
 microscopic glasses, they should try to build it up — to I'ftake 
 it better. But there are always prophets of evil every- 
 where. Of the twelve sent to view the promised land but 
 two brought back a favorable report. Notwithstanding, 
 Israel went up and possessed the land at last. We rejoice 
 to know, however, that more than two have brought a good 
 report of the N. C. Agricultural Station. 
 
 But one must read the report, or have copious extracts 
 from it, in order to have an intelligent understanding of 
 what has been done; and for such extracts we have at pres- 
 ent no room. We do not mean to spare the shears, however, 
 and will give several before long. There is information 
 here that ought to have extensive circulation ; and having 
 hundreds of subscribers in that State, we reckon we shall 
 be doing them valuable service b}' quoting liberally from 
 this report. We promise to do so, and save ourself a longer 
 notice here. But let a.ll who can get a copy and read it en- 
 tire. The influence of such publications is always for good, 
 and under it we look for rapid advance in the intelligence, 
 thoroughness, and results of North Carolina farming. 
 
25 
 
 (Raleigh News.) 
 
 The ExperimExXt Station Exposes a Humbug. 
 
 Under the head of "Sundry Humbugs," we find the fol- 
 lowing in the last number of the American Agriculturist: 
 
 " Among the many swindles that are intended especially 
 for the * benefit ' of farmers is ' The Vitative Compound,' 
 which came to us some time ago, with the most remarkable 
 claims. It is solii by one Bingham, of Pennsylvania, and 
 is claimed to be patented by one Waugaman. We shall 
 presently show this name is not the only gammon that there 
 is about it. It is sold in boxes, holding about two ounces, 
 for $1.00, and cheap at that when we consider what it is 
 claimed it will do. We are told that the stuff ' is purely chem- 
 ical in its cliaracter and effects, contains, in a condensed form, 
 those ingredients so generally deficient in the soil (we should 
 hop6 they might be!) and yet so essential to the immediate 
 and certain germination of the seed, and the vigorous and 
 rapid growth of the plant.' All sorts of claims, ' more vig- 
 orous and rapid growth,' &c., &c., are made, but the claim 
 that struck us most reads : ' It is applied directly to the 
 seed, and not scattered broadcast, as many fertilizers are.' 
 It is said that Liebig once predicted the time when the ma- 
 nure for a whole field cjuld be carried in the vest pocket, 
 but here we don't manure the field at all. We go to head- 
 quarters, and manure the seed just as tiie boy Franklin pro- 
 posed that his father say grace over the whole barrel of pork. 
 Then, so very ' vitative' is the stuff', that we learn that it 
 will not only protect the seed, but ' the shoot, against wire- 
 worms, and grubs.' So powerful the stuff that we wonder 
 any box could hold it. We, with proper care, laid the box 
 aside for further examination, and impossible as it may 
 seem, it was actually forgotten. But this compound was so 
 * vitative ' that it turned up in North Carolina, and our 
 friend. Professor A. R. Ledoux, the State Chemist, made it 
 
26 
 
 show its ' purely chemical character ' in the ' twinkling of a 
 gally-pot.' This ' Vitative Compound,' according to Profes- 
 sor Ledoux, contains not one fertilizing ingred lent, hut is a 
 miserable mixture of sugar of lead and wiiite vitroil! — 
 acetate of lead and sulphate of zinc! — and the wonderful 
 Wa gammon, who is said to have patented it, didn't know 
 enough about chemical compounds to be aware that these 
 two salts would decompose one another, so that, practically, 
 the seed would be wetted with a little acetate of zinc ! The 
 stuff cost about four cents, and sold for a dollar, which 
 might be called a ' living profit.' The North Carolina Ex- 
 periment Station has done a very good thing in exposing 
 this humbug, and we thank it for the anaysis of the ' Vita- 
 tive Compound.' " 
 
 [Correspondence of the Farmer and Mechanic.] 
 
 Tax on Fertilizers. 
 
