EDITORIAL. 607 



mate, the ^oin<!; of the men w'as a distinct detriment, to have been 

 avoided if possible. The men referred to were heads of departments, 

 who were furnishing the brains and the genius for the station's Avork. 

 Just such men were needed as were allowed to go, and there were no 

 apparent circumstances which seemed to call for a change. It has 

 required much search to fill the places vacated, and not infrequently 

 weaker or less developed men have had to be taken up with. In the 

 end a higher salary has often had to be offered and other concessions 

 made. 



There seems little doubt that under the circumstances good policy 

 and the general welfare of the stations would dictate , that these 

 changes should have been guarded against or avoided. The (piestion 

 naturally arises. Could they have been? This is, of course, difficult 

 to determine absolutely; but from a detailed consideration of indi- 

 vidual cases and a fairly intimate knowledge of the conditions sur- 

 rounding different stations, it is believed that a quite large part of 

 these changes were unnecessary and could have been prevented. In 

 a considerable number of cases they were induced by a narrow view 

 on the part of the institution — a false economy which fails to recog- 

 nize tlie value of a man by meeting a slight increase in salary or re- 

 moving uncongenial or burdensome duties. By making the positions 

 more attractive in point of salary or opportunity or greater special- 

 ization of work, a feeling of satisfaction and contentment would have 

 been promoted which would often have minimized the apparent ad- 

 vantages of a change, and a relationship of the man to his work might 

 have been established that would have caused him to be slow to re- 

 linquish it. 



Each experiment station has obligated itself to conduct a certain 

 amount of investigation in agriculture, and to that extent at least it 

 has just as great need of competent men as any other in the system. 

 As far as the Federal funds go it has the same amount of money that 

 the others have, and it is a grave mistake if this has been spread out 

 over more departments than can be manned and maintained effi- 

 ciently. Changes will be inevitable as long as the inequalities in 

 positions continue to be as glaring as at present. Each station should 

 therefore spare no reasonable effort to eliminate factors which are 

 unfavorable to permanency and to hold its competent men, even a< 

 the expense of a somewhat larger salarj'^ and a possible readjustment 

 of duties, recognizing that the human element overshadows every 

 other consideration in experiment station work. 



Carl von Voit, one of the most eminent physiologists of his time 

 and a pioneer in the theory of nutrition, has died at the age of 7G 

 years. Tlirough a long period of activity he has been recognized as a 

 leader and worker of unfailing energy and great ability, and a man 



