368 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tions on the spot. Dr. Armsby has forcibly said: "The function of the 

 experiment station is not the impossible tasli of giving him (the farmer) 

 recipes suited to every conceivable emergency. Its business is to enlarge 

 his knowledge of the natural forces which drive his farm as the steam 

 drives the engine, and to teach him to control them instead of being con- 

 trolled by them. It is not a device to save the farmer the trouble of 

 thinking. On the contrary, its constant and insistent demand is that he 

 think more. It can help him permanently and effectively only to the ex- 

 tent to which he can by such thinking digest and assimilate its help." 



The remarks about variety testing, which were made a little while ago, 

 might perhaps be construed as disparaging the testing of varieties by the 

 experiment stations. It is not my purpose to altogether condemn variety 

 testing as a line of station investigation, but ratlier to raise the question 

 whether other lines of work do not generally promise more lasting and 

 widespread benefit. Variety testing is especially valuable in some sec- 

 tions of the country and within proper limits it is desirable in other locali- 

 ties. In some of the newer parts of the land the great question is not 

 "Which variety will grow?" but "Will any variety grow?" Thus, if a 

 man in Minnesota desires to grow apples, he can not choose the list of 

 varieties that the fruit grower in Indiana may safely select. He needs 

 apples of the grade of hardiness of the Wealthy. So, also, in some parts 

 of Colorado the question is not what kind of pear to grow, but can any 

 pear be grown under the existing conditions. My opinion is that in the 

 older parts of the country, where there is already a good range of stand- 

 ard varieties from which selections may be made, the gi'eat need is not 

 so much to learn how well new varieties may succeed, but rather how 

 may the standard sorts be grown and handled more successfully. Isn't 

 it true that we have often tried to overcome mistakes in our ways of doing 

 things by seeking some new variety which would do well in spite of our 

 mistakes? We have read or listened to descriptions of the health and 

 vigor and wonderful productiveness and other desirable, though perhaps 

 impossible qualities, in the new variety and have said to ourselves, 

 "That's just what I need; I'll try some." But insects and disease and 

 thirst and hunger have eventually played havoc with the new variety as 

 they did with the old. 



Shall we, then, in the older States give up the search for better things? 

 By no means. There is need of good work in plant breeding, m plant 

 introduction and in variety testing. But we do not need new varieties 

 more than anything else. There are other important lines of work, also. 

 Let us ask, "Which knowledge is worth most? In which field of research 

 and experiment shall the greatest effort be expended?" Then having de- 

 cided these questions, let the station be encouraged and supported in pur- 

 suing its investigations persistently, even if new results can not be an- 

 nounced as frequently as we would desire to have them. Thus under- 

 standing each other, believing in and helping each other, the station 



