4 experimp:xt station record. [voi. 43 



laboratory scale, showing that on the contrary they are operating 

 under conditions which very largely conform to those of practice. 



Although the amount reported under sales goes to swell the ap- 

 parent income of the stations, the figures are for gross returns. It 

 will be evident that to a very large extent they represent merely a 

 turn-over of other funds, and hence are not to be counted as addi- 

 tional revenue. The original expenditure in producing the products 

 sold usually came from other funds, and the sales represent the sal- 

 vage on what is rarely a profitable enterprise from a commercial 

 standpoint. Farms for experiment or for instruction are not ordi- 

 narily expected to be revenue producers. 



It is evident therefore that this large item, representing approxi- 

 mately twenty per cent of the total station income, is only to a very 

 slight extent to be regarded as a source of added revenue, the respon- 

 sibility and time involved in the management of extensive enter- 

 prises to a great degree offsetting any net profit. It is true that the 

 conduct of these large operations frequently places better facilities 

 at the disposal of the stations, and enables them to carry out their 

 practical experiments on a commercial scale. This advantage and 

 the effect on the public are not to be overlooked. 



Another large item of the revenues as reported falls under the 

 head of "miscellaneous,'- amounting to approximately $1,159,000. 

 This is a convenient repository for items not easily classified else- 

 where, consisting in part of allotments or estimated expenditures of 

 the colleges for station enterprises, and the Federal appropriations 

 for the insular stations amounting to $190,000. It is found on in- 

 vestigation to include also balances brought forward from the pre- 

 vious year, aggregating nearly $700,000. These balances are due 

 largely to differences in the fiscal year, the maintenance of a circu- 

 lating or operating fund, and the like. They were of course included 

 in the returns for the preceding year, and they are found to be 

 almost exactly offset by unexpended balances at the close of 1919. 

 Hence they are not to be counted in the year's revenue. Correcting 

 this miscellaneous item for the balances and the insular station funds 

 leaves less than $270,000 to be counted in the assets of the State 

 stations for the year in question. 



All things considered, therefore, the station revenues available for 

 the administration and support of experiment and investigation in 

 a fairly strict sense may be said to be limited practically to the 

 Federal and State appropriations, and to less than $270,000 derived 

 from miscellaneous sources. There may be occasional residues under 

 other heads, but these can not safely be counted on as net revenues. 

 The total of seven million shrinks therefore to a little over four and 

 a quarter million, and there are some considerations of late which 



