WORK AND EXPENDITURES OF THE AGRICULTURAL 



EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



By E. W. Allen and J. I. Schulte. 

 REVIEW OF THE YEAR. 



In the fiscal 3^ear 1911 the appropriation under the Adams Act 

 (act of March 16, 1906) reached its maximum of $15,000 to each 

 State. Starting with an initial allotment of $5,000, the fund has 

 increased annually by $2,000 up to the maximum, thus enabling a 

 steady growth based on the development of the research work. This 

 provision has afforded time in the working out of plans for the full 

 use of this research fund, and enabled the preparation of men neces- 

 sary to its successful employment. The result has been unmistak- 

 ahly beneficial. There has been a steady raising of the standard of 

 investigation from year to year, as its spirit and the requirements 

 of fundamental research in agricultural problems have gained wider 

 support. 



Much still remains to be done in the direction of strengthening 

 this capstone of the stations' activity. The need is both for more 

 men of genius for investigation, and for administration which will 

 stimulate them, hold them to their projects, and preserve them from 

 interruption. There is still an insufficient number of thoroughly 

 prepared men, and men have been encouraged to enter upon projects 

 who either from qualification or inclination have not fully measured 

 up to the requirements. Until the spirit of research and the desire 

 to pursue it is more uniformly found in those in charge of projects, 

 the productive research will not reach its full capacity and will be 

 confined to a relative few. 



The lack of a deep-seated and compelling interest in thorough- 

 going investigation which is still to be found is attributable in some 

 measure to the interruptions which come to the men and to the fact 

 that their investigations are in a sense a side issue. It has been a 

 mistake to divide the fund among so many persons, and to encour- 

 age the taking up of projects by men who were not thoroughly quali- 

 fied or to whom sufficient opportunity could not be held out. Little 

 can be accomplished in research in a desultory, disconnected effort. 

 It calls for thorough, continuous application, free from interruptions 

 which distract and interfere. 



The dropi)ing of projects before their completion is one of the 

 drawbacks to progress under this research fund. This has continued 



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