EDITORIAL. 103 



tainly we ought to knoAv before we teach. I hope that the new 

 extension work will demand a great stimulation of research. No 

 Fubject makes great headway, no people make great progress, unless 

 it rests on investigation and discovery, and feels the stimulation of 

 exploitation in fresh fields. . . . 



"The vitality of the extension teaching, as of any other teaching 

 in natural science, will depend on the body of exact knowledge that 

 lies behind it. This being true, we must see that appropriations 

 for extension teaching in the years to come are not out of proportion 

 to appropriations for research. I hope we shall soon find a wide- 

 spread expression amongst the people for a more complete endow- 

 ment of fundamental investigation in subjects related to our agri- 

 cultural industry." 



Professor Bailey took occasion to explain the type of research 

 he had in mind — that which " follows a program looking toward 

 a solution ; " but he took no narrow or superficial view of it, or of its 

 direct application in practice. His remarks on the subject are in- 

 teresting : 



" It is not necessary to the broad results we seek that this research 

 shall all be directly or immediately applicable to the arts of life. It 

 does not matter if much of it remains practically unknown to the 

 public. The effect of the accumulation of it, if it is good, will be 

 beyond all price, establishing a foundation, providing a reservoir 

 from which we may draw at will, giving us a sense of conquest and 

 of power, developing a literature, and training many men whose 

 judgments will be of the greatest value in the control of our rural 

 affairs. Research in agriculture should look toward a solution, but 

 not necessaril}'^ toward a definite application, although the purpose 

 to apply does not make it any the less research or any the less worthy 

 of respect. 



" Knowledge applies itself in the end. The best and the final 

 application of it is in a new approach to the subject and a better 

 philosophy of action. This is well illustrated in the great work of 

 Darwin, which we have now learned to apply in a thousand ways, 

 because it has entered into our philosophies. So the accumulation of 

 knowledge touching agriculture will give those who come after us a 

 new grasp on the rural situation, a readjustment of ideas, and con- 

 fidence in our ability to handle the situation. Good research, main- 

 tained continuously and without haste by the ablest men, wdll make 

 its own application." But because research does not have within 

 itself the elements of publicit}', it needs to be guarded by organiza- 

 tions which understand its fundamental importance. 



Professor Bailey defined the country life movement, not as a 

 propaganda, but as '' the expression of a rapidly crystallizing desire 



