EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXXIV. April, 1916. No. 5. 



The feeling that there is an antagonism between science and what 

 is desigiiated as " common sense " still finds expression. It is a feel- 

 ing that the two are not only quite different but are in some way 

 opposed to each other, or not equally dependable from a practical 

 point of view; and that common sense must be the test of all pro- 

 posals and the mainstay of the practical man. It is a survival of 

 the idea long held that science is a kind of hobby, chiefly for the 

 men who pursue it; that while it may throw light on the abstruse 

 problems of the universe it is not to be the guide of the practical 

 man, and that its adherents are impractical. 



"\Miile this view has been very greatly modified as a result of the 

 work of our agricultural institutions, it still persists to some extent 

 even among those who appreciate and follow the work of agricul- 

 tural investigation; and it has to be met by experiment station men 

 and extension workers. It is a failure to understand the nature of 

 science. It confuses science with theory, and regards the term 

 " scientific " as synonymous with theoretical. Theory and hypothesis 

 aid in the development of scientific knowledge, but pure theory is 

 not science nor is science mere theory. 



It is natural that farmers who have developed their industry from 

 experience and out of their own self-reliance should often look ask- 

 ance at proposals which they can not understand and can not subject 

 to their usual method of test. Their reliance on their common sense 

 is not a thing to be criticized, nor the fact that they may require to be 

 convinced of the practical value of science in their business. The 

 main thing to be desired is that they should maintain an open mind 

 and estimate each kind of guidance fairly and on its own merits. 

 This is not done at the present stage if the findings of science are 

 dismissed as theoretical and visionary, and as a matter of course 

 inferior to the product of practical judgment. The essential thing is 

 an open mind, which while exercising the best of common sense will 

 not shut out the evidence. 



An illustration of the feeling that science is not common sense 

 but something far more subtle and ethereal not infrequently crops 

 out on occasions where agricultural workers are called upon to 

 explain the character and practical applications of their activity. 



401 