 I have been asked by one of the committee appointed by 
 the State Agricultural Society to inquire into the views of 
 the farmers on the advisability of the fertilizer tax, and to 
 furnish the readers of the Farmer and Mechanic with the re- 
 sult of m}'- own observations. This request was made, inas- 
 much as I have frequent opportunities of intercourse with 
 farmers in the counties of Warren, Franklin, Granville, 
 Halifax, Edgecombe, Nash and Wilson. I take pleasure in 
 stating that I have heard absolutely no complaint of the 
 tax from any ; while on the other hand, those who know 
 anything of the law and of tlie operations of the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, are unanimous in their approbation 
 of both. They understand very well that the tax is no bur- 
 den upon themselves, but on the contrary supports the fer- 
 tilizer control station, from which they derive great benefit. I 
 am giving the views of intelligent farmers when I say that the 
 
27 
 
 work of Dr. Ledoux is an honor and safe-guard to the agri- 
 culture of the State. Surely, the Old North State is no 
 long-er Rip Van Winkle, in this respect at least, since she 
 and Connecticut are the only States in the Union which 
 have Control Stations. The analyses of Dr. Ledoux are of 
 incalculable benefit to the fanner, since there is obviously 
 no other way for the fanner to ascertain the value of a fer- 
 tilizer. But for aiu^lysis they may be imposed upon to any 
 exteut. To ascertain the value of a manure by its " beha- 
 viour in the field" is rather a costly experiment for the 
 farmer. Should it prove worthless, he loses both his money 
 and his proposed profits for a whole year, and under the old 
 system he had no redress. His only resource was to repeat 
 the experiment with some other brand, and meet, perhaps, 
 with the same results. 
 
 The intelligent farmer smiled grimly, but with placid 
 satisfaction, wlien Col. Ott hastily assailed the department 
 and "Mr." Ledoux. He needed no other explanation of the 
 wrath of the Southern Fertilizing Company, and no other 
 endorsement of the department, than the fact of a discrep- 
 ancy of $15 to $20 between the selling price of the fertilizer 
 and its commercial value as calculated from analysis. Now, 
 every dealer must guarantee the constituents of the brand 
 he puts upon the market, and an unscrupulous trader stands 
 in wholesome awe of the Station. We have only to com- 
 pare Dr. Ledoux's analyses of the same brands for 1877 and 
 1878 to find a marked improvement in some of them. Here- 
 tofore the farmer felt distrustful that a brand would dete- 
 riorate after having once established a reputation by its 
 " behaviour in the field." 
 
 Even on the part of strictly honest dealers there is often 
 a disposition to exact too large a profit, and large profits on 
 fertilizers the present price of farm products will not justify. 
 
 I state the opinion of all intelligent farmers when I repeat 
 that the State never legislated so wisely as when it imposed 
 this tax for the support of the Department of Agriculture, 
 
28 
 
 and especially the Fertilizer Control Station. Let the farmer 
 avail himself of its proffered advantages. Let him be care- 
 ful how he handles articles which have not been analyzed 
 by Dr. Ledoux. At very small expense to himself, he can 
 determine whether he is paying for dirt, or for pure chemi- 
 cals and active fertilizers. The writer not long since re- 
 ceived from Chapel Hill an anal^^sis showing 84.03° of 
 muriate of potash in an article of German potash salts and 
 guaranteed to contain 83°. This was very satisfactory, both 
 to user and dealer. It is a satisfaction all may enjoy who 
 will — just so long as the law stands unrepealed. 
 
 John W. Primrose. 
 
 (American Agriculturist, 1878.) 
 North Carolina is having a good work done in its Agri- 
 cultural Department by Dr. Ledoux, its chemist, in the 
 important fertilizer question. His labors have tended to 
 place the manufacture and trade on a reliable basis, which 
 means much when it is considered that about one million 
 dollars' worth of fertilizers are sold and used in that State 
 every year. We understand that preparations are now 
 being made for more extensive experimental work and in- 
 vestigation under the auspices of the Department, and that 
 an excellent assistant chemist, Mr. George Warnecke, who 
 first came from Germany by invitation to the Connecticut 
 Airricultural Experiment Station at Middletown, has already 
 been engaged. 
 
