1002 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and undeveloped man placed in the midst of ideal surroundings and 

 oj^portunities to which he failed to rise. 



Insufficient ^preparation on the part of workers is responsible 

 for many of the defects of station activity. To it is due the low 

 standards of investigation frequently met with, inconclusive and 

 incomplete work, and many immature conclusions and deductions. 

 It is also responsible, in large measure, for the estimation in which 

 the agricultural work is held by scientific men in general. The need 

 is not merely one for men, but for men of special qualifications and 

 preparation ; for men as broadly and thoroughly trained as in any 

 department of research, men who know the methods and the meaning 

 of research. The selection of a station staff " calls for the divining 

 rod rather than the dragnet," but unfortunately the latter has been 

 called into service too freely for the best interests of the work, and 

 the present condition has well-nigh compelled its use. 



The report of the committee on experiment station organization 

 and i^olicy at the Lansing meeting dealt largely with this subject. It 

 pointed to the fact that the unprecedented demand for men trained 

 in agricultural subjects is resulting in the appointment to important 

 positions of young men practically fresh from graduation, and neces- 

 sarily deficient in their training. The responsibilities of these posi- 

 tions and the salaries attached are out of all proportion to either the 

 experience or the scholarship of the men appointed. This was depre- 

 cated as being seriously detrimental to the kind of Avork now expected 

 of the stations. Such work, it was urged, calls for special prepara- 

 tion following the college course, quite as much as investigation in 

 any field of science. The reason for such appointments of unpre- 

 pared men is usually foiuid in the scarcity of men, but in some cases, 

 unfortunately, is due to a low standard or a policy of false economy. 



The committee urged upon appointing bodies the importance of 

 securing men with the widest possible education and training, and 

 upon the institutions " that they supply the proper conceptions of 

 scholarshij), which, under present conditions, the young men can 

 hardly be expected to acquire as undergraduates, and that they make 

 it clear to young men that satisfactory permanent service can come 

 only through the best preparation the world offers. . . . The 

 agricultural colleges are jDrimarily fitting their graduates not for 

 investigators and teachers but for practical work in husbandry. 

 Good as the courses are for this purpose they are only i^'eparatory 

 to the more advanced study needed b}^ the investigator and the 

 teacher. They do not, nor can they perhaps be expected to, in their 

 undergraduate Avork, furnish the atmosphere best adapted to the 

 scientific spirit and ideal." 



When the exigencies of the situation are such that an institution 



