300 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



QUALITIES POR THE ORIGINAL INVESTIGATOR. 



To succeed as an original investigator in science one must possess some of 

 the noblest qualities of mind and heart. He must be absolutely and accu- 

 rately honest, and in his methods of demonstration there must be no guess- 

 work. He has need of a patience which is inexhaustible, a zeal and energy 

 which never flag, and a spirit of devotion to his work which utterly ignores 

 self as separated from the object to be accomplished. He must also have a 

 well-disciplined mind, and skill in the use of books and apparatus. To pro- 

 duce such men, who shall at the same time be familiar with all the great prin- 

 ciples and problems of agriculture, is the highest possible achievement of our 

 college. One such graduate will do more for the advancement of the art, and 

 the honor of the profession and the benefit of mankind, than would a host of 

 mere farm apprentices possessed only of manual skill and a knowledge of sim- 

 ple, routine practice, however well adapted to any particular locality or style 

 of farming. 



I am well aware that there are persons M'ho hold a respectable position in 

 society, and yet are so ignorant as to regard with contempt all efforts at scien- 

 tific research. They ridicule the attachment of gauges to trees, and the har- 

 nessing of squashes, and the microscopic and chemical analysis of plants as of 

 no earthly use, except, perhaps, to gratify an idle curiosity. But how shall 

 agriculture be improved without the application to it of the principles of sci- 

 ence ; and how shall these be applied unless they are discovered ; and how shall 

 they be known if they are not sought ? In no way can the wealth of the world 

 be increased so surely as by the liberal endowment of institutions for the special 

 purpose of securing experiments in all departments of science which have a 

 direct connection with agriculture, especially in chemistry and in animal and 

 vegetable philosophy. When we consider that to observe the transit of Venus 

 during the present month expeditions have been sent to different parts of 

 the earth at a cost of more than a million of dollars, we may, at least, hope 

 that scientific observations upon things nearer home, and having more to do 

 with every-day life, will soon be appreciated and supported. 



We are told that when the illustrious scientist, Faraday, who devoted his 

 life to original research, was asked by some practical individual what was the 

 use of one of his famous discoveries, he answered him by propounding another 

 equally pertinent question, namely, "What is the use of a baby ?" The pos- 

 sible results are in both cases of transcendent moment, but in neither can they 

 be foretold. It is enough to know that every new truth is an open door to 

 some further discovery and to some useful invention. 



It has been well said that it is comparatively easy to know something about 

 -everything, but very difficult to learn everything about anything. Eemember- 

 ing that we are enveloped by inexplicable mysteries, and that abundant mate- 

 rial for investigation lies everywhere about us, we have attempted to study that 

 most familiar plant, the squash, — and the results have far surpassed our most 

 sanguine expectations. 



THE SQUASH. 



The particular species selected for observation is named Cucuriita maxima, 

 and the variety is called, by Gregory, the mammoth yellow Chili. It is said 

 to be a native of the Levant, and to have been introduced into England in 

 1547. It is sometimes called the French pumpkin, and its fruit readily attains 



