EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XIV. January, 1903. No. 5 



As the representatives of this Otfice have visited the experime^nt 

 stations in different parts of the countrv during- the past 3'ear th(\v 

 have been deeply impressed with the fact that many of our most suc- 

 cessful station officers are })eino- overworked. This is chiefly due to 

 the great variety of services which they are called upon to perform. 

 Teaching, lecturing at farmers"' institutes and elsewhere, writing books, 

 compiling l)uil(4ins and newspaper articles, corresponding with a large 

 number of persons on a great variety of subjects, attending meetings 

 of associations, agricultural fairs, (^tc. . absorli a large amount of time 

 and energy; and when to these things is added the earnest pursuit of 

 new knowledge by night and by day, with perhaps very little \'acation 

 from year to 3'ear, the worker either breaks down prematurely or else, 

 as most frequently happens, the character of his work increasingly 

 approximates the level of mediocrity. 



A part of the blame for this unfortunate state of things is undoubt- 

 edly to be laid to the charge of the workers themselves. Success in 

 one line often tempts men to broaden their operations to cover lines of 

 effort for which the}' have no special fitness. An itching for popular 

 applause or the fascinations of administrative functions seduce many 

 investigatois to neglect their laboratories for the office and the lecture 

 platform. The notion that a man is great according to the multiplicity 

 of his works, rather than their permanent value, is widespread among 

 us. The vast and complicated operations of the leaders of our indus- 

 trial system arc too often taken as a model to be followed as far as 

 possible in our educational and scientific institutions. 



To have one's ear constantly to the telephone, to dictate rapidly to 

 a stenographer, to be ever on the move in a limited express train — 

 the Ameri -an scientist seems often to think he is deprived of his right- 

 ful privileges if he can not do all these things. To sit down quietly to 

 plan a thorough investigation of a particular problem, and to pursue 

 details of that plan month after month until the solution is gained, is 

 one of the most difticult things to do amid the feverish activity of our 

 modern world. 



Note. — These notes are from the Annual Report of the Office of Experiment Sta- 

 tions for 1902. 



