EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXV. September, 1911. No. 4. 



Ill weighing the advantaoes of a calling or a field of work the 

 apparent returns and compensations naturally conie in for promi- 

 nent consideration along with the tastes and inclinations of the 

 individual. This is true when a career is being selected or when a 

 change of position or of (X'cupation is contemplated. If the calling 

 or the position is a commercial one, the standards of business will 

 naturally weigh heavily, but if it is a scientific career, quite different 

 standards and considerations should prevail, and as between the 

 two spheres there are wide distinctions to be taken into account. 



These distinctions and standards are not appreciated by the world 

 at large and they are not always fully taken account of by either 

 young men or those already engaged in scientific work. This is evi- 

 dent from the experience of men connected wnth our agricultural 

 colleges and experiment stations. Too often the pecuniary consid- 

 eration temporarily overshadows all others and the standards of 

 business success shut out a just appreciation of very real compensa- 

 tions which should have large influence Avith the man of science. This 

 turns young men from the field of teaching and investigation and 

 leads to dissatisfaction and unrest among those engaged in it. Not in- 

 frequently men compare their work and its returns with those of 

 a commercial or professional career, to its apparent disadvantage, 

 because its special conditions and compensations are temporarily 

 lost sight of. The opportunity for increased salary and the ulti- 

 mate possibilities in business loom large in the horizon and lead even 

 specially trained men to abandon a scientific career, often to their 

 regret after a short experience. 



Commercial and professional positions undoubtedly hold out 

 larger material rewards to the men who are able to command them, 

 and they probabl}^ always will. As a result there is a danger that the 

 standards and rewards of the market place will fill an undue portion 

 of the horizon of the young investigator, to the exclusion of other and 

 no less important considerations. That this is the case with students 

 in college is evidenced b}^ the experience of the large universities, 

 which have commented on the relatively small number who devote 



301 



