190 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



adviser to give them such information and counsel as he is capable of 

 giving, advising for or against such an association as circumstances may 

 dictate. He can not act as agent of any such commercial organization 

 nor accept directly or indirectly any responsibility for its transactions. 

 The station will show a farmer how to spray his trees, how to inoculate 

 his hogs against cholera, or how to map the soil on his farm. Having 

 received the necessary information, the owner must proceed to perform 

 the operations, or employ some one to do it. if the work is to be done. 

 In other words, as soon as the transaction becomes commercial the 

 station's relation to it ceases. 



In California four functions of government are recognized, i.e., the 

 executive, legislative, judicial, and the educational, which latter includes 

 research. That is to say. it is a government function to acquire and 

 diffuse knowledge. The university and public schools are the agents for 

 acquiring and inculcating this knowledge. Logically, therefore, it is not 

 the function of tin 1 university to execute the laws of the state. However, 

 the director of the Agricultural Experiment Station is charged with 

 police functions in the case of the control and sale of fertilizers and 

 insecticides, and in the production of anti hog-cholera scrum, virus and 

 other antitoxins. While the necessary analyses and expert advice con- 

 cerning matters of this kind should emanate from the station, the execu- 

 tion of the law should obviously be in the hands of an agent directly 

 responsible to the chief executive of the state. 



There are many reasons why the station should not be charged with 

 the responsibility for the execution of laws. But the most fundamental 

 one is that all members of the station staff should remain unbiased. 

 They should not be placed in the attitude of an advocate nor have any 

 interest in a decision, beyond stating the scientific truth. In this 

 connection it is strongly urged that a law should be passed exempting 

 members of the station start' from being called into court to give expert 

 testimony in case of litigation between private interests. 



There is, therefore, a capital distinction between performing executive 

 aud police functions and that of having the scientific knowledge upon 

 which the executive and police powers can act wisely. The College of 

 Agriculture should, and is ready at all times to assist those agencies 

 whose duty it is to execute the laws. Thus it. has served many state 

 boards, such as the State Board of Control. State Civil Service Commis- 

 sion, State Reclamation Board, State Commission on Housing and 

 Immigration, and Market Director. The College of Agriculture takes 

 the ground that while it should not attempt to execute the laws of the 

 state it should assist every public agency which desires it with expert 

 information. 



The North Atlantic states and the three corn states had in 1910, 

 600,000 to 700.000 farmers. California had less than 100,000. Will 

 California some day have an equal number .' The North Atlantic states 

 had seven times as many farmers and ten times as many people. The 

 three corn states had about eighl times as many farms and about four 

 times as many people. 



Human beings are the most important factor where human activities 

 are concerned. Why do the North Atlantic states, with an area only 

 equal to California, have ten times the population? An important, and 



