188 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



TIjo association was addrossod at the opening session by lion. Jame"=5 

 Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, and a former ineinhci' of the asso- 

 ciation. He declared his deep interest in the work of the association 

 and his belief in the |)urj)oses of the institutions re[)resented. His 

 intention upon first coniinj; to the Dejiartnienl had been to make it 

 helpful to the experiment stations, but he found (hat it was first nec- 

 essary to strenfjthen the Department itself. This he had done bj' 

 building up the stafi' of workers and securing increased appropriations 

 fiom Congress; and tlie stage had been reached where more attention 

 could be given to aiding the stations. Secretary Wilson declared the 

 greatest need of (he stations to be more money, and he stated that in 

 his forthcoming report to Congress he had strongly recommended that 

 larger ajjpropriations be made for the use of the stations. He held 

 that this Avould be an economy measure, since there is no economy so 

 far-reaching as the strengthening of the American farmer. 



The annual presidential address was delivered by Dr. E, B. Voor- 

 hees, of New Jersey, on the evening of the first day of the convention. 

 This related in the main to some of the duties and responsibilities of 

 the agricultural colleges and experiment stations. Doctor Voorhees 

 held these colleges primarily responsible for the kind and amount of 

 work done b}^ the stations, because the working staff is the first deter- 

 mining factor in station work, and it is to the colleges that we must 

 look for the fundamental training for this w^ork. He urged the need 

 of more research work on the part of the stations, and declared that 

 the present limitations were largely due to the inadequate supi)ly of 

 broadly trained men capable of planning highly scientific investiga- 

 tions. The speaker called specific attention to lines in Avhich agricul- 

 ture is in need of investigation, to prevent losses of stock and products, 

 and to bring districts now largely wastes into more profitable cultiva- 

 tion. These illustrations were presented to show that '" it is the mani- 

 fest duty of this association, as representing both the colleges and the 

 stations, to see to it that provision is made for the specific training of 

 investigators; for, all things considered, our progress has been meas- 

 ured and its limits fixed by the available men, rather than by material 

 equipment." 



The report of the executive committee, presented by Dr. H. C. 

 White, chairman, briefly reviewed the activities of the committee dur- 

 ing the year, notably in securing modification of the orders of the 

 War Department with reference to military instruction in the land- 

 grant colleges, and its efforts in behalf of the bills before Congress 

 for the increase of the experiment station appropriation and for the 

 establishment of mining schools. The committee believed that the 

 association should concentrate its efforts on a single bill, rather than 

 attempt the support of several measures. This suggestion led to con- 

 siderable discussion later in the meeting, which brought out the quite 



