17 



enjoyed a most cordial and frank conference on the subject of the cooperation 

 between the Department of Agriculture and the agricultural experiment sta- 

 tions. It was l<nuwn to the Secretary and to your committee tliat some friction 

 had arisen in several of the States because of an overlapping of the lines of 

 work of the Department and the stations, and the lack of cooperation and a 

 nuitual understanding necessary to preserve the interests of all concerned. It 

 was felt that, in order that the a.ssociation's standing connnittee on cooperation 

 between the stations and the U. S. Dei)artnient of Agriculture should be in posi- 

 tion to advise the association from time to time, concerning the extent and char- 

 acter of this cooperation, a full and complete understanding between the author- 

 ities of the Department and the association should be secured. Your connnittee 

 considered it within its duty to attempt to secure such understanding and a recog- 

 nition of the br:)ad and general princii)les which should guide such cooperation. 

 The Secretary of Agriculture exiiressed his desire that conferences to that end 

 should be freely held with the appropriate othcials of the Department and desig- 

 nated a connnittee of c-hiefs <jf the bureaus of the Department, consisting of 

 Messrs. Galloway, Whitney, and True, to confer with your executive committee 

 with a view to arriving at a basis of cooperation mutually satisfactory. Three 

 personal conferences of the two committees were held, characterized on the i)art 

 of all concerned by cordiality, frankness, and an earnest desire to ascertain and 

 provide for the removal of possible causes of friction in the work of the Depart- 

 ment and of the stations. During the progress of the conferences your connnit- 

 tee. through correspondence, solicited the views of the station workers in the sev- 

 eral States and Territories upon the matter at issue, and a large contribution of 

 facts and opinions in the premises is n;:w in possession of the committee. For 

 various reasons it has not been found possible as yet, as a result of these con- 

 ferences, to reach a concrete conclusion in the matter, such, for example, as 

 might be embodied in a code of written regulations defining the legitimate work 

 of the Department and of the stations in connnon territory, but yotu* committee 

 is of the opinion that much' has lieen accomplished in tiie direction of nuitual 

 understanding and of the establishment of a " modus vivendi " which v\'ill afford 

 hereafter large opportunity for the association's standing committee on coopera- 

 tion to advance the interest of the experiment stations through cordial and 

 sympathetic relations with the Department of Agriculture. Your conmiittee 

 recommends the continuance of these conferences, understanding such to l>e also 

 the pleasure of the Secretary of Agrictilture. 



Meanwhile, during the progress of these conferences, a rather startling inci- 

 dent related to the suljject-matter occurred. The Committee on Agricidture of 

 the House of Representatives, during its consideration of the agricultural appro- 

 priation act, carrying the annual appropriation to the experiment stations, 

 inserted a cl;uise in the act. authorizing and directing the Secretary of Agricul- 

 tiu'e to "c(!ordinate the work of the several stations, and the work of the statimis 

 with the I)ei)artment of Agriculture, to the end of preventing unnecessary dupli- 

 cation of work, of increasing the ethciencj- of the stations and the Department 

 of Agriculture, and to unify and systematize agricultural investigation in the 

 United States." 



In the haste of disposing of necessary appropriation acts, this bill was re- 

 ported and within twenty-four hotu's passed the House of Representatives (with- 

 out a dissenting vote), and before your connnittee became aware of the exist- 

 ence of the clause referred to. Learning of its existence, your conimittee innnedi- 

 ately connnuincated by wire with the chairman of the Senate Committee on Agri- 

 culture and received assurance that the Senate would reject or modify the clause 

 as passed by the House. Having its own oi)inion of the objectionable character 

 of the proposed legislation strengthened by numerous telegrams and letters 

 from mend)ers of the association, your connnittee subsequentlj^ visited Wash- 

 ington and after conference with the chairmen and members of the House and 

 Senate Connnittees on Agriculture, secured without ditliculty a rejection of 

 the clause by the Senate and unanimous agreement to the rejection by the con- 

 ference c()nnnittee of the two Houses. 



This incident and the large and careful consideration given during the year 

 to the relations of the experiment stations to the Department of Agriculture, 

 lead your committee to rei)ort frankly to the association that, in its judg- 

 ment, a grave situation has ai-isen, involving the entire future of agricidtural 

 research work in the United States. For many years after the establishment 

 of the State experiment statious tliese were the main — almost the exclusivi 



