The Bulletins of this Station will be sent free to any address in Maine. All requests should be sent to Agricultural Experiment Station, Orono, Maine. ANNOUNCEMENTS. THE AIM OF THE STATION. Every citizen of Maine concerned in agriculture has the right to apply to the Station for any assistance that comes within its province. It is the wish of the Trustees and Station Council that the Station be as widely useful as its resources will permit. In addition to its work of investigation, the Station is prepared to make chemical analyses of fertilizers, feeding stuffs, dairy products and other agricultural materials; to test seeds and creamery glass-ware; to identify grasses, weeds, injurious fungi and insects, etc.; and to give information on agricultural matters of interest and advantage to the citizens of the State. All work proper to the Experiment Station and of public benefit will be done without charge. Work for the private use of individuals is charged for at the actual cost to the Station. The Station offers to do this work only as a matter of accommodation. Under no condition will the Station undertake analyses, the results of which cannot be published, if they prove of general interest. INSPECTIONS. The execution of the laws regulating the sale of food, commercial fertilizers, concentrated commercial feeding stuffs, and agricultural seeds, and the inspection of chemical glassware used by creameries is entrusted to the Director of the Station. The Station takes pains to obtain for analysis samples of all brands of fertilizers and feeding stuffs coming under the law. It also draws samples of agricultural seeds and foods in the hands of dealers. The co-operation of dealers and consumers is, however, essential for the full and timely protection of their interests. Foods. Dealers and consumers are invited to send by prepaid express original and unbroken packages of food materials on sale in Maine of whose purity they are for any reasons sus picious. As prompt free analysis will be made of such samples as circumstances will allow. Feeding Stuffs. The Station will promptly analyze samples of feeding stuffs sold in Maine taken in accordance with directions which will be furnished on application. The results will be reported without charge to interested parties. This applies to dealers and consumers alike. Commercial Fertilizers. It is difficult to draw accurate samples of commercial fertilizers. On this account it is only in rare instances that the Station undertakes analyses of fertilizers other than the samples collected by its representatives. In case there is special reason for an examination, the Station invites correspondence on the subject. Agricultural Seeds. Samples of agricultural seeds on sale in Maine, taken in accordance with directions which can be obtained on application to the Station, will be examined as promptly as possible and the results reported free of charge. In all cases samples should be accompanied by a full description of the goods, including the name and address of the dealer and the sender. Small samples other than liquids can be forwarded by mail. Others should be forwarded by express, charges prepaid. STATION PUBLICATIONS. The Station publishes several bulletins each year, covering in detail its expenses, operations, investigations and results. The bulletins are mailed free to all citizens who request them. The annual report is made up of the bulletins issued during the year. CORRESPONDENCE. As far as practicable, letters are answered the day they are received. Letters sent to individual officers are liable to remain unanswered, in case the officer addressed is absent. All communications should, therefore, be addressed to the Agricultural Experiment Station, Orono, Maine. The post office, railroad station, freight, express and telegraph address is Orono, Maine. Visitors to the Station can take the electric cars at Bangor and Old Town. The Station is connected by telephone. HISTORICAL NOTES FOR 1905. FOOD AND SEED LEGISLATION. The legislature of 1905 passed a pure food law and supplemented the law regulating the sale of agricultural seeds. The director of the Station is the executive officer of both of these controls. The details of the food legislation is given on pages 77 and following of this report. A bulletin on seed inspection is in preparation and will be published early in 1906. CHANGES OF STAFF. Mr. S. C. Dinsmore resigned as assistant chemist in June, 1905, to accept an appointment with the Nevada Experiment Station. Mr. Lewis I. Nurenburg, B. S., Harvard, 1905, has been appointed in his place. Miss Bessie G. Leeds, B. A., University of Minnesota, 1905, was appointed September I as a general assistant. Miss Leeds will do the photographic work of the Station and will assist in the analyses of foods and seeds. THE INCUBATOR HOUSE. The Station, as described on pages 105 and following of this report, is unusually well equipped along the lines of poultry investigation, with the exception that the rooms used for incubation work were unsatisfactory. An incubator house 31 X 31 feet, was erected in the fall of 1905. The building is one story in height with a good attic, and airy basement. The basement is used for the incubators and is supplied with 18 machines having a capacity of 6480 eggs. Two flues provide ample ventilation. The remainder of the building is finished as a tenement for the poultry man. |