704 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



aspects have been allowed to enter i)roniinently into the experiment 

 at an early stage, and sometimes well nigh to the exclusion of the 

 study of the physiological effect. Many of our fertilizer experiments 

 also have stopped with the immediate economic result and have failed 

 to achieve a broader scientific value. The two ends should not be 

 confused, or one will be likely to suffer. 



In a physiological study of plant or animal it would be well if 

 the experimenter could forget the economic side for the time being, 

 and devote himself to determining by every means at his command 

 the actual effect of the material or treatment upon the plant or 

 animal, or its relation to function. The material fed to the cow may 

 *cost ten dollars a pound because it is a synthesized or artifically 

 separated compound, and the result ma}^ be absolutely devoid of 

 economic value. But if the study helps to a clear knowledge of the 

 action or value of the compound as a prominent constituent of a 

 feeding stuff, the result will idtimately be turned to economic 

 advantage. 



The recognized function of an experiment station is to acquire 

 accurate information bv means of experiment and research. For 

 most of its workers its object is primarily the study of the theory 

 of production and the relation of. the facts developed to practical 

 methods. It is scientific rather than speculative, and deals with 

 facts and principles developed by investigation through science. 

 The work of the station is on a constructive basis. While it will 

 take account of the experience of practical men, its results will be the 

 product of its own or similar investigations. These may be com- 

 pared with results obtained by farmers, and brought into harmony 

 with them, or used to explain deficiencies in ordinary farm practice, 

 but they will usually be original in the sense of resting upon experi- 

 mental work rather than statistics of practice. 



The work of the stations is essentially experimental, dealing with 

 conditions not only as they exist but as they are modified experi- 

 mentally to determine the value of separate factors or conditions. 

 It differs, therefore, from studies in rural economics, which deal 

 primarily with conditions as they are found to exist and are sta- 

 tistical rather than experimental. The rural economist gathers data 

 as to farm statistics, or tabulates the experience of individual farmers, 

 or conducts economic surveys, but he also makes use of such experi- 

 mental data as are available. Although he does iiot himself con- 

 duct experiments under modified conditions, he takes account of the 

 results of experiments in agriculture and uses these as well as the 

 i-esults of general experience in developing his generalizations or 

 theories. The experimental work of the stations may therefore be 

 considered as contributory, and in fact it has furnished a formidable 

 array of data for economic consideration. 



