OFFICE OF EXPEKIMENT STATIONS. 167 



essentially as lieretofore and may be conveniently described under the 

 following- heads: (a) Agricultural experiment stations in the United 

 States; (b) American institutions for agricultural education; (c) Asso- 

 ciation of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations; 

 and, {(1) foreign institutions for agricultural education and research. 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

 ADVISORY RELATIONS WITH THE STATIONS. 



The amount and variety of the general advice and assistance which 

 the Office has been called upon to render to the stations in the differ- 

 ent States and Territories during the past year have been fully equal 

 to that of any x)revious year. The subjects which have recently been 

 most prominent are those relating to the functions of a director of an 

 experiment station and the duties of the stations in connection with 

 the inspection of fertilizers, feeding- stuffs, foods, nursery stock, etc. 



As the work of our stations develops, it becomes each yeav more 

 evident that its strength and permanence Avill largelj'- depend on their 

 direct management by skilled executive officers having broad tech- 

 nical training and S3nnpathies, combined with good practical judg- 

 ment and administrative ability. The proper performance of a 

 director's duties in administration and investigation requires all the 

 time and energy of a capable man. For this reason the attemj)t to 

 combine these duties with those of a college president has quite gen- 

 erally given unsatisfactory results. Various exigencies in the past 

 have made such a combination seem desirable in a number of States, 

 but there is now comjjaratively little reason for the continuance of 

 such an arrangement, and it is hoped that before long the separation 

 of the two offices will be universal. 



The attitude of the governing board toward the director of the 

 station is of course a large factor in his success or failure. The 

 theory on which boards of control were originally constituted for the 

 supervision of State educational institutions in many States seems to 

 have been that these boards would exercise direct management of 

 these institutions. It is now apparent to all who have made a careful 

 study of this matter that the highest success of these institutions can 

 be secured only by committing their direct management to permanent 

 executive officers who are making- the management of such enterprises 

 a life work. The board of control may still exercise useful functions 

 in the choice of such officers and in the general advice and support 

 which it gives them, but it should be careful not to hinder the progress 

 of the institution by unwise interference in the management of details. 



Questions relating- to the management of the experiment stations 

 are of increasing importance to the National Government in its rela- 

 tion with these institutions. The money which Congress annually 

 approj)riates too often fails to fully accomxjlish its purpose because 

 changes in the governing board of a station have brought about a 

 demoralization of that station, so that either little of value is done for 

 a considerable period or the accumulated data of years of experi- 

 menting in certain directions are rendered useless because of the 

 failure of the new board to continue the work to a successful conclu- 

 sion. The work of this Office in the supervision of the national funds 

 and in the giving of advice and assistance to the stations is often ren- 

 dered ineffective because it lias no way of securing the adequate 

 attention of the governing board to the presentation of its opinion or 



