550 Thirty-second Annual Report 



The Dean and Director, who gives up his directorship in 

 order that the work of the Experiment Station may increase 

 in effectiveness, commends to the readers of this Report the 

 man who has been known to many of them for twenty years 

 or more as Professor J. J. Thornber. The work of the Experi- 

 ment Station should show almost immediate improvement under 

 his administration; for he has the good fortune to begin with 

 adequate preparation and the hearty support of all his 

 associates. 



A NEW DEPARTMENT 



With the development of the agriculture of Arizona, there 

 came the introduction of many plant diseases and an increase 

 of injury from native diseases of plants. For a number of 

 years it had been apparent that the Experiment Station needed 

 to give serious study to these diseases and methods of con- 

 trolling them. It was found possible to support the work 

 needed; and the Board of Regents authorized a Department of 

 Plant Pathology. 



Effective July 1, 1920, Mr. J. G. Brown, who had been 

 Assistant Professor of Biology in the College of Letters, Arts, 

 and Sciences for a number of years, was made Professor of 

 Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture, with the cor- 

 responding title of Plant Pathologist in the Experiment Station. 

 One year of work by the new department has more than justi- 

 fied the action of the Board. 



CHANGES IN PERSONNEL 



The strength of a college is due in part to the character 

 of the men and women who constitute its staff of workers ; and 

 in part it is due to the length of their service and the security 

 they feel in their positions. In the Thirty-First Annual Report 

 may be found two paragraphs which will gain in interest by 

 repetition here as follows: 



"The College of Agriculture has been fortunate in being 

 able to retain the services of strong men for many years. 

 Three heads of Experiment Station departments have been 

 connected with the University from fifteen to twenty years. 

 Three others have been in service from five to seven years. 

 Too much emphasis can not be placed on the importance of 

 keeping high-class men. The State of Arizona is to be con- 

 gratulated on supporting a University policy that enables the 

 administrative officers of the University to secure strong men 



