DIRECTOR'S REPORT For the Year Ending September 30, 1909

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DIRECTOR'S REPORT

124 ALFRED YEAR BOOK, 1909-10

drawn. The contract for the dairy barn and milk house was let for $21,191.

The main barn, 120x40 feet, two stories high, is of wood, with brick and concrete basement. It will accommodate the young stock, bulls, horses and confined animals; wagons and carriages; and the hay, grain, straw and roots.

The dairy barn is a brick and concrete structure, 72x45 ft.

1112 stories high, and will accommodate 32 cows. The building is directly connected with the main building. The floor of the attic of the dairy barn is on a ievel with the main floor of the barn so that this room may easily be utilized as a storeroom for farm machinery.

The milk house is a one-story, brick and concrete building, 20x30 feet, and is separated from the barn by a roofed walk.

It is equipped with bottling machine, cream separator, and other milk house apparatus. Connected with the barn are two stave silos, 16x32 feet, and a 400 barrel cistern. All the build- ings are roofed with tile.

A one-story Dairy House, 46x54 feet, with a half basement, to be built back of the main School building, has been planned under the supervision of the State Architect and advertised for bids. The probable cost is $12,000. The work to be done in this building will have for its object the teaching of simple but scientific handling of dairy products.

Sundry trips have been taken by President Davis, Supt.

McLennan of the farm, and the Director in the several interests of the School. Accompanying President Davis, the Director visited the Dunn County School of Agriculture and Domestic Science at Menomonie, Wisconsin, and then the oldest and most successful operating State School of Agriculture (of secondary grade) in America, viz., the St. Anthony Park School between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Later the Director visited the State School at Canton, N. Y.

Later, the Director visited the Manual Training High School and Pr"att Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., Brookline High School, Brookline, Mass., and the Boys' Mechanics Arts High School, Boston, Mass., -all with a special view to formulating plans for schpol work in domestic science, household arts, woodworking and forge practice.

Definite plans have been made to attend three Agricultural

fairs this autumn with exhibits of School work, and for the

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double purpose of getting in touch with local agricultural problems and acquainting farmers with the School and its opportuni tes.

The Director has taught a class of ten special students throughout the year. Two of them were of the regular school grade, eight of them of college grade.

The Director has prepared a 4-page prospectus of the School and 6,000 have been distributed. During the summer, a 16-page catalog, the First Annual Announcement of the School, has been prepared for distribution among prospective students during late summer and early fall.

There has been much correspondence attached to the con- duct of the work this year. Not Jess than twenty items of mail, many of which have called for personal supervision, have been mailed daily from this office.

President Davis, Supt. McLennan and the Director have made addresses in the interests of the School in many farmers' institutes, grange meetings, high school exercises, and teachers' institutes. Many inquiries, probably not less than one hundred, relative to farm interests have been answered. Several questions have been referred to the Geneva Experiment Station, the Ithaca Experiment Station, and the State Department of Agriculture. Several students have been referred to the registrar of Cornell University, those inquirers evidently de- siring college grade work in Agriculture and not secondary.

The following farm animals have been purchased during the year:

1 ~pan of grade Percheron brood mares, 1 span of registered Percheron brooct mares, 1 driving horse, ·

1 yoke Devon oxen,

6 registered Holstein milch cows, 2 registered Holstein heifers, 1 registered Holstein bull, 3 registered Gurnsey milch cows, 1 registered Gurnsey heifer, 8 high-grade Gurnsey milch cows.

Six pure bred Holstein calves and seven Gurnsey calves ( two pure bred) are being raised.

The dairy route has been successfully operated throughout

the year. In accordance with the State finance law there has

been transmitted to the State Treasurer, as proceeds from the

route, approximately $200 per month.

126 ALFRED YEAR BOOK, 1909-10

The School has rented a registered, imported Percheron stallion with a view to buying one, and inaugurating in this part of the state the movement for improving farm horses so successfully initiated in New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

In the furtherance of this policy, it is planned to stock the farm with a small number of pure bred Jersey and Ayreshire cattle, and with other pure bred farm animals. It is felt that the state funds cannot be better invested, on the farm side of the State School of Agriculture, than in emphasizing the value of pure bred farm animals and in all possible ways encouraging farmers to improve the grade of their farm animals.

Commercial fertilizers. have been used to considerable ex- tent this year on the Farm. The unfavorable season will pro- bably give rather neutral results. Two carloads of quick lime, 5 tons of Nitrate of soda, 81h tons of acid Phosphate, 2~ tons of muriate of Potash, 1300 lbs. of dried blood, 1200 lbs. of

"floats," and 100 lbs. of sulphate of Potash constituted the spring fertilizers.

Next year, it is planned to introduce as great an amount of humus into the soil as possible. Therefore, stable manure will be the fertilizer most largely us6d. Thereby plant foods and soil amendments will be used, thus improving the soil texture, water holding power, as well as increasing the amount of available plant food. The improvement of the soil on the two sides, physical condition and chemical content, is the great factor in successful farm management in this section of the state.

In most parts of southwestern New York, the crops do not promise well this year. The spring was late and wet. The general elevation of this country lies between 1,000 feet and 2,000 feet; much of the land is hilly and the soil predominates in silt underlaid with "hard-pan," all of which conspire to accentuate the ill effects of a late spring. Severe drought prevailed through July and August seriously affecting the cereal crops and the pasture. Under these adverse conditions the crop that promises best on the Farm is mangels. A yield of over 3,000 bushels of mangels from 31/s acres is expected.

Mangels have not been grown in this locality and this crop is a valuable demonstration.

The young orchard of

268

fruit trees on a northeast ex-

posure has made a fair start. Ten have died. The standard

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varieties have been set two rods apart, the half standards 25 by 33 feet. The object in planting this orchard is to demon-·

strate orcharding methods in this section where orcharding has been neglected, but where it should prove a profitable farm venture.

