EDITORIAL. 605 



Sixty-three years sped on their way from the time when Boussingault 

 first endeavored to ascertain the source of nitrogen in plants, until 

 a satisfactory explanation was reached through our knowledge of 

 the action of root tubercles; and for more than sixty 3^ears Lawes 

 and Gilbert sought the solution of plant nutrition without gaining 

 the end in view. 



"The laws of nature are not kept on draught, as it were, to be 

 drawn in large or small quantity, according to the demand. To 

 present a problem to an investigator and expect an immediate solu- 

 tion, or an immediate practical application, is to be prodigal of a 

 costly equipment, to sacrifice unnecessarily the best and most care- 

 fully trained intellectual strength, and to bring discouragement and 

 invite failure. 



" It is, no doubt, true that when a commonwealth has invested a 

 large amount of capital in specially trained men and expensive 

 apparatus, it is reasonable to ask for results, and with this no fault 

 can be found. The danger lies in the fact that sufficient opportu- 

 nity is not allowed for the careful working out of a problem in all 

 its scientific aspects. Under conditions of haste and undue pressure, 

 the results, if worth anything, are very likely to be incomplete and 

 unsatisfactory, and in too many cases they must be subject to costly 

 revision." 



There is abundant confirmation of the truthfulness of these views 

 in our own experiment station work. It is no disparagement but a 

 note of caution. The necessity for less haste and for patience with 

 the more thorough and leisurely methods ought to be understood. 

 Most of the simpler things have been done. From now on the prog- 

 ress may be more slow, but it ought to be more sure. 



The element of chance in a certain type of experiments is further 

 increased and multiplied by a large amount of repetition, because 

 of inadequacy of the methods or the means of attack. The error 

 involved is not eliminated, and hence the chance of misinterpre- 

 tation is accumulated and increased. Mere imitation will mark but 

 little advance, for it lacks the critical attitude and the searching 

 spirit essential to improvement and progress. What is most needed 

 is new thought and ideas, and new insight, rather than more experi- 

 ments which mark no special progress. These are now essential 

 as a means of successfully attacking problems which, altliough much 

 worked upon, have not yielded to the experimental method, or at 

 least only in part. In some lines the attempt is still being made to 

 work out through relatively crude experiments, unaided by more 

 refined methods, problems which will require quite different treat- 

 ment. One value of earlier experiments lies in disclosing the weak- 



