EDITORIAL. 305 



The investigator should be protected also in a certain measure of 

 seclusion or freedom from unnecessary intrusion. How much the 

 effect of interruption means to the average man is rarely estimated, 

 especially b}'' those not of his kind or temperament. It leads men to 

 establish office hours, to Avithdraw themselves from public approach, 

 and sometimes results in their being regarded as exclusive or even 

 sharply criticized or censured, esjjecially those connected with agri- 

 cultural institutions. The idea that men are protected from those 

 they seek to serve, or that they should close their doors to callers, 

 is not popular and is not understood. But the clientele of the agri- 

 cultural work is now so large and the expectations of various kinds 

 of service so extensive that the problem of saving some time of the 

 station force for concentrated effort often becomes acute. 



The sapping of mental and nervous energy comes less rarely from 

 continuous and close application than from distractions, interrup- 

 tions, the constant readjustment and attempt to gather up lines of 

 thought that have been broken in upon. Some of the world's greatest 

 workers have felt the benefit of getting away from the center of ac- 

 tivity for brief periods — of a retreat to which they could flee for 

 periods of reflection, where they would be free from interruption and 

 distraction. 



Again, the phenomenal growth of the agricultural colleges, the 

 increasing size of the plant, and the even larger plans for develop- 

 ment, have steadily pushed the experimental fields, the greenhouses, 

 stables, etc., farther and farther away from the center of things, 

 making it more of an effort to spend time there or visit them. The 

 first duty draws toward the office, where the hum of business and 

 appointments occupy day after day. The men are so easily accessible 

 there that interruptions are well-nigh inevitable and the time is shat- 

 tered and energies dissipated. 



"\Ye have excelled in designing and erecting large buildings, with 

 well-appointed offices and laboratories and class rooms, located within 

 the academic group of the university or college. We take just pride 

 in these as showing the splendid provision that has been made for 

 teaching and for investigation in agriculture, and the integral part 

 it now forms in the life of the whole institution. They are a great 

 acquisition, and add greatly to the facilities for the inside work. 

 But they doubtless intensifj^ some of the present difficulties as the 

 work of the institution grows. 



Here the investigators for the most part have their headquarters 

 and spend most of their time, confined by the nature of their miscel- 

 laneous duties and the distance from the live part of their experi- 

 mental work. In a number of instances the extension of the college 

 campus has removed the experimental plats and fields, and in some 

 cases the stables, a mile or more from the offices, and often requires 



