EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXI. Decembek, U)09. Xo. 7. 



The personnel of the experiment stations has been a frequent and 

 fruitful theme of discussion. It has become a matter of increasing 

 importance as the stations have developed and more of their work 

 has assumed the character of investigation. For several years it 

 has been in large measure the keynote of advancement. 



This discussion has brought about a fuller realization of the rela- 

 tion of the man to his work, and likewise of the broader relations of 

 the station to its corps of workers. The man is the first and fore- 

 most factor in productive investigation. Without competent men 

 the stations can make little progress in real investigation, although 

 they may exert a considerable influence on practical farming opera- 

 tions by the simpler forms of experimentation and a dissemination 

 of what others have brought to light. A large proportion of the 

 work now calls for men of higher qualifications than formerly, and 

 at the present stage the stations are less and less able to train men for 

 their service; much less can they educate them and round out their 

 preparation as specialists in agricultural science. They must look 

 to the colleges and universities to provide men with a thorough 

 foundation, which will require more than the regular college course ; 

 and these educational institutions should recognize the advancement 

 in qualifications which the present conditions make necessary. 



In spite of the recognized need of the stations for men of more ad- 

 vanced preparation, the progress in that direction is slow, due either 

 to the failure of the institutions to provide the men or to the less 

 exacting demands of the stations. That the latter is not the funda- 

 mental cause is clear from the large number of inquiries within the 

 past two years for men of the kind of training which fits them to 

 attack difficult scientific problems. The change in personnel con- 

 tinues with little abatement from year to year, and constitutes a 

 disturbing element in the efficiency and continuity of investigation. 



The returns for the organization lists of the stations, which are be- 

 ing revised at this time, furnish some interesting data as to the present 

 tendencies in relation to permanency and to preparation. From them 



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