35 



education and is not far-roaohinp; enousli to onal)lo tho student to mastoi- his 

 opportunities lilie one wlio is surruunde«l from bis earliest school days with an 

 atmosphere of instruction, where not merely the proper j;eneral knowled.w is 

 supplied, hut where the knowledge gained points constantly to the farm. The 

 instruction, which is given by means of the farmers' institutes and which is 

 now available in nearly every State in the Union, is to be highly connntMided 

 and should receive the support of the college ; yet also this work is not strictly 

 educational; besides the institutes do not reach, as a rule, that class which is 

 in the greatest need of advice and instruction. The agricultural i)ress is a 

 mighty force, and if proi»i'rly directed is of very great service, yet this likewise 

 is not an educational factor in its true sense. The skilled workman in other 

 industrial lines does not regard his trade journal as ;; source of education, but 

 rather as a source of information as to the progress that is being made in his 

 profession. It is not possible by any of these means to acipiire the sort of 

 education which may come from the elementary or high schools. Such educa- 

 tion will come only "when those interested in the higher echication will see to 

 it that sound learning is provided in all grades. 



The colleges also have a direct resiionsibility as to the kind and amount of 

 work that shall be done by the exiteriuient station, while on the other hand, 

 the experiuuMit stations have a direct resiionsibility in providing the colleges 

 with accurate data for the instruction that shall be given in the various 

 branches. The responsibility of the colleges is nnich greater, therefore, than 

 that involved in the (piestion of the number of hours that an e.\i)eriment sta- 

 tion officer shall teach in the college. This (luestion is important, however, 

 not only because the institutions are absolutely distinct, in so far as their 

 incomes are concerned, but because the work of each is specifically prescribed 

 in the laws establishing them. It is (piite possible that an exact division of 

 time and salary may be made, and yet the purpose of the appointment of the 

 experiment-station ollicer be defeated simply because it is not a (piestion of 

 equivalents as to division of time and jiroportionate jiaynient of salary. It 

 is a fact that the progress made by the colleges is coincident in many instances 

 with the establishment of the experinu>nt station. This is no discredit to tlie 

 college, nor is it to be regarded as a matter of great credit to the experiment 

 stations. It was rather a matter of conditions, emphasizing more strongly 

 than arguments the question of the interdependent relations of the two insti- 

 tutions, the one supplementing the work of the other. The colleges were not 

 in a position to come in touch with the farmers ; the experiment stations were, 

 and hence the growth of the colleges has been, in a degree, proportion.ate to 

 the effectiveness of the work of the experiment stations. The stations, like 

 the college, have their work defined in the laws establishing them, and because 

 the provisions of the law are capable of a broad interpretation, the character 

 of the work tluit shall be done is left largely with the individual institutions. 

 The primary function of the experiment station is, however, not to teacli. 

 but to conduct experiments which shall secure and establish facts and principles 

 that broaden the sciences upon which the practice of agriculture is built, and 

 shall thus ultimately remove in large part the uncertainty now involved in its 

 pursuit, which leads to the waste of much energy and involves vast fiutincial 

 losses. The work in question is broad and complex, and concerns not merely 

 the raising of the crude products, and likewise their conversion into mer- 

 chantable forms, but also the transformation of vegetable into animal products, 

 and their further change into still finer forms. With the varying conditions 

 that exist in the different States in respect to the soil, climate, and season, 

 and location in reference to markets, the problems for study are almost in- 

 numerable, and thus call for broadly trainetl men who shall not only be capa- 

 ble of wisely selecting lines of investigation, but shall also be able to plan 

 and carry on' investigations in a highly scientific manner. 



There may or mav not be any marked significance in the first paragraph of 

 the second section of tlie Hatch Act, which says " that it shall be the object 

 and dutv of said experiment stations to conduct original researches and verify 

 experiments and publish results." etc. It is abundantly evident, however, 

 from a careful study of the work that has been carried out by the various 

 stations, that the lines of investigation specified in terms more or less exact 

 have more largelv occupied the attention of the stations than original re- 

 searches. They liave taken up the work of the various States that seemed to 

 be of the most immediate importance, which, though not in all cases strictly 

 scientific, has furnished a basis for broader work in the future, while at the 



