582 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



provided to follow the affairs of the station, there is scant time for 

 adequate consideration of matters which are fundamental to a 

 studied program of operation and the highest effectiveness of the 

 station. Without provision for adequate study and attention to sta- 

 tion affairs, the conditions for growth are not favorable and in- 

 creased funds will not necessarily mean larger effectiveness. 



In its dealings with the stations, the development of local leader- 

 ship has been urged by the office as one of the fundamental require- 

 ments. This relates not only to lines of work and the organization 

 of projects around problems too complex for a single division, but 

 to the work of the station as a unit. It is contended that adminis- 

 tration has its function in research as in every other organized 

 effort, and this implies more than the routine of correspondence, 

 reports, allotment of funds and approval of vouchers. Training and 

 insight which enable critical judgment, the exercise of a sympathetic 

 and appreciative attitude, and vision of possibilities and means 

 of accomplishment, are important assets in the administration of a 

 research institution. 



These things are of vital importance, as is evident when a national 

 view of the situation is taken ; and this has led to the pointing out 

 of weaknesses and the urging of a stronger organization. In a 

 number of cases the station organization has become quite loose and 

 is little more than a nominal one. In such cases the station has 

 little cohesion or existence as a definite institution or department, but 

 stands as an aggregation of separate divisions having little interest 

 in common. To an extent this may result in the obliteration of 

 boundaries or distinctions between the station functions and those 

 of other branches of the institution. 



Some tendency in the latter direction is developing in relation to 

 the graduate school, to which attention has been directed by the 

 office. The employment by the station of students engaged in 

 graduate work in the college has grown from small proportions to a 

 quite widely recognized practice. Statistics collected show that at 

 least half the stations are now making use of graduate students in 

 their work, the number being as high as 15 in some stations. Com- 

 monly such graduate students receive pay for their labors, and they 

 are often given the rank of research assistant in the station staff. 

 Many stations use for these scholarships funds assigned to the sta- 

 tion for research, the amount ranging in individual cases from a few 

 hundred dollars up to as much as $15,000 a year. ^Vlierever the 

 Federal funds have been so used, special attention has been given 

 to the nature and amount of the services rendered, and in some 

 individual cases objection has been made to the practice. 



The experiment station laboratories and problems may on occa- 

 sion offer special opportunity for the graduate student, the station 

 may be able to utilize such services to its advantage in prosecut- 

 ing its problems, and in general it is to the interest of the stations 

 to encourage graduate study along agricultural lines as a means of 

 increasing the supply of trained investigators. But this, it is con- 

 tended, ought not to result in any confusion of function, or to be 

 done at any sacrifice of the station's funds or the provision of a 

 competent staff of workers. Reliance upon such help in place of 

 trained assistants and more continuous service is advised against. 