On parallel hillside plats, crimson clover, an innovation in this section, was grown as easily as alsyke clover. Alfalfa, nursed with oats, is fairly started on a plot of gravelly ·silt loam in level low land.

Co-operating with the State College of Agriculture at Cor- nell University, forty-three varieties of .Flint and Dent corns were tested on the Farm with the result that two varieties of Flint corn, namely, "Dutton," grown by W. S. Mink, Farring- ton, N. Y., and" Strawberry," grown byJ. G. Purley, Ithaca, N. ,X., were early, gave a fair amount of roughage and a good yield of ears. A white Dent variety, grown by Ethel Baush, Hauppange, L. I., and "Northwestern," a red Dent, grown by C. W. Farm, Ithaca, N. Y., gave a large amount of roughage and a fair yield of ears, making them particularly desirable for ensilage. A red Flint, grown by C. W. Woodward, Black River, N. Y., and" Michigan,·• a yellow Dent, grown by John·

A. Scribner, Farmington, N. Y., gave a large amount of roughage, but little corn. Apparently the latter two are too late for this section of the country.

One hundred and fifty-six rods of tile drains have been laid.

Hard burned 3 and 4-inch tile have been used in most cases. It has been laid from 21h feet to 3 feet deep, then covered with 18 inches of br6ken shale rock. This plan, it is thought, will prevent the "hard-pan," in which the tile has often been laid, from creeping into the drain and eventually clogging it.

Thirty acres of hillside pasture land has been cleared of brush and stone, preliminary to puttiug under the plow.

A four-day Farmers' Institute School was held at Alfred, March 1-4, under the combined management of the Department of Agriculture and the School, with the State Department of Education, the State College of Agriculture, the Geneva Ex- periment Station and the State School of Agriculture at St.

Lawrence University co-operating. There were. 84 separate

lectures delivered, attended by 1200-1500 people. It was a very

successful institute, and it was pronounced by many to be the

most successful Farmers' Institute ever held in this part of

128

ALFRED YEAR BOOK, 1909-ro

New York State. Many have expressed the wish to attend another such institute this winter.

There has been· planned a farmers' short course in Dairy- ing to be held December 27-31, and a regular Farmers' Institute school to be held January 31-February 3, 1910.

A faculty of four have . .been engaged to conduct the regular, technical work of the School. Several of the members of the University faculty will be part instructors in the School.

At this time, September 30, 1909, there are ten prospective students. An enrollment of 30 regular students and 20 specials is anticipated for the first year. The regular course extends through six months-October 18th to April 8th.

Arrangements have been made to conduct the class work of the School in rooms available in the buildings of Alfred Univer- sity until the buildings of the School are ready for occupancy.

The old farm house on the School farm is located one-half mile from Agriculture Hall. It is in good repair and has been modified slightly to suit the need for a dormitory for school students. About 20 young men can be accommodated here should the need arise. A woman, who for four years previously 'has conducted a college club house, has been engaged to take

charge of this dormitory.

As a concluding word permit the Director to suggest the following items as those upon which effort should be concen- trated during the coming year:

(1) Advertising the School throughout southwestern New York by taking part whenever possible in Farmers' meetings;

(2) completing the equipment of the laboratories and the Farm;

( 3) correlating School work with practice work on the Farm;

(4) emphasizing in all fessible ways the rlemonstrational oppor- tunities of the Farm; and (5) prosecuting with reasonable haste the building of dairy house, greenhouse, and she~p, swine and poultry houses.

Below is appended the financial statement transmitteu to me by Treas. W. H. Crandall.

Respectfully yours,

0. s.

^MORGAN,

^Director.

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TREASURER'S REPORT For the year ending September 30th, 1909

Equipmen.t Fun.cl Dr.

Appropriation, Chapter 200, Laws of 1go8 ... $ 75,000 oo 129

Appropriation, Chapter 159, Laws of 1909... 40,000 oo-$n5,ooo oo Cr.

Farm, 230 acres and adjoming residence ... . Farm Improvements .... , , ... , , ... , ... . Farm equipment (machinery, tools, etc.) •...

Live stock ... , ... ..

Barn and milk house (contract $21,191 oo)., .•.••...

Land for school site.. .. .. , ... . Principal building (contract $42_102 70) ... , ..• , .. ,.

Furniture ... . Apparatus ... . Library, Books and Periodicals,, ..• , ... , . . . • . . • . . Balance of Ap~ropriation ... .

Maintena"ce Fun.cl Dr,

14,500 00 136 42 1,189 og 4,586 20 2,256 23

l, 194 00 16 787 57 315 66 34 3.5 36 59

$41,036 17 73 g63 83

____ ^_._

$n5.ooo oo

Appropriation. Chapter 200, Laws 1908... .$ 5,000 oo

Appropriation, Chapter 433, Laws 190;1... 6,800 oo-$n,8oo oo Cr.

Salaries ... ..

Advertising ... , ... , ... , .. .. , Traveling Expenses ... , .. . Office supplies and expenses ... , ... . Maintenance of Farm:

Labor ... ; ... . Seed ... " ... . Fertilizer ... ..

Feed... , . , ..•...•...

Fuel •...••...•..••.•....•...

Repairs ... .

$2,887 So 341 96 928 1_2 1,718 00 15 22 131 22

4,105 00 24 00 374 Sr 743 57

Miscellaneous ... , ... , ...•... , , .. . 5.30 30- 6.552 62

-As per itemi~ed vouchers approv\.ed by the Comptroller TREASURER.

$II ,800 o::,

130 ALFRED YEAR

DOOK,

1909-10