KDirolMAL. 5 



lieu lt)c;ilit >■. On the other liaiid. iiiiicli liino is lost (o the station 

 in lindini;' Jmd traininii' another man. and the cHicicncy of the station 

 in (hat line is temporarily diminished. There is no saving' in e\- 

 (■hanii"ini»' a man of known ability and nscruliiess for one a few luin- 

 di-ed dollar^ cheaper who is an nncertain (piantity and nnist learn 

 the conditions and adjust himself. On the conti'ary, there is a [)eri()tl 

 of unproductiveness and uncertainly which is exi)eiisivc lo the station 

 ;ind an added strain on the adndnist rat ion. 



These chanp's in jiersonnel minht often he avoid<Ml hy a fuller rec- 

 o<2:nition of the relati\'e \alue of the man to the station, and a hreak- 

 in_<>- away from tradition or uniformity in the matter of salary. This 

 should he appreciated l)y those res])onsible for the stations' welfare. 

 Any station 'whieh has a man with a real genius for investigation in 

 the lines it proposes to pnrsiie should make every elfort to retain him, 

 even at the sacrifice of precedent. Oiven a similar line of problems, 

 an investigator of recognized ability is usually as valuable to the sta- 

 tion where he is as to another. The Adams fund has tended toward 

 an equalization of the stations in the matter of investigation. The 

 burden of such work rests upon all alike. Each station now has a 

 special research fund of $7,000 this year, which will go on increasing 

 for the next four years, Avhen it will represent an endowment of 

 $300,000 at 5 per cent. This is a very creditable research fund for 

 any institution, and should enable the joayment of salaries which will 

 insure the best men the field alford-^. 



At a considerable nmnber of institutions the scale of salaries is too 

 low to expect the most comj)etent men to remain. The lesson this 

 false economy has taught should have left its impression long ago. 

 Cheap men are always expensive if of indilfeivnt ability, especially 

 in the adxanced work of investigation, and if their woi'k is stamped 

 with high ability they are soon called to other positions. Better far 

 to ])ay a gocvd salary which will keep men satisfied and assure a cer- 

 tain degree of permanency than to lower the grade of efficiency by 

 frecpient changes or employing men of second-rate ability. 



The station work should not be held down by a low salary standard 

 in the college or university, as is sometimes the case at i)resent. This 

 is an unfortunate policy and fails to recognize three things — the rela- 

 tive scai-city of men of high attaimnents in agricultural science, the 

 exjiert character of the service i'e(iuired, and the longer period of the 

 woi-king year in the station than in the instruction depai'tments. 

 (iood business judgment must I'ecognize that th(> suiii)ly of men who 

 have specialized in agi'icidtural science and won distinction as inves- 

 tigators is considerably short of the deinand. In other walks of life 

 a man's earning capacity is gauged by his ability and the supply of 

 equally able men. There is no reason whv this should not hold in 