29 
 
 Report of the "Committee on the Working of the 
 Fertilizer Tax" to the Executive Com- 
 mittee OF THE N. C. Agricul- 
 tural Society. 
 
 Hon. Thos. M. HoU, President N. C. Agricultural Society : 
 
 Sir — The committee to whom was referred by j^oiir hon- 
 orable body the following resolution, viz : 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee of five farmers be appointed 
 to gather information from the farmers of the State in regard 
 to the working of the tax on fertilizers, and that such com- 
 mittee be instructed to report to our Executive Committee 
 l^efore the first of December next ; such report to be fur- 
 nished the press of the State for publication — 
 
 Respectfully report that they have made extensive in- 
 quiries among the representative farmers of all parts of the 
 State, and find the almost unanimous opinion to be, that the 
 tax on fertilizers has been productive of great benefit to the 
 agricultural classes in several particulars : 
 
 1st. The analysis of the fertilizers used in the State, and the 
 publication of the results of such analysis, enable farmers to form 
 a more intelligent opinion as to what fertilizers are needed for 
 their soils and wliat elements are needed for their crops. 
 
 2d. These analyses have checked frauds in the manufacture of 
 fertilizers. They have improved the quality of those imported into 
 the State — many soy as much as 20 or 25 per cent. 
 
 od. They have exposed gross fravxls in some instances and ena- 
 bled farmers to avoid being cheated by them. 
 
 4i/i. Such publications and the very interesting reports of the 
 Commissioner of Agriculture have, in North Carolina, as in Ger- 
 many, Prance, England and several States of this Union, been the 
 means of creating an intelligent interest in questions of agricul- 
 
80 
 
 tural chemistry, and spreading information, about them among the 
 people. 
 
 Farmers do not now buy fertilizers blindly at haphazard, but 
 like they buy cloth, shoes, &c., with reference to the real value of 
 the articles and their suitability to their needs. They try experi- 
 ments more than formerly, observing more accurately the effects on 
 the crops. 
 
 5tli. The liome manufacture of fertilizers has been stim- 
 ulated. Many farmers do not buy the manufactured article 
 at all, but they purchase the chemicals at first hands from 
 importers and manufacture and mix for themselves, pro- 
 ducing a mixture highly profitable, as they claim, at much 
 less cost. 
 
 6th. The tax on fertilizers is pronounced to be the best 
 mode of sustaining the Department of Agriculture and its 
 work, including not only the analysis of fertilizers, but all 
 the important subjects which it has in charge under the 
 able conduct of the Board of Agriculture. Al)undant evi- 
 dence is at hand to prove that the price of fertilizers has not 
 been raised by the tax. Companies are able to sell here at 
 the same rate as in other States, and they sell an article of 
 known value. 
 
 7th. At the same time the committee report that the dis- 
 satisfaction at first expressed by some of the manufacturers 
 has mostly died out. Many of them like the plan of having 
 analyses made, as it saves them from the competition of 
 dishonest and inferior articles. The only injury the best 
 grades have suffered has been from the increased home mix- 
 ture of chemicals, by the farmers. But this the committee 
 think a desirable thing for our State. 
 
 The committee sincerely hope that so far from abolishing 
 the tax, the General Assembly might, with advantage to the 
 State, grant increased means of usefulness to the Board of 
 Agriculture. Certainly no legislation in their remembrance has 
 
31 
 
 been of svch direct value to the agricultural interests, on whicJi 
 chiefly the prosperity of our State depends. 
 Respectfiiily submitted, 
 
 j. r. hutciiins, 
 Bryan Grimes, 
 Peter E. Smith, 
 R. B. Caldwell. 
 Joseph A. Worth, 
 Committee. 
 November 29tli, 1878. 
 
 [Correspondence of the Fanner and Mechanic] 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station. 
 
