180 



or because it is too iimch trouble to work out tbe problems. A question In 

 econoiiiics is asked, and economics is Just as important, iuid it oufrbt to havo 

 just as much of the attention of the ajiricultural colleges, as chemistry, botany, 

 physics, or any other science. The only troul)le is that we know so little about 

 it and give so little attention to it. 



W. H. Jordan. I used those examples merely to illustrate the difficult things 

 that come to us. not to make fun of the farmer. I Itelieve it to be true, never- 

 theless, that such a question, for instance, as the first one I referred to, is an 

 absolutely unanswerable question, because it is beyond the power and wisdom 

 of any station director or any station employee to pick out business methods 

 and the business course for anybody. 



I commend what Professor Hunt said of the importance of the study of eco- 

 nomics, and that we have very serious limitations in answering such questions, 

 which we ought not to have very long. 



H. J. Wheeler. When such general questions come in it seems to me that 

 they should, so far as possible, be turned over to the demonstration department 

 of the college to answer. I do not believe in turning the farmer down. It is 

 the business of the college, and it should be the business of every college con- 

 nected with these stations to have a demonstration department. Now, it is an 

 unfortunate fact, perhaps, that the demonstration departments in all these 

 colleges are not yet capable of answering all the questions that come in ; and 

 perhaps the stations are still answering some of them. The point I want to 

 make is that just as fast as it is possible, and the right men are provided in the 

 demonstration departments to answer these questions, all such (piestions should 

 be diverted to that department, so as to leave the research end to its legitimate 

 work. 



C. G. Hopkins. I would like to raise the question whether the man who has 

 discovered the facts and has them all in his hand had not better be a member 

 of that other department, because he is best able to answer? 



W. J. Spillman. of the V. S. Department of Agriculture. This is a subject 

 which is very vital and intensely interesting to me. In the first place, I want 

 to object to the use of the term " demonstration farm " for the demonstration 

 station. A farm and an experiment station or a demonstration station and a 

 demonstration farm are wholly different things. A farm is a business propo- 

 sition. A station is a place for demonstrating or for experimenting, as I under- 

 stand it. 



I like Doctor Wheeler's suggestion that demonstration work be taken up 

 seriously by the college, and that it belongs in the college rather than in the 

 station ; and yet the station men belong there a part of their time. There are 

 many things they know better than anyone else. Without encroaching too 

 much on their time, we ought to utilize their knowledge. 



The necessity for demonstration work may be illustrated as follows : Here 

 are certain things which Director Thorne shows to be true with respect to fer- 

 tilizers on a certain type of soils and with certain crops. Farmei's in distant 

 parts of the State do not get a chance to see these results. Many of them do 

 not even read the bulletins giving the results. Generally speaking, the farmer 

 is not in the habit of getting his information by reading. Now it is legitimate, 

 if we have the fimds and the men, to establish a station \\iiere w(> can carry on 

 a demonstration of that which has been shown to be true. But we must not 

 confuse demonstrations of this character with demonstration farms, such as 

 those we are conducting in conjunction with some of the southern stations. 

 Now, a farm is a business proi)ositi(>n. Our demonstration farms are farms 

 which are being nni for the i)ur])osc of making so much money that they will 

 attract public attention. They are not stations; they arc not plats; they are 



