4 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and submaintenaiKv rations I'lirnisli an illiisli ai ion of (his rclation- 

 slii]). Full-fod steers Avere found to increase in liei<i;ht more rapidly 

 than those on a maintenance ration. Bones were found to increase in 

 len<!;th, and fat was resorbed when the weight remained stationary. 

 It is on the results of investigations like these tliat the stockman must 

 base his practical work. In the past the feeder has too often been 

 governed largely by empirical rides, and the breeder has relied upon 

 his abilit}' as a judge of exterior form to improve his stock. The 

 latter nnist be able to look beneath the surface in making his selection, 

 and both must understand the laws which govern the growing organ- 

 ism from the early stages of development to maturity. 



Breeders and feeders are artists who work Avith living plastic ma- 

 terials. Their art. like that of those who work in clay and oil, is more 

 the product of knowledge and ideals than of manual skill. As the 

 painter knows the properties of the different pigments which he uses, 

 so the breeder and feeder must know the properties of the feeds he 

 uses, and the laws of the animal body as respects inheritance and re- 

 sponsiveness to feed and treatment. 



Knowledge is a greater factor in the molding of living forms than 

 in manipulating inert matter. Material composed of w^ood, metal, 

 or clay becomes a work of art by the harmonious working of hand 

 and brain. The creation of plant and animal types is dependent very 

 largely upon a knowledge of the law^s which govern the transmission 

 of characters and the growth and development of living things. The 

 ideal animal types of the future must be attained with the aid of 

 principles discovered by the patient research of the physiologist and 

 biologist. Here as elsewhere the improvement of agricultural prac- 

 tices of the future must be founded on the investigation of the 

 present. 



The American Society of Animal Nutrition, whose first annual 

 meeting was held in connection with the International show, bids 

 fair to be an efficient agency for promoting investigations of the 

 more fundamental principles which underlie the arts and practices of 

 animal industry. A brief account of this first regular meeting is 

 given elsewhere (p. 97). 



This society had its origin at an informal meeting of investi- 

 gators in animal nutrition during the session of the Graduate School 

 of Agriculture at Cornell University, in 1908. At that time a com- 

 mittee was appointed to consider the desirability of forming a per- 

 manent organization, which made a favorable report at the second 

 meeting, held in Chicago, in November, 1908. The society accord- 

 ingly was organized, with thirty-two members representing eighteen 

 state colleges and experiment stations and the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. Its avowed purpose is " to improve the quality of inves- 



