EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXVII. November, 1912. No. 7. 



The 1912 convention of the Association of American Agricul- 

 tural Colleges and Experiment Stations will long be remembered 

 as one of the most interesting and inspiring annual gatherings of 

 the association since its organization twenty-six years ago. Although 

 the anniversary features stood out prominently, and there was a 

 tracing of progress and a setting forth of what the establishment 

 of these institutions has meant, the present-day problems did not 

 lack for attention, and their consideration was characterized by a 

 clearness of vision and a maturity of thought which showed the 

 extent to which opinion has been crystallized on many fundamental 

 lines of policy. A brief account of the convention will be given 

 in a subsequent issue. 



The three annijv^ersaries 9bserved this year commemorate the begin- ^ 

 ning of opportunity for agricultiKB in this country. Hence their J n 

 special significance. It was in (l862y a half century ago, that the |,L j' 

 Morrill Act was passed donating public lands for industryil educa- ^,\Ay 

 tion, wliich marked the bjrth of the jgi'icultural college in America ; y ^. 

 and it was in the same year that the National Department of A gri- J L^, 

 culture was founded at Washington. It was^in 1887, a quarter cen-, ^ 

 tuiyn5ac^ that the" policy of federal aidT for agTicultural expen- .(X^ 

 mentation throughout the country was established. These three /" 

 events are the most important from the standpoint of agriculture 



which this or any country has known. Out of them has grown the ^ 

 largest and most influential movement in education, the most highly 

 developed department of agriculture, and the most comprehensive 

 and efficient system of experiment stations to be found in any country. 



Agriculture waited many centuries for such a recognition. It 

 was a trade merely, conducted on the basis of experience and per- 

 sonal judgment, with only a hinted basis in science. It was unformu- 

 lated as a teaching subject, the trade school being the only ideal in 

 agi'icultural instruction, and there had been provided for it but slight 

 means of acquiring knowledge except through empirical experience. 

 For the most part it was guided by tradition, and it embraced an 

 element of superstition, which ascribed important considerations to 



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