EDITORIAL. 317 



considerable amount of teaching is involved, is that it i- solely a mut- 

 ter of expediency. Dividing the salary enables both the college and 

 the station to carry a larger number of men on it- agricultural staff, 

 to differentiate its work more, and make a show of carrying a larger 

 number of departments: but from the standpoint of real investigation 

 the advantage of this increased number of half or quarter men in the 

 station i- decidedly problematical. The efficiency of a station is not 

 measured by the fractions of men it lias on it- -tall, and it must be 

 said that some of the station- with the longest corps of workers on 

 their roster have contributed least to the real advancement of agricul- 

 tural science and practice. 



Every station man should, if practicable, do some teaching or farm- 

 ers' institute work, a- a means of keeping his mind directed toward 

 the practical bearing of his investigations, and of enabling him to 

 present them to students or farmers in an intelligible manner. But 

 the amount should not be large or so arranged as to scatter his efforts. 

 It should be of advanced character, and if so will naturally relate to 

 the experimental work in hand and the result- accomplished by the 

 investigator himself and others in his particular department, together 

 with their practical -ignificance. Then it will not distract hi- mind 

 from his work and will usually be helpful. But it must be admitted 

 that the requirement of a large amount of elementary teaching is one 

 of the weaknesses of our American station system, attributable to the 

 lack of adequate funds to properly meet the rapid increase in demand 

 for agricultural education, which has been greatly stimulated by the 

 work of the experiment stations. 



Considering the splendid work of the stations as a whole, and the 

 potent and far-reaching influence they have exerted, not only in improv- 

 ing agricultural methods but in bringing about a better attitude of 

 mind, any criticism of the return- they have rendered for the funds 

 which have been at their disposal would be most unjust. The con- 

 dition is to be taken rather as an indication of the pressing need of 

 larger funds by both the agricultural college and the experiment sta- 

 tion, to properly man the teaching force and to develop the department 

 of agricultural investigation. 



The former views regarding the needs of the experiment station 

 have been modified in several important respects in recent year-. 

 The conference at Des Moines brought out the fact that a modifica- 

 tion of the views regarding the dual function of the station worker 

 is now clearly indicated, and that a considerable number of station- 

 are moving as rapidly as opportunities permit in the direction of a 

 station staff whose members shall be primarily station men. The 

 well-nigh unanimity of opinion among station directors and workers, 

 especially among those who are carrying on real investigation, should 

 outweigh the theoretical claims which these fifteen years of experience 



