EDITORIAL. 805 



hoped that station workers will turn their attention to some of the 

 (juestions which })ertain to the mineral matter in relation to animal 

 nutrition. 



According to data recently compiled in this Office, the publications 

 of the stations during the fiscal year 1007 included 451) circulars, 

 bulletins, and annual reports, with an aggregate of 10,917 pages. Add 

 to this the large number of press bulletins, leaflets, and similar matter 

 and the literar}^ output of the year represents an average for each sta- 

 tion of at least ten publications and of not far from four hundred 

 Images. At many of the stations these figures are much exceeded, the 

 bulletins and circulars in two cases numbering twenty-six and in 

 another twenty-two, and the pages in two instances exceeding one 

 thousand each. 



The preparation for publication of this substantial amount of 

 material constitutes a phase of station work entitled to much con- 

 sideration. Through these bulletins, circulars, and reports, sent out to 

 mailing lists ranging from a few hundred to over forty thousand, the 

 station is chiefly known to its immediate constituenc}^ and to the scien- 

 tific world as well. By the character of these publications to a con- 

 siderable degree its work will be judged. 



The need of careful editing seems manifest. The transfoi-malion of 

 a mass of original data into a printed report requires in numy cases 

 technical knowledge and constructive ability of the same high order 

 as the investigation itself. AVithout such editing a finished product 

 ouglit no more to l)e expected than from haphazard methods of in- 

 (juiry, for the same general priiiciples govern throughout. To neglect 

 in the manuscript the rules which have been scrupulously adhered to 

 in the field or in the laboratory may be needlessly to imperil the use- 

 fulness of the investigation, and even to cause unfavorable reflection 

 upon the work of the author and the station. 



The necessity of greater attention to editing is becoming generally 

 recognized, and in an increasing number of the stations special provi- 

 sion is being made for it. At tw^o stations officers designated as editors 

 are now maintained, and although they are also assigned other duties 

 the bulk of their time is available for editorial work. At other sta- 

 tions the dut}^ is intrusted to the director or to some member of the 

 station staff or of the college faculty. In many stations the matter 

 is .still left largely to the judgment of the individual investigator. 



Tt is sometimes pleaded in defense of the last-named j)olicy that the 

 investigator of necessity has an intimate' knowledge of the subject- 

 matter and a personal interest in its presentation that can not be 

 delegated to another. Admitting the force of this contention, part of 

 wdiich, however, applies to the collection of the data into the rough 