 It seems that notliing can be done for the farming inter- 
 est which is not assailed. We are not of tliose who account 
 it impudence to assail the wisdom of public men or public 
 measures. People honestly differ in their opinions, and 
 every citizen has a right to challenge the wisdom of institu- 
 tions designed for the public good, and supported from the 
 public purse. Still it seems that a fatality attends every 
 measure which is legislated in the interest of the farmer. 
 The Farmer and Mechamic attacks the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment in its management and expenditures, and perhaps 
 justly, but it allows a little word of commendation of the 
 Experiment Station, which the most intelligent farmers of 
 my acquaintance judge to be of incalculable benefit to them. 
 Their conclusion seems to be well founded. 
 
 The old and thickly-settled countries of Europe, whose 
 prosperity is closely and largely dependent upon the suc- 
 cessful cultivation of the soil, have proved Experiment Sta- 
 tions a necessit3^ Witness the number established in those 
 countries. 
 
32 
 
 The establishment of such Stations is, the world over, ac- 
 counted an evidence of progress, and North Carolina (once 
 Rip Van Winkle), with Connecticut, is now generally recog- 
 nized as in the van of improvement. 
 
 Before the institution of our Station the North Carolina 
 farmers were annually bled of their hard-earned cash to pay 
 for so-called fertilizers, containing a large percentage of 
 sand. 
 
 The farmers now almost unanimously testify that 
 the quality has greatly improved, and the price has 
 
 FALLEN. 
 
 This fall in price is fully as great in North Carolina as 
 in other States which have no control stations. This pro- 
 tection afforded the farmer costs him liothing. 
 
 i)f. ^ ^ -^ iff. i/i 
 
 There are forty-two brands sold in the State. Does this 
 look like a monopoly ? There were 108 brands before the 
 establishment of the Station. Why should there be less 
 now, if they have learned how to manipulate and impose 
 inferior articles on the farmers with as large a profit as 
 formerly ? 
 
 Chemical analyses never yet pretended to dictate to your 
 Johnston county correspondent, nor any other, what his 
 farm needs ; nor does it prevent his still using the ingredi- 
 ents suited to his soil. It does tell him where he can get 
 them, and get them cheapest, and guaranteed against adul- 
 teration. The law does drive frauds out of the State. Your 
 less experienced farmers are they who most need this pro- 
 tection. The Station protects against spurious seed like- 
 wise. 
 
 For one, I beg to be excused the necessity of relying 
 wholly on field experiments to test the value of a fertilizer. 
 It is rather costly at forty dollars per ton, and a life-time of 
 experiments to find a good article, luhich, wlfhout protectloUf 
 may be adulterated as soon a,s its reputation is made. 
 
o o 
 O O 
 
 The tests of '78 are good for 79. It is not likely that the 
 [)enalty of the law will be incurred. Dr. Ledoux ha.« shown 
 that his tests cannot be published sooner than they are, in 
 time for grain cro|)s. As })ro('ured, the samples are safe 
 and genuine. 
 
 The writer of this is in no way connected with the De- 
 partment, and certainly is not in the interest of the trade 
 No farmer can read Dr. Ledoux's report without being im- 
 ))ressed with the immense value to him personally of the 
 Station, and that the improvement in fertilizers, as shown 
 by his crops, is due thereto. To abandon the Experiment 
 Station is to rob the farmer. P. 
 
 (Mrs. Mary Biiyanl Clarke, in Hale's Weekly.] 
 
 Annual Report of the N. C. Agricultural Experi- 
 ment Station for 1879. 
 
 The ground-swell from the waves of the storm of retrench- 
 ment brewed in that big tea-cup, our last Legislature, may 
 possibly toss this book back and forth as the wind of its elo- 
 quence did the report of our State Geologist ; for every 
 North Carolinian who is called on, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, to vote away "the people's money," invariably, before 
 doing so, asks himself and everybody else — *' c?a bonof" — 
 what's the use? Without the slightest desire to interfere 
 with the rights of man, we do most earnestly hope that 
 Professor Ledoux's book will be read before the penny-wise 
 and pound-foolish demon of stinginess, in the plausible dis- 
 guise of economy, again gets loose in North Carolina. 
 
