EDITORIAL. 703 



dition and progress of American agriculture require national aid for 

 investigation and experimentation in the several States and Terri- 

 tories; and that, therefore, this convention approves the principle 

 and general provisions of what is known as the Cullen bill of the last 

 Congress, and urges upon the next Congress the passage of this or a 

 similar act." So earnest was the convention in this matter that it 

 appointed a committee on legislation, which was very effective in 

 securing the passage of the amended bill. 



The convention also expressed its approval of Commissioner Col- 

 man's recommendation for a closer relation by adopting a resolution 

 urging the creation of a branch in the Department of Agriculture 

 which should be a special medium of intercommunication and ex- 

 change between the colleges and stations, and should publish a peri- 

 odical bulletin of agricultural progress, containing in popular form 

 the latest results in the progress of agricultural education, investi- 

 gation, and experimentation in this and in other countries. 



Commissioner Colman continued to lend his influence to the secur- 

 ing of Federal appropriation for experiment stations, and in his 

 second report, in 1886, he heartily indorsed the plan for a national 

 system of stations, with provision for cooperation and close commu- 

 nication with one another, and for publicity, so that the work of the 

 stations would be made generally applicable and extended to the 

 country as a whole. Referring to the proposed national legislation, 

 he said : " Without interfering with the organization and manage- 

 ment of the State stations, whether at colleges or independent, Fed- 

 eral support may supplement existing agencies and provide through 

 this Department a certain degree of control to secure cooperation 

 where needed and furnish such a medium of intercommunication and 

 exchange as to' greatly facilitate and improve the work as a whole." 



A bill providing for such a system and embodying these provisions 

 had been introduced by Hon. William H. Hatch, of Missouri, Mr. 

 Colman's State, and referred to the Committee on Agriculture. This 

 committee made a favorable report in March, 1886, and nearly a year 

 later the bill was passed by Congress and was approved by President 

 Cleveland. 



Commissioner Colman was greatly gratified at the success of his 

 efforts in establishing closer relations between the Department and 

 the several colleges and experiment stations; and his views in regard 

 to the value of a central agency, for promoting cooperation and in- 

 tercourse and giving wider publicity to the station work, were 

 embodied in the plans made soon after the passage of the Hatch Act, 

 for the establishing of the Office of Experiment Stations. These 

 plans included the issuing of a journal designated " Experiment 

 Station Record," which was begun in September, 1889, and a series 

 of Farmers' Bulletins to present the results of station work in popu- 



