1919] EDITORIAL. 705 



one aspect after another will bo taken up in accordance with the 

 development of the plan. This makes the project thoroughly alive 

 and progressive. 



A considerable number of these long-time projects are quite broad 

 in character. There has been a frequent tendency, particularly ;it 

 the outset, to outline work in quite general terms, in the apparent 

 desire to avoid restriction or the imposing of limitations. Some- 

 times this may be due to a lack of clarity, and henco to preference 

 for wide latitude and range, manifestly a reason not to bo en- 

 couraged. The difficulty of administrative control or of holding the 

 wink within definite bounds under broad project outlines is a large 

 one. 



It will be recognized that there are many subjects, like studies in 

 breeding with plants and animals, the physiology of nutrition, the 

 effects of soil treatment, the working out of intricate questions of 

 disease, etc., which necessarily require long and persistent study and 

 can not be hurried. They may or may not be ultimately rewarded 

 with success. There are others which require the systematic accu- 

 mulation of data under a variety of conditions and over long 

 periods. But in neither case does this warrant limitation to rou- 

 tine effort or neglect of technical features which will be ultimatelv 

 essential. 



There are instances of failure to keep up with the project — of 

 allowing data to accumulate without study as to where the results 

 are leading, and of postponing chemical examinations or other 

 laboratory studies until they are several seasons in arrears. In such 

 cases progress of investigation is not guided by the light which the 

 results cast. For the time being the element of inquiry is lacking, 

 and the investigation is mainly in the prospective sense. The prod- 

 uct of the undertaking consists in the accumulation of certain data, 

 the unanalyzed evidence. At best these data are simply records, not 

 established facts or even theories, because the breath of life has not 

 been infused into them by interpretation and speculation. Such a 

 condition represents the difference between routine and constructive 

 effort. 



The process of investigation is progressive in insight, in approach, 

 and in method. It develops with the opening up of the subject by the 

 results secured and those of other contemporary investigation. If 

 the work is not progressive in this sense it is not a searching inquiry 

 and critical study, but a methodical and more or less mechanical 

 accumulation of data. If it does not advance step by step in the 

 effort not only to contribute to the evidence but to perfect the attack, 

 120G53 — 19 2 



