52 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



that they are the practical men, and therefore best qualified to deal with all material 

 matters. These men are unworthy of the name which they assume. They are our 

 heritage of years gone by. In the familiar language of the day they are " back numbers." 



The man truly practical is he who knows the boundaries of his own knowledge. 



With exact and full knowledge, the treatment of economic questions is simple and 

 easy. The American farmer understands how to raise a full crop of corn or tobacco 

 on rich soil, and if his soil needs strengthening, or his foes and rivals in the animal 

 or vegetable kingdom become too strong, he may summon experts in agricultural science 

 who know just how to relieve him from his foes. 



When, on the other hand, knowledge in regard to an economic problem is inexact 

 or incomplete, it is in the province of scientific research to determine exactly what is 

 to be done. All the facts, or supposed facts, must be brought together, weighed, 

 analyzed, and classified. Prejudices, traditions, and false opinions must be eliminated, 

 and a true estimate must be made of the facts which remain. A map must be drawn 

 showing how much of the field of knowledge has been traversed and how much is 

 unknown — a map corresponding to that of North America at the beginning of the 

 century, which our exploring parties had when they set forth to discover the sources 

 of the Mississippi and the western limits of the continent. Then, aided by all 

 necessary appliances for exact investigation and guided by the most logical methods 

 of deductive reasoning, a series of researches must be begun which shall continue until 

 a full understanding has been reached, not only of the subject itself, but of its relation 

 to the kindred problems which touch it upon every side. 



This is the province of modern science in the discussion of economic questions. 



The arts and industries of man are separated naturally into two classes. The 

 primary or exploitative industries are those by which the fruits and resources of the 

 earth are gathered. The secondary, the elaborative or manufacturing industries, are 

 those based upon the primary industries, from which and through which they obtain 

 the materials which they elaborate. 



The primary industries stand between man and the bounties of Mother Earth. 

 Without their agency he is like Tantalus of old, and not one drop or morsel can he have 

 to supply his simplest needs. 



The primary or exploitative industries are arranged in three groups: Agriculture, 

 Mining, and Fishery — the exploitation of the products of the earth's surface, the prod- 

 ucts of the interior of the earth, the products of the waters. 



In each of these fields of activity there should be fuller knowledge in certain 

 definite directions: 



(1) In determining the character and extent of the sources of supply. 



(2) In discovering the least expensive and least wasteful mode of bringing the 

 harvest to the consumer or the manufacturer. 



(3) In the case of agriculture and fisheries, in preventing destruction of the sources, 

 either by protective restriction or by artificial replenishment. 



Of the three the fisheries are most in need of scientific aid. The mines are always 

 under the control of individuals, whose personal interest forces them to be prudent. 

 Agriculture is based upon individual proprietorship, and the improvident and care- 

 less farmer or stock-breeder at once feels the results of his own shortcomings. In 

 the fisheries, however, individual wants are lost sight of in individual rivalries, and 

 although the preservation of aquatic; animals is a matter of national importance] 

 reckless men with engines for wholesale capture may entirely exterminate the inhabi- 



