304 ANNUAL REPORTS OP DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The growth of the agricultural work as a whole in the State insti- 

 tutions has not been without effect upon the stations, sometimes to 

 their temporary disadvantage. The colleges have very generally had to 

 meet increased demands for both teaching and extension work. Fre- 

 quently this has been reflected in a larger burden on the station 

 men, since in some institutions the funds have been inadequate to 

 employ additional teachers. The pressure from this increased de- 

 mand in some cases has tended to dissipate the time and energy of 

 the station workers and distract their attention, while in others it 

 has resulted in drains on the funds set aside for the station, with a 

 tendency to encroach on the Federal appropriations. This has had 

 to be guarded against and in some cases has necessitated disallowances 

 and readjustments. Such cases are confined to a comparatively few 

 States, but their continuance indicates the straitened financial condi- 

 tion of some of the colleges and a failure fully to recognize the sta- 

 tion's position. In the absence of increasing appropriations, one of 

 the greatest needs of the stations is that they should receive liberal 

 treatment as departments of the colleges, and should be permitted the 

 full use of their limited funds for purposes which are clearly in the 

 field of experiment and research. 



While the plan for developing a practically separate staff of men 

 for station work is making considerable progress, a retrograde move- 

 ment in this respect has manifested itself in some of the institutions. 

 In these cases not only do important members of the station find less 

 opportunity to concentrate their efforts in that field, but as the staff 

 of the whole institution increases, many of the new members are 

 placed on the station roll for a small part of their time. The 

 staff of the station is thus increased in numbers without a corre- 

 sponding increase in efficiency or opportunity, and an increased finan- 

 cial and administrative burden is laid upon the station. In its ad- 

 ministration of the Federal funds the office has taken the position 

 that experiment station work can not be satisfactorily or economically 

 performed in the fragments of time of men who have heavy college 

 duties and responsibilities. It has therefore closely scrutinized such 

 part-time arrangements from the standpoint of service and apportion- 

 ment of salary, and has discouraged the practice where an advantage 

 to the station was not apparent. Merely as a convenience or economy 

 in the teaching work of the college, it is held to be without warrant. 



The stations have made notable progress in the direction of putting 

 all their work on a project basis. This has followed as a result of 

 their experience with the project system as required by the office for 

 investigations under the Adams fund; and the extension of the sys- 

 tem to all station work, regardless of the source of the funds em- 

 ployed, has been systematically urged by the office. It has been 

 found that work planned in the form of definite projects becomes 

 more direct and specific, and results in a minimum waste of time, 

 energy, and funds. The project plan also serves as a basis for the 

 allotment of funds and for administration, and its more general 

 inauguration has greatly facilitated the annual examination by the 

 office. 



The research projects conducted under the Adams fund con- 

 tinued to receive careful attention. The supervision of this work 

 by the office extends not only to the outlining of new projects and 

 their approval in advance of beginning work, but also to the progress 



