CONVENTION OF ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL 

 COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



E. W. Allen, Ph. D., 

 Office of Experiment Sin/ions. 



The eighteenth annual convention of this association, held at Des 

 Moines, Iowa, November 1-3, was one of the most interesting and 

 profitable meetings which this association has held for many years. 

 It was the first meeting under the new constitution, which reduces the 

 number of sections from five to two, and the advantage of the new plan 

 was very marked in enabling delegates to follow the discussions more 

 closely and in concentrating the deliberations upon questions relating 

 to the administration of the colleges and stations, the general manage- 

 ment, and methods of work. An appeal for the formation of a divi- 

 sion for horticulture and botany within the section on station work was 

 rejected, and it was made apparent that, inasmuch as the object of these 

 meetings is not the presentation of technical papers reporting specific 

 investigations, but rather the discussion of broad questions of station 

 work and administration and the methods by which these can be made 

 most effectual, there is a distinct advantage in the compact organiza- 

 tion. About 150 delegates and visitors were registered. 



GENERAL SESSIONS. 



The general sessions were presided over by Dr. W. O. Thompson, 

 of the University of Ohio. He delivered the presidential address on 

 the evening of the first day, taking for his theme Some Problems in 

 the Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In this, Dr. Thomp- 

 son pointed out that the Morrill Act is the original foundation upon 

 which these colleges stand, and it was not expected that the Morrill 

 funds would support the institutions, but that the States would aid in 

 their support. The expenditure of money must inevitably increase, 

 for civilization makes increasing demands upon the citizens — it pre- 

 sents not only its opportunities but its duties as well. 



The colleges and stations were shown to stand in a very vital relation to 

 our natural resources, and to their development and preservation; and 

 it was pointed out that they are not for the farming people exclusively, 

 although the} 7 will reach them first, but that they have a deeper sig- 

 nificance for the whole country. In estimating the full measure of the 

 college and station work it was urged that we must look beyond the 

 mere material results, and consider their influence in its highest sense, 



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