 He tells us on the first page that " to be in any measure a 
 master of the science of Agriculture, a man must be at once a 
 botanist, chemist, geologist and meteorologist." With this 
 appalling necessity before us, we shall not attempt to go 
 into the scientific merits of the book, but take only the com- 
 
34 
 
 mon-sense view of it; and in this light most unhesitatingly 
 pronounce it an interesting and instructive volume, not 
 only for the farmer, but for his wife and daughter. But 
 what good does a State Experiment Station do the farmers 
 of North Carolina ? The answer to this question depends 
 in a great measure on the farmers themselves. Professor 
 Ledoux tells them very plainly what good it may do them, 
 if they will avail themselves of it. 
 
 1st. It offers them complete and free protection against 
 frauds in commercial fertilizers, chemicals and seed. 
 
 2d. It gives them free analyses of ores, soils, marls, mine 
 rals and mineral waters, 
 
 3d. It investigates all subjects of agricultural interest, and 
 furnishes a place where every farmer and his wife can send 
 for solution questions and problems which meet them in 
 following their calling, and which require chemical or 
 other scientific knowledge. 
 
 Take one instance for example from the detailed report; 
 *' There are factories in Europe where seed of various kinds 
 are manufactured out of quartz. The quartz is ground and 
 sieved and stained with various dyes to imitate almost ex- 
 actly in size and color almost any kind of seed, especially 
 clover." These artificial seed are sold at $3.50 a cwt., and 
 as many as fifteen tons have been purchased by one English 
 house alone. Specimens of them are kept at the Station, 
 and the most practised eye could not detect a sample of 
 clover seed adulterated with them as high as 25 per cent. 
 Then, too, the seed of worthless grasses, poisonous plants 
 and weeds are often sold for orchard grass, red clover, and 
 other valuable grass seed, and to detect these impositions 
 there are at the Station a thousand specimens of seed ar- 
 ranged in glass tubes by means of which nearly all seeds 
 sent for test can be at once identified and the impurities 
 named. The history of the analysis of the " Vitative Com- 
 pound " will suffice as an example of what benefit a farmer 
 may derive from the Station in the use of commercial fer- 
 
35 
 
 tilizers. A sample of this " compound/' put up in pretty 
 little boxes holding about two ounces, and sold for the mod- 
 erate sum of $1.00 a box, was sent to Professor Ledoux. 
 The proprietor claimed for it that it would not only destroy 
 insects or parasitic enemies, but would protect seed from 
 birds, and contained in a condensed form those ingredients, 
 so generally deficient in the soil, and yet so essential to the 
 immediate germination and rapid growth of the plant. On 
 examination, the so called fertilizer was found to contain 
 neither phosphoric acid, ammonia, nor potash, but lead and 
 zinc, each a violent poison ; acetate of lead, worth at retail 
 about twenty-five cents a pound, and sulphate of zinc worth 
 about ten cents a pound. Three things were settled beyond 
 a doubt by this analysis. First, the " Vitative Compound " 
 has no fertilizing properties whatever; Second, it costs 
 twenty-four times as much as it is worth ; Third, it is most 
 decidedly " poisonous to animals," as the circular says. 
 
 In the history of artificial fertilizers we have a most in- 
 teresting account of the first use of bone dust as such, as 
 early as the middle of the first century, when Caracteous, 
 king of South Wales, was warring against the Romans, and 
 collected their bones in heaps, which were afterwards spread 
 on the soil and produced wonderful crops of wheat, barley 
 and other grain for many years. But there is one advan- 
 tage in the use of bone dust now, which Prof Ledoux does 
 not mention, and probably never heard of. A lady of our 
 acquaintance discovered it shortly after the war, when a re- 
 port was circulated that the Federals were collecting soldiers' 
 bones and sending them North to be ground for manure. 
 Missing her roasting ears every morning she coolly informed 
 some of her darkie neighbors that she had got some Yankee 
 bone dust for her field, because it was well known that spir- 
 its would haunt the place where their bones were laid, and 
 all persons going into that patch after dark might look out 
 for ghosts. " Dat's so," replied an old daddy. " Ghosteses 
 
