EDITORIAL. 605 



the desired grade can be found. In the case of heads of departments, 

 or those in charge of independent lines of studj^, it is natural that the 

 record of the appointee should be a prime consideration, for no recom- 

 mendation can be stronger than demonstrated research ability. 



In the case of assistants, however, this does not usually apply, 

 although it may be argued that the work in the subordinate positions 

 does not necessarily call for advanced training at the outset. But 

 men are not satisfied to remahi i)ermanently in a subordinate position, 

 and if they are good men should look forward to advancement. The 

 ranks of the station staff are recruited largely from among the assist- 

 ants who have demonstrated their abilit}', or whose period of service 

 has made them useful in a special way. The rank and j^recedence of 

 an assistant based largely on length of service, frequently stands in 

 the way of advancing better trained and more Avorthy men. This 

 results in embarrassment and injustice, and in a measure removes the 

 incentive for more thorough preparation. 



Every assistant, therefore, Avho enters the station work, except in 

 a tem]3orary way, should be urged and encouraged to pursue ad- 

 vanced study in a systematic way, for his independent collateral 

 reading will not take the place of such study. His pursuit of such 

 a course should, out of regard for his own interests as well as for the 

 good of the work, be made as a rule a condition of advancement be- 

 yond a restricted grade of salary or position. Mere association with 

 the work and collateral reading in a desultory way counts for compar- 

 atively little in the actual training of men for the experiment station 

 work of the future. The character of that work is rapidly changing, 

 as the extension features are being segregated and attention centered 

 more largely on establishing new fact:^. The demands on the men 

 who are to plan and conduct the progressive experiments and inves- 

 tigations of the stations call for more thorough and broader educa- 

 tion and training than was formerly the case. 



The young men entering the station employ should therefore have 

 instilled into them from the first the need and the desire for thorough 

 preparation, if they are to remain in it and make it a career. It is 

 a mistake to recommend a man deficient in prepai'ation to a more 

 responsible position in another station, and it is likewise a mistake 

 for a station to accept such a man on the assumption that he will 

 answer. 



The standards of requirements set by the stations will have a great 

 influence in stimulating young men who enter this work. At the 

 present time these standards are not always sufficiently high, and the 

 institutions are not as exacting and discriminating as the best inter- 

 ests of the work suggest. The lack of men is largely responsible for 

 this, but the waiving of rec[uirements detracts from the encourage- 



