EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XVIII. July, 11)07. No. 11. 



The most vital question before the experiment stations to-day is 

 that of human equipment. State and Federal appropriations have 

 increased at. a gratifying rate and spacious buildings have taken the 

 place of cramped and inadequate makeshifts, but the men to carry 

 forward this Avork have not been prepared in suitable numbers to 

 meet the growing demand. The pressure is now becoming intense 

 and it is recognized that our work of development must come practi- 

 cally^ to a standstill unless there can be an influx of men specially 

 trained for its service. The man is the starting point in all investi- 

 gation and the all-controlling factor. Without a presiding genius at 

 the liead generous funds and elaborate equipment become ineifectual. 



In view of the fact that endowments have increased b}' million- 

 dollar stej^s, it is not surprising that there should be much difficulty 

 in securing a corresponding equipment of men with a genius for 

 observation, who have ripened into usefulness. And now that there 

 is a systematic mo\ement in the direction of more thorough investi- 

 gation of agricultural problems, it is evident how little attention our 

 colleges have been giving to the training of agricultural investigators, 

 and how low a standard they have themselves placed upon the require- 

 ments of experiment station work. The chief reason for the present 

 shortage is found in the new standards which are being established 

 foi- this work rather than in the fact that a relatively smaller num- 

 ber of men are presenting themselves for it. These standards impose 

 additional requirements and qualifications, and thus practically elim- 

 inate from consideration many who might formerly have been drafted 

 upon. 



In the past it has been i:)ossible to carry on certain grades of work 

 with men who had had little bej^ond the agricultural college course, 

 coupled with a few years of experience. Such men have a far smaller 

 place in the futui'e. for their limitations are soon reached and they 

 can not fill satisfactorily the higher positions oi- carry on advanced 

 lines of investigation. The appointment of unqualified men, even to 

 meet existing exigencies, is now acknowledged to be of doubtful 

 expediency. Many have been the disappointments from an untried 



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