EDITORIAL. 203 



ence of dopartmonts in their Avork and tlioir interests which seems 

 detrimental to the greatest economy and the highest efficiency. 



AVhile the greatest measure of freedom and individual initiative 

 are desirable to the development of strong heads of departments, 

 there are certain matters which pertain to good' administration and 

 which are essential to the proper conduct of the station business. The 

 lack of closer organization and familiarity with one another^s work 

 hinders the development of the proper esprit iJe corps, and often 

 prevents the coordination of the work of the different departments. 



It seems desirable that the director should have more than a gen- 

 eral knoAvledge of the work of his various departments. This is nec- 

 essary for him to give it proper guidance and support and to hold it 

 within the bounds agreed upon. Without some regular means of 

 keeping in touch with what his men are doing he loses familiarity 

 with it and with the course which it is taking. The outlining of 

 projects to be filed in the director's office furnishes a means of follow- 

 ing up the various lines of work and adjusting the expenditures. It 

 also affords opportunity for coordinating the work of different de- 

 partments and arranging for necessary cooperation. 



It should also be one of the functions of the director to see that the 

 work of different departments goes on in a regular way. It some- 

 times happens that work is sidetracked or dropped, or new lines sub- 

 stituted without the director's knoAvledge, and it is not infrequent to 

 find men overburdening themselves Avith more experimental work 

 than they can carry out to good purpose. Experience shows that a 

 certain degree of regulation of the Avork as to amount and quality is 

 quite essential. The amount undertaken is not ahvays fully realized 

 until it is outlined on paper, and this is one of the arguments for the 

 submission of a programme of Avork or a list of projects. 



The planning of the station's campaign and its policy requires 

 increasing thought and stud}'. The interests of different classes of 

 constituents and the need for A^arious grades of Avork must be con- 

 sidered, but in this the broader and more permanent needs of agri- 

 culture should be given full consideration. These need not be sub- 

 (>rdinated to the immediate queries of the farmers, for the tAvo can 

 often be harmonized and Avorked out together. The different phases 

 of the Avork should be so organized as to offer the least possible 

 disturbance and interruption to the Avorking force, and plans must 

 be laid foi- relieving the station proper of activities Avhich do not 

 strictly Ijelong to it. Some of these still make quite heaA^y drains on 

 the men's time. One of the most important functions of the director 

 is to husband the resources and energies of his staff and to preserA^e 

 an atmosphere congenial to their best Avork. This is not conq^atible 

 Avith irregularity from day to day, frequent interruptions, change of 

 Avork, indefinite policy, etc. 



