THE MONTHLY Bl LLETIM. ISO 



the difficulties become somewhal appalling. However, the fact that 

 these difficulties exist is the real reason for tin" maintenance of the 

 College of Agriculture and Agricultural Experimenl station, with its 

 staff of teachers and investigators. It' the discovery of fundamental 

 laws was not a serious business, and the accurate statement of agricul- 

 tural knowledge important to the progress of the state, then the College 

 iif Agriculture would nol be necessary. 



It is not important, therefore, to dwell npon the difficulties, as that 

 is not so much a public question as it is a matter of internal administra- 

 tion. It is of the greatest importance, however, that the true functions 

 of the College of Agriculture ami Agricultural Experiment Station be 

 clearly comprehended. Bills introduced into the last state legislature 

 aiming to place upon the director of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station of the University duties and responsibilities foreign to the 

 true function of the station, is only one of the reasons for referring to 

 this subject. 



It seems that a great many people do not distinguish between a good 

 thing and the College "I' Agriculture. Perfectly well-meaning sugges- 

 tions are constantly being made that this or that duty be placed upon 

 the College id' Agriculture, duties that certainly should he performed 

 by some one, but which are no part of the function of the College of 

 Agriculture or the Agricultural Experi nl Station. 



The function of the Department of Agriculture of the University 

 of California is '•the creation and diffusion of knowledge" relating 

 to agriculture. It aims to discover and instruct, hut not to control 

 or direct any person's actions. It aims In point out to its constituents 

 the opportunities which the agriculture of California offers, and to 

 teach them how to take advantage of those opportunities. It is not the 

 function of the Department of Agriculture to conduct or to interfere 

 in any way with their business. 



As a concrete example, take the problem of marketing farm products. 

 The Agricultural Experiment Station may properly seek to discover 

 better methods of packing and standardizing farm products and better 

 ways of transporting those products to the consumer ; may study 

 methods of attracting consumers to California products; may seek to 

 discover additional markets so that the farmer may have an opportu- 

 nity of selling in more than one market, ami may study to improve the 

 distribution of products among accessible markets so as to prevent an 

 oversupply of products or an undersupply in given places. It is not 

 its function to take part in the selling of farm products. 



In the counties having the farm bureau system the farm adviser is 

 constantly searching for new markets and new methods of marketing. 

 He keeps a card catalogue of members who have farm products for 

 sale, or who desire to purchase them. When it is found that one 

 member has an article for sale and another wishes to buy a similar 

 article, both members are notified. This closes the incident so far as 

 the university's officer is concerned. The members of the farm bureau 

 must deal between themselves. The farm adviser gives both parties 

 all the information he has, but he can not transact the sale or take any 

 responsibility concerning it. If the members of the bureau desire to 

 organize a selling or purchasing association, it is the duty of the farm 