36 
 
 will follow dey bones mistis, and no mistake." From that 
 day she never missed a roasting ear. • 
 
 Even the children are not forgotten by the Station, for 
 we have an analysis of candy, and have not a doubt but 
 that we might obtain one of hair dye and snuff fov the mid- 
 dle aged, and rouge and peaW powder for the young ladies. 
 In short the Report is a family book suggestive of many 
 things and useful to the house- keeper as well as the farmer. 
 
 [Chapel Hill Ledger, October, 1879] 
 The Annual Report of the North Carolina Agricultural 
 Experiment Station is before us. The report is somewhat 
 voluminous — containing 198 pages and giving an account 
 of the Station from its foundation to the present time. Dr. 
 Ledoux in his preface says that " the report is intended to 
 be useful to our farmers, as far as possible, hence many ex- 
 planations and forms of expression are adopted which may 
 seem useless to scientific readers." This is one of the chief 
 merits of the report. It is a straight forward, plain state- 
 ment of the work which the department has performed, of 
 what ought to be done, of enquiries, of replies, and in short, 
 i.s a complete setting forth of what has been done b}' the 
 Station. The report furnishes information which the far- 
 mers of the State have desired. It tells them many valua- 
 ble truths about grasses, seeds, waters, manures, guanos, and 
 other things of much practical importance. The report 
 shows that Dr. Ledoux is not only acquainted with the 
 needs of our people in an agricultural point of view, but 
 takes an active interest in pointing out to them ways in 
 which those needs may be supplied. No possible State ag- 
 ricultural industry but that it claims his attention and 
 study — the sugar beet, the Irish potato and the manufacture 
 therefrom of starch and glucose, the use of refuse fish as a 
 fertilizer, the quick manufacture of vinegar, cotton seed oil 
 
37 
 
 mills, Ihe manufaeturt! of sassafras oil, and many other 
 things. Throughout the report there is a frankness of state- 
 ment which wins the reader and a confident tone of success 
 which seems to spring from a consciousness of a good cause 
 and a knowledge of duty performed, and encourages out> to 
 hope for a brighter future for North Carolina. Upon the 
 whole we find the report very good reading — far above the 
 average of such reports — and containing much which would 
 benefit an}' man in the State. 
 
 We bid Dr. Ledoux and the Slate Board of Agriculture 
 God speed in their noble work. We append what Dr. L. 
 .says of fertilizers in North Carolina before and since the es- 
 tablishment of the Control Station : 
 
 " In 1876, BEFORE the law PKuVIDINCt for FERTILIZE]; 
 CONTROL WAS PASSED, THERE WERE lOS BRANDS OF FERTI- 
 LIZERS SOLD IN North Carolina. Some of them were 
 
 MISERABLE STUFF, OTHERS DOWNRIGHT SWINDLES. OnE 
 especially, with a LARGE SALE, WAS FOUND TO CONTAI.V 
 HO PER CENT. OF SAND, .\ND OTHERS SO POOR THAT THEV 
 WERE CONDEMNED IN GEORGIA. WERE RE-SHIPPED AND SOLD 
 
 IN North Carolina. At present there are but 42 
 
 BRANDS which ARE LEGALLY ON SAf-E IN NoRTH CaROLINA; 
 AND IT GIVES ME PLEASURE TO STATE THAT AMONG THEM 
 ARE THE VERY BEST BRANDS FOUND IN THE UxiTED StATES, 
 
 .AND NO State has now a more complete protection for 
 ITS farmers, and no State better protects dealers in 
 fertilizers from having to compete with fraudulent 
 manufacturers than our own. Three things are cer- 
 tain and admit of proof: 1st, That fertilizers are 
 cheaper in North Carolina to-day than they were 
 before the tax was imposed. 2d, That they are bet- 
 ter ON AN average. 3d, That they are as cheap in 
 North Carolina as in Virginia, Georgia, or South 
 
38 
 
 Carolina, due allowance being made for increase or 
 decrease of freight, owing to distance. 
 
