NEEDS OF THE STATIONS, 27 



Aloiitr with the inoiv scioiititic work which the stations have done in 

 deteniiiiiini^ the mitritive \ahie of t'ci'diiio- stutl's there has heen nnicli 

 practieal woik in the iiiiprovenieiit of the practice of feeding- dirt'ereut 

 kinds of faini animals. The skill which the stations have developed 

 in selecting and feeding animals has of late appealed strongly to the 

 practical feeder. As recent illustrations of this, it is worthy of men- 

 tion that the Missouri Station topped the Chicago market with a l>uncli 

 of steer.; which it selected and fattened last winter, and that at the live- 

 stock show at Chicago, in 1908, the grand champion of the fat-animal 

 show was a steer selected from a large lot and fed hv the Nebraska 

 Station. 



In general it may l^e stated that the excellent showing that the agri- 

 cultural colleges and experiment stations have recently made in the 

 great live-stock expositions has brought about a marked change in the 

 attitude of practical men toward these institutions. 



NEEDS OF THE STATIONS. 



As the work of the stations advances demands are being made upon 

 them in various directions which they are nna])le to meet with their 

 present resources. In considering the needs as well as in judging the 

 work of the stations it is very important to have in mind the conditions 

 under which they are operating. By the terms of the Hatch Act, the 

 stations are organized with a view to the investigation of problems in 

 all branches of ayfriculture. For this reason, though it would be better 

 theoretically for individual stations to underttike only a few lines of 

 work and thus refuse to operate in many branches of agriculture, 

 practically it has 1)een necessary to organize them so that their opera- 

 tions may cover the main lines of the agriculture existing in the States 

 in which they are severally located. Thus each station if fully organ- 

 ized would have departments of agrononn^ (tield crops), horticulture, 

 animal husbandr}', rural engineering, agricultural chemistry, plant 

 pathology, entomology, veterinary medicine, and, in most States, dai- 

 rying. If there is any specialization of work in these departments— and 

 no stiition can do the most eft'ective work unless there is considera])le 

 specialization — experts in such su))jects as soils, bacteriology, animal 

 physiology, and i\u\ ditlerent kinds of live stock must be employed. 

 In many States the needs of special industries, such as sugar making, 

 tobacco growing, apiculture, etc., shoidd be provided for. Thus it 

 may be safeh' said that a station which does not have on its staff 

 experts n^presenting at least ten di tie rent branches of the scienc*^ of 

 agriculture is not adecpiately etpiipped for its work. But stations 

 whose income is conlined to the Hatch fund can not engage the full 

 time of ten experts, for even if the whole fund were used for salaries, 

 it woidd ])rovide only an average amuuil compensation of $l,r)(M) apiece, 

 and this is not a sullicient salary to secure the entire services of a com- 



