706 EXPERIMENT STATIOX EECOED. 



been broken down as the interrelations of the various branches have 

 become apparent. The physicist has been enlisted in soil investiga- 

 tions, the biologist in studies of the laws of inheritance in plants and 

 animals, the chemist in determining the function of new gi'oups of 

 food constituents, the engineer in the provision and employment of 

 water, etc. 



Marked progress has been made in bringing about an enlarged 

 public understanding of the methods of research. It is now gener- 

 ally recognized that the solution of most agricultural problems 

 requires time, and that it can not be safely hurried. "We less often 

 hear impatience expressed at the failure to solve a problem in a few 

 months. The general public has better learned to trust the judgment 

 and ability of the station worker, and to await with patience and 

 confidence the completion of his efforts. Likewise, there has come 

 about a realization by scientific men of the fallacy in the old view 

 that there is necessarily an inferiority about work which, to quote 

 President "Woodward, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 " is often designated by the ambiguous word ' practical,' or by the 

 misleadmg phrase 'applied science,'" and an acknowledgment that 

 " in so far as it deals with facts and principles and substitutes knowl- 

 edge for ignorance, it is worthy of prompt recognition and un- 

 stinted support." 



More attractive, however, in tlie eyes of the true investigator than 

 fine laboratories, or othenvise congenial environment is the oppor- 

 tunity afforded for productive research. In this respect the stations 

 now offer an especially attractive field. AYliere to such an extent as 

 in agriculture can be found problems of such varied -complexity 

 and immediate and wide application? Agriculture in its present 

 stage* involves a contest with the elements and with industrial and 

 economic conditions. Its problems are ready-made and pressing, 

 not to be postponed without loss and sometimes hardship. Millions 

 of dollars and the prosperity of whole sections of our country may 

 be at stake in an investigation of a new disease of plants or animals, 

 the utilization of a by-product, or the more intelligent use of the 

 soil. The very size and indispensability of the industry and the diffi- 

 cult character of many of the problems involved in it furnish an 

 unusual inspiration. The subject taxes the ingenuity, the scientific 

 ability, and the acumen of the investigator and gives as large a 

 range for his efforts as any known field of in(]uirv. Modern agri- 

 culture is a harnessing, control, and utilization of the elements and 

 phenomena which operate in accordance with the scientific and 

 economic laws. In its form and content at any stage it exemplifies 

 in a significant degree the status of man's knowledge and mastery of 

 natural forces. 