 (Col. J. D. Cameron.) 
 The Experiment Station at Chapel Hill. 
 
 This is the first established in the South, the second in 
 the United States ; and it is pleasant to hear that it is grow- 
 ing steadily in the favor of farmers. Prof. Ledoux receives 
 hundreds of letters for information, not only in relation to 
 the analysis of soils, in relation to the value of seeds, 
 the utility of new plants, but also in relation to other mat- 
 ters of interest to the farmer, all of which he answers 
 promptly, as he should do, in view of the important relation 
 in which the Station stands to agriculture. 
 
THE NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 State Experiment Station. 
 
 THE advantag:es it offeks to 
 
 FARMERS AND OTHERS, 
 
 1. Free an;il\se^. of all Chemicals used in Composting, provided the sender 
 secures the samples according to printed insti'uctions lurnished by tlio Sta- 
 tion, and prepays the express charges. 
 
 2. Free anal\ses <jf all Fertilizers legally on sale in the State, provided the 
 samples arc secured by an authorized agent of the Department of Agriculture 
 or after correspondence with the Director. 
 
 H. Free analyses of all Well Waters, articles of Food and Drugs, Disinfect- 
 ants, i&c, when the analyses are desired for Saniiary puposcs, the permission 
 of the Secretary of the state Board of HeaU.li i> -cciired, and the express 
 charges <jn the sample are prepaid. 
 
 4. Free analyses and examination in all t-ases of p!oli;d}l(:' roisoning wlien 
 the suspected article is sent according to printed iiisiruction, and by ortUi- of 
 Coroners and County Superintendents oi Health. 
 
 .). Free anal>-sos of Marls wIkmi desired liy rarnu'rs. 
 
 Ci. l-'ri-c aiiul\-c-; cii Mineral Waters wiirn st-iil witli llic (itTmissMm <>l tlie 
 State (icologist. and tlie exj.rcss cliai'ges ai'e prepaid. 
 
 7. Free identilii'ation and qualitative aii(dys<s of all Minerals and ( )i'es. 
 For a coinph.'tc <ir (|nantitative analysis (In^ piTniission (if the State <ieologist 
 must be olxaii'.ed. 
 
 ,s. Free tcsis ol the germinating or sprouting i-a|iacit >■ of all Seeds of grains, 
 grasses, flowers or vegetables, with a report as to their luirit.N-, and identitica- 
 tionofany \v( I'd or other foreign seeds present. Seed samples are lir>t scut 
 by mail. 
 
 !t. Free identification of useful or injurious (Jrasses. 
 
 1(1. Free identification of Insects injurious lo ^'(■-(■tation, and reports upon 
 the best means of destn.x ing tliem. 
 
 11. Correspondence will be promptly attended to upon all subjects directly 
 or indirectly related to Agrij_ulture. 
 
 12. Printed reports will be mailed free of charge upon request ui)on the fol- 
 lowing subjects : Directions for composting ; formulas for different soils and 
 crops ; analyses of chemicals and fertilizers legally on sale in North Carolina; 
 directions for utilizing bones; lb)- making vinegai-; (or growing sugar-beet ; 
 upon drinking watei-s; the value of pine straw; I lie history, use and value of 
 the cow-pea; the coni]iosition of marls, and soils; the evtraction of sassafras 
 oil ; the history and use of artiheial manures, &e., A-c. 
 
 The Experiment Station lutving been fulls- e(|uip|M-d by oi-derof the P.o-ird 
 of Agi'iculture, for the prosecution of the \aiious bi-;uiehes of worli above 
 mentioncnl, our farmers are urgently re'iuesied to avail tbenisi-lves. of these 
 advantages. A.ddress all letters to 
 
 The N. C. A^riciiltiiral Emeriiiieut Station, 
 
 CHAPEL HILL, N. C. 
 
l!!!:'^°^'=°^°''Ess 
 
 003 065 572 2