402 



EXPEKIMENT STATION EECOED. 



he Stamps his individuality and his influence, and at the same time 

 leaves a system which is a permanent strength. 



Perhaps it is because there has been so much pressure for the im- 

 mediate result, and the eyes of the men have been kept so largely on 

 the present, that more attention has not been given to the future of 

 the institution, and this may account for a lack of adequate records 

 noticed too often in the administrative office; but it is faulty adminis- 

 tration regardless of the cause, and some day the results of it may 

 largely obliterate the good which an officer has done. 



To some men system and order are naturally distasteful, and mean 

 to them only " red tape " and a species of restriction and control 

 which goes counter to their ideas of academic freedom. They pride 

 themselves on not acting according to rule, and assume for them- 

 selves a freedom from formality which in the end is dangerous. If 

 such men are placed in administrative positions they should, for their 

 own protection, be surrounded by a system of procedure which will 

 insure an orderly conduct of the station's affairs and provide records 

 for the future. 



The growth of the stations in available funds makes necessary a 

 more formal plan of administration than was required when the 

 funds were much smaller. The simple and rather free system then 

 in practice does not meet the needs of the more complicated situa- 

 tion at present, with relatively large amounts of money, more di- 

 verse activities and responsibilities, and broader relationships. The 

 desire to keep the system simple and avoid formality has in some 

 cases prevented the organization growing with the funds and left it 

 inadequate. 



One of the first things we should expect to find in every director's 

 office, for example, is a complete list of the activities of the station 

 in its various departments, with estimates of their probable needs 

 and the provision made for meeting these needs. In fact, it is diffi- 

 cult to see how a station can be intelligently and safely operated with- 

 out such a record, or how a governing board can be satisfied to au- 

 thorize lines of work and expenditures. But even at this day such a 

 program is not infrequently lacking, as some of the recent changes 

 have shown. It has more than once transpired that the Adams fund 

 projects were the only activities definitely listed by the station, and 

 there have even been cases where reference has had to be made to this 

 Office for a list of these lines of investigation. The outlining of all 

 work in the form of projects is becoming far more common in the bet- 

 ter organized stations, and' is found mutually advantageous to the 

 director and specialists. It is the simplest way of keeping track of 

 what is in progress and what needs to be provided for, and it is a 

 convenience in planning the season's campaign, in following up the 



