2 Alaskan Science Conference 



tional staff house adjacent to the laboratory building. At the 

 Matanuska Station a contractor is erecting a building providing 

 garage space, threshing shed for agronomic work, area for work 

 with horticultural crops and fire proof grain storage. 



From Territorial building appropriations the University has 

 just completed a large dormitory-mess hall at the Fairbanks 

 Station, in the basement of which is a low pressure steam boiler 

 to be used in technical work and as a central heating plant. 

 Part of the basement floor will be used for laboratory work. In 

 addition they have extended the steam lines to several buildings 

 and are now completing a garage-threshing shed with fire proof 

 grain storage facilities, similar to those under construction by 

 the Federal Department at the Matanuska Station. All of these 

 facilities are part of the coordinated long term planning with 

 which both parties to the joint agreement are in full accord. 



Research work of the Alaska Station has been departmental- 

 ized. Seven departments are operating on a full time basis. 

 They are: Soils science, horticulture, animal industry, agrono- 

 my, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering and ento- 

 mology. Departments of human nutrition and plant pathology 

 have not yet been organized. All projects in each of the depart- 

 ments are conducted on standard work and line project basis. 



There are eleven line projects under the soils science depart- 

 ment, nine under horticultural crops, eight under animal in- 

 dustry, five in agricultural engineering, two in agricultural 

 economics, ten in agronomic field crops and three in ento- 

 mology. 



Three departments are new, having operated for approxi- 

 mately one year each. It seems better research policy to at first 

 confine the efforts of the technicians to a few major projects 

 adequately financed, than to dissipate the energies of the per- 

 sonnel over a larger number of projects inadequately staffed 

 and under financed. 



The staff for this joint research program is composed of 

 highly trained, carefully selected specialists in their respective 

 fields. Both the employee, his wife and family must be willing 

 to forego certain refinements of living standards. Each must 



