FEDERAL LEGISLATION. 267 



specified in the act, is to be a department of tlie college established under the act of 

 Congress of July 2, 1862. The ol)jeits of the stations, as define<l in the first-men- 

 tioned act, are evidently of such a character as to necessitate the services of scientific 

 and expert workers. Most of the lines of investigation named in the act are general, 

 rather than local, and involve scientific e<iuipment and work. It is obviously the 

 intent that the stations establishe<l under this act shall carry on important investi- 

 gations wliich shall be of general benefit to the agriculture of the several States and 

 Territories. The sum of $15,000, which is annually appropriated by Congress under 

 this act for each station, is only sufficient to carry out a limited number of investi- 

 gations of the kind contemplated by the act. 



As the work of tlie stations in tlie different States has developed, it has been found 

 necessary {<> limit, rather than expand, the lines of work of the individual stations. 

 Thorough Work in a few lines has been found much more effective and i)roductive of 

 more iLseful results than small investigations in numerous lines. When we consider 

 the nature of the invi'stigations, the amount of money provided for the work fif each 

 station, and the fact that the act expressly jirovides for only a single station in con- 

 nection with eadi college, it becomes very dear that expenditures such as are neces- 

 sary to effectively maintain permanent substations ought not to be made from the 

 funds granted by Congress U) the State's and Territories for experiment .stations. The 

 maintenance of permanent substations as a rule involves the erection of buildings 

 and the making of other i)ermanent improvements. The sums of money whiih can 

 be expended for permanent imj)rovements under the act of Congress aforesaid are 

 so small that it is clear they were not intended to meet the needs of more than one 

 station in each State and Territory. 



When the legislature of a State or Territory ha.« given its a,ssent to the provisions 

 of the act of Ccjugress of .March 2, 1887, and has designated the institution which 

 shall receive the benefits ot said act, it would seem to have exhausted its powers in 

 the matter. The responsibility for the maintenance of an experiment station under 

 said act (U'volves upon the governing board of the institution thus designated. If 

 the legislature of the State or Territory sees fit to provide funds for the equipment 

 and maintf nance of other experiment stations and to put them under the control of 

 the same governing board, well and good, but this does not in any way diminish the 

 resj)onsibility of the board to administer the funds grante<l by Congre.«s in accordance 

 witli the provisions of sai<l act. 



Tlie wis<lf)m of Congress in limiting the number of stations to be established in 

 each Stat*' and Territory under the afcjresaid act has been clearly shown by the 

 experience of the few States and Territories which have attemi>ted the maintenance 

 of substations with the funds granted under saiil act. The expense of maintaining 

 sulwtations has a.s a rule materially weakened the central station, and the investiga- 

 tions carried on at the substations have l)een superficial and temporary. It is granted 

 that in many States and Territories more than one agricultural experiment station 

 might <lo useful work, and in some States more than one station has already been 

 8ucce.«8fully niaintaine<l; but in all these cases the State has given funds from its own 

 treasury to supplement those given by Congress. It is also granted that experiment 

 stations established under sjiid act of Congress and having no other funds than those 

 provideil by that act will often need to carry on investigations in different localities in 

 their respective States and Territories, but it is held that this shoul<l be done in such 

 a way as will secure the thorough supervisirm of such investigations by the expert 

 officers of the station and that arrangements for such experimental in(juiries sin uid 

 not be of ho permanent a character as to prevent the station from siiifting its work 

 from i»lace to place jis circum.«tances may require, nor involve the expenditure of 

 funds in such amounts and in such ways as will weaken the work of the station as a 

 whcde. 



As far iLS practicable, tiie cooiR*ration of individuals and communities benelited by 



