AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT TION. An institution, or department of an devoted to seientitie and practical Investigations for the benefit of agriculture, the inspection of materials, animals. and plants used in or injurious to agriculture, and the dissem ination of information on the theory and practice of agriculture, They grew out id the studies of such men as Liebig in Germany, Bons singault in France, and Lawes and Gilbert in England during the first half of, the nineteenth century. Systematic investigations in agrienl ture were begun by Lawes and Gilbert at Roth :misted. England, in 1513. The first experiment station organized as a public institution was es tablished in 1551 :at nickern, near the city of Leipzig. Germany, and under the influence of Leipzig University. In the United States the first stations were established at Wesleyan Uni versity, Aliddletown, Conn., by the State of Con
neetient, in 1575, under direction of W. 0. Atwater. and about the same time at the Univer sity of California. Berkeley. Cal., by the uni versity, under direction of E. W. Ililgard. Previous to this, agricultural investigations had been carried on at Vale University under profes sors S. W. Johnson and William 11. Brewer. and at agricultural colleges in several States. Agri cultural experiment stations are now maintained in nearly all the countries of the world, and are usually under the patronage of general or local governments. They are most completely organ ized in the United States, France, Germany, Bel gium, Holland, Austria•flungary, Denmark, ,Japan, Sweden and Norway, Switzerland, and Russia. They aie eonducted on various plans in all parts of the British Empire.