REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 59 



still lie ahead of us, and the planninfj and execution of experiments 

 and investigations for their solution, as well as the development of 

 the necessary machinery for conductinfj^ vigorous campaigns to elimi- 

 nate the pests and diseases which are handicapping production in 

 every direction and in every section of the country, depend for their 

 success upon the ability of the department to secure and retain the 

 highest type of scientific and administrative officers. 



ABNORMAL TURNOVER. 



The turnover in personnel has reached an alarming stage. Highly 

 trained and experienced specialists and administrators are leaving 

 the service for salaries two, three, and four times as much as the 

 department can pay them, and many of them can not be replaced at 

 anytiiing like the compensation that can be offered under existing 

 limitations. We have a record of the salaries received in outside 

 employment by 528 of the scientific and technical emploj^ees who 

 left the department during the fiscal year 1920. This record shows 

 that 383 of these employees are receiving from other public institu- 

 tions and commercial concerns compensation ranging from $500 to 

 $7,000 more than they were paid by the department. 



It is understood, of course, that the Government can not meet com- 

 mercial competition. The scientific and technical men of the depart- 

 ment do not themselves expect it. As a general rule, they are willing 

 to accept less in order that they may remain in strictly scientific work, 

 but they certainly should be paid salaries sufficient to keep themselves 

 and their families in reasonable comfort. Otherwise, the Depart- 

 ment's force will continue to be drained of many of its most efficient 

 workers. It can not be subjected to this steady draft upon its trained 

 personnel without serious impairment of the service, nor can it utilize 

 the funds appropriated by the Congi-ess most effectively with a con- 

 stantly disintegrating organization and an increasing percentage of 

 new and relatively inexperienced personnel. 



UMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH. 



The department should be in position to retain its scientific and 

 technical workers over long periods. From the standpoint of the 

 public service, a man once embarked upon an important field of in- 

 vestigation should remain there if he is capable and efficient. If 

 he leaves to accept other employment, he carries with him much 

 of the information he has acquired in the progress of his work, 

 information which enriches him in experience, but which can not 

 possibly be put on record. A new man, continuing the work, must, 

 in many instances, go over a considerable part of the field already 

 covered before he reaches the point where his predecessor left off. 



We are at a stage of our agricultural progress where fundamental 

 research and investigation are more essential than ever before. We 



