1917] EDITORIAL. 5 



as to subjects upon which investigation is deemed necessary will 

 enable participation in a constructive plan aimed to advance the 

 common cause. Such suggestions coming from a central committee 

 in close contact with the Council of National Defense will naturally 

 carry an unusual appeal. 



In a new sense the present problem of agricultural production is 

 a national one, in which the whole country and even the Allies of 

 Europe are deeply concerned. Hence the measures to accomplish 

 that end justify an unusual measure of coordination, which may 

 extend properly to the investigation conducted at the experiment 

 stations. Never was it more important to demonstrate the capacity 

 of station workers to unite for cooperative or coordinated effort and 

 their willingness to subordinate the individual in measures for the 

 Common good. 



The research workers and experimenters are to agricultural pro- 

 duction what the information service and the strategic branch are to 

 the military forces. An effective dash can be made on what we 

 already Imow, but in any protracted contest new information and 

 new resources will often be needed to meet the requirements, and 

 especially to adapt what we know to war-time conditions. The 

 latter are so different and in a sense abnormal as to warrant practices 

 not ordinarily employed, and require special experiments to be made. 

 Continued warfare naturally tends to make agricultural production 

 less effective because of the drains it makes on men, on live stock, on 

 supplies like seed, fertilizers, and spray material, and the increasing 

 di^culties of distribution. If our live stock is to remain undepleted, 

 except through the intelligent weeding out of the drones, weaklings, 

 and unproductive individuals, there must be provision for using 

 more of the waste of farms, growing leguminous feeds without dis- 

 placing the cereal acreage, an economy of protein, and a utilization 

 of feeds of all kinds to the best possible advantage. 



In time of stress there is less warrant for the outlay of feed to 

 produce ideal fattening or a high degree of finish in meat animals. 

 From the large amount of experimental data secured by a number 

 of the stations, in the Central West especially, it ought to be possible 

 to deduce simple, cheap methods for meat production suited to the 

 needs of the hour, even though they give less fancy products. 



To a certain extent the potash question is an emergency problem, 

 as are others connected with the provision of necessary fertilizing 

 materials. But the solution of the potash problem lies in determining 

 the economy of potash and where the actual necessity for it lies in 

 agriculture, as well as in increasing the supplies. 



At this time, especially, there is the large question of how to cut 

 down hand work and increase the man power so as to make it more 

 productive in the face of labor shortage. The tractor problems are 



