170 DEPAKTMENTAL REPOKTS. 



regards expenditures under the Hatch Act. those stations which are supported 

 entirely by the national funds have the most difficulty in strictly conforming with 

 the law because of the increasing- demands made upon them for various kinds of 

 services on behalf of agriculture not provided for by that act. The fact that a 

 considerable number of the States have liberally supplemented the national funds, 

 and thus greatly increased the scope of the work of their stations, has caused 

 much embarrassment to less fortunate stations, since their constituencies of ten do 

 not understand why they can not do things witich the other stations are doing. 

 The wisdom of Congress in making the Hatch fund a research fund is every year 

 becoming more apparent This Department is, iherefore. disposed to more 

 strongly insist on a strict interpretation of this act in this direction, and to hohl 

 that it is not only in accordance with the obligation, but also to the interest of 

 the States, to devote the Hatch fund to investigations in agriculture and to sup- 

 plement this fund as far as may be necessary to promote the interests of agricul- 

 ture in other lines. 



The substations. — The national funds have been almost entirely withdrawn from 

 the support of permanent substations. Colorado is now the only State in which 

 these funds have not been supplemented by State funds for the maintenance of 

 substations. In that State, however, the number of substations has been reduced 

 to two, and their operations are being restricted with a view to making their work 

 very largely of the nature of special investigations, which may properly be con- 

 tinued further for a time in the hope that Colorado will ere long follow the exam- 

 ple of the other States in this matter. Substations are now maintained with the 

 aid of State funds in California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, 

 and Washington. The work of these sul stations is, for the most part, confined 

 to the simpler field operations which are supplementary to the main enterprises 

 of the stations. It becomes clearer every year that they can be made thoroughly 

 successtul only by the expenditure of relatively large amounts of money and the 

 employment of well-trained experts to conduct their operations. 



Relations of colleges and statioiis. — The movement for the improvement of 

 courses of agriculture in the colleges with which the stations are connected is 

 steadily growing. The past year has witnessed many changes for the better as 

 regards specialization of the work of instruction and the development of courses 

 suited to the varied needs of students. More than ever before the colleges are 

 reaching out beyond their class rooms and are carrying useful instruction to the 

 farmers through farmers" institutes, correspondence courses, and other forms of 

 so-called university extension. As this outside work becomes better organized it 

 is more apparent that it belongs to the college rather than to the station. At the 

 same time when properly managed it affords efficient means for bringing the 

 results of station work home to the farmer, and thus usefully supplements the pub- 

 lications of the stations. With the return of financial prosperity the States are 

 more liberally endowing the colleges and providing them with better buildings 

 and equipment. As the stations usually make considerable use of the improved 

 facilities given to the colleges the means for making their work more efficient 

 have been materially improved during the past year. 



As the work of both college and station grows in extent and complexity it 

 becomes more apparent that in order to perform the most efficient service the sta- 

 tion should lie organized strictly as a separate department of the institution with 

 which it is connected, and that it should have an organization so compact that its 

 work may proceed in accordance witli a schedule carefully planned and ener- 

 getically administered. To secure this end, experience shows that it is quite 

 desirable that the station should have a competent executive officer, who can 

 devote his time very largely to planning and directing its operations, managing 

 its general business, and representing its interests before the public. It is encour 

 aging to observe that in several States during the past year these considerations 

 have led to the more complete separation of the business of the station from the 

 general business of the college, and to the appointment of a director of the station 

 as a separate officer. 



Cooperative experiments witli farmers. — The number and importance of the 

 experiments which the stations are conducting in cooperation with practical fann- 

 ers and horticitlturists have greatly increased of late. Thousands of such exxieri- 

 nients are now annually conducted in the United States. These range all the 

 way from simple tests of varieties of plants to special experiments in the manage- 

 ment of farm or horticultural crops, live stock, or particular operations, such as 

 tobacco curing. It is coming to be more clearly recognized that the field opera- 

 tions in agriculture or horticulture conducted on the station farm need to be 

 supplemented by similar work in a considerable number of localities in order to 



