28 RKPOKT OF OFFICE OF FX I'FUIMKNT STATIONS. 



petont ajjfricultural expert. ^Fost of oiii- stations have thi^reforo l)een 

 comju'lled (o (•(•iilciit tlniusch fs with an ()i'»iani/ati()n of (licii- slaH's 

 ^vlli(•ll is luH'cssarily iinsatisi'artorv. 'I'licy liaxc cither t^ikeii most of 

 the time of three or four experts and very little of the time of several 

 more, or thev have takiMi ahout half the tiiiic^ of the iiiem))ers of the 

 stati" o-eiierally. 



The only way in which it has tiius far Ix'cn possible to organize tho 

 work of our stations broadly has been throuj^li th(Mr connection with 

 the atrricultiiral eollews. 'i'o meet the demand for the ))road <)r<raniza- 

 tion of both the colleges and the stations, the time of the officers of 

 these institutions has been very larg-ely divided between teaching and 

 research. We hear a great deal of criticism of our college and station 

 officers which entirely leaves out of account this dual arrangement. 

 For example, it may be said of a station veterinarian that he is doing 

 very little original work, and he is blamed for this, when the fact is that 

 he is paid only ^200 or $300 a v^ear from station funds, with the under- 

 standing that he shall give a small part of his time to some of the more 

 superficial problems of animal diseases in the region of the station. 

 The rest of his time is given to the college or to State inspection work 

 and most of his salary' comes from college or State funds. Theoretic- 

 ally, it might have l^een better for the station to have dispensed with 

 his services altogether, but the agricultural communit}^ woidd not be 

 content with such an arrangement. Whatever may be thought of the 

 relation of the colleges and stations from an ideal standpoint, it would 

 not have been possible to have operated the stations on the broad plan 

 on which they are now organized without the assistance of the colleges, 

 and on the other hand, many" college departments would T)e crippled 

 or destroyed without the aid of the stations. 



During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, 52 stations shared in 

 the benefits of the Hatch fund. Twentv-five of these were given 

 additional State aid and 27 did not receive State aid. Of the State 

 appropriations for the stations, 6 did not exceed $1,000, and onl}^ 8 

 equaled or exceeded the Hatch appropriation of $15,000. Several of 

 the State appropriations were exclusiveh' for the support of su})sta- 

 tions. The total State appropriations for stations and substations were 

 but little more than 51 per cent of the Hatch fund. 



The meagerness of the funds available for investigation in the 27 sta- 

 tions not aided by the State is shown by the following figures from the 

 statistical reports on the expenditures of the Hatch fund in those sta- 

 tions. Their total receipts from the Hatch fund were $405,000. Their 

 expenditures for administration and permanent improvements (salaries, 

 labor, traveling expenses, postage, stationery, libraries, and fixtures) 

 amounted to $313,086.38, or an average of $11,595 for each station. 

 The average amount expended for publications was $760. This leaves 

 an average for each station of onl}" $2,645 for the general expenses of 



