362 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



advanceiiieut is to be made, aiul if this plan is not followed the station 

 will before long lind itself threshing over old straw and reaching the 

 limit of its usefulness in this field of inquiry. That it is possible to 

 make this combiiuition of work is satisfactorily shown by the history of 

 dairy investigation at a number of stations. Starting with work which 

 was largely practical, but included from the first some more advanced 

 studies, there has been a gradual change in the character of the work, 

 without at any time losing sight of its ultimate practical application, 

 until the investigations have, from a scientific standijoint, been of 

 interest and application far beyond the boundaries of the States in 

 which they were undertaken, and have been most valuable contribu- 

 tions to dairy science and practice. It is work of this character which 

 is of the most far reaching and permanent value, and some of it, at 

 least, should be encouraged by every station which makes dairying a 

 feature. To load down the agriculturist or dairyman with the routine 

 work of running a large dairy or creamery is unjust to the worker and 

 a short-sighted policy for the station. 



It is well to remember, too, that a great deal of the work already done 

 is entirely applicable to the conditions of other States, and has already 

 passed beyond a point where it needs further corroboration. An 

 extended series of experiments repeating such work is an expensive 

 way for a station to get these established facts before its farmers 

 and dairymen. Much good work has been done and corroborated at 

 other stations and become a part of our science of dairying. It seems 

 extremely desirable that in this, as in other lines, certain matters 

 should be recognized as settled, and that instead of multiplying still 

 further the experiments on such points, even under the guise of 

 instructing the farmers, the facts should be accepted and presented in 

 a plain, concise manner. 



An example of such repetition is the comparison under ordinary 

 conditions of the creaming of milk in shallow pans, in deep setting, 

 and by separator. Experiments galore on this question have already 

 been made in many States and under a variety of conditions, and we 

 have only to look into the European text-books on dairying to find that 

 it has been a subject for experiment for many years. As an illustration, 

 such work can hardly be held to be worth the while, as comparatively 

 few farmers visit the station and see the work in progress. For this 

 purpose a few simple tests of the eflficiency of creaming, as practiced 

 by typical farmers in a community, would, it is believed, be more con- 

 vincing and bring the matter home more closely to the farmers of that 

 community. 



The case is quite different where the specific effect is to be studied of 

 particular feeding stuff's or rations, as will be mentioned later. 



Another instance of repetition is the testing of different kinds and 

 sizes of separators. This has constituted a prominent part of the dairy 

 work at several stations for a number of years, until now the trials with 



