602 EXPERIME]!7T STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



of sections open to delegates from the respective branches or main 

 divisions of the colleges, but the latter are without membership in 

 the association proper and their representatives will have voice 

 only in their sections. 



As pointed out in the meeting last year, the change is a reorganiz- 

 ing one rather than one involving any revolutionary principle, 

 since in theory at least no action affecting the policy of the associa- 

 tion has been binding in the past without ratification by the section 

 on college work and administration, composed of the presidents of 

 colleges and universities or accredited representatives. The work- 

 ing out of the " unitary character " of the organization is the chief 

 change involved, and, as was explained last year, it is designed to 

 relieve the complexity of the body and definitely centralize au- 

 thority in the hands of those primarily responsible. Whether or 

 not the end then emphasized has been accomplished, of enabling the 

 executives to know what the sections are thinking about, "to hear 

 what their subordinates are saying, to understand their difficulties," 

 will remain to be determined. 



Under the new constitution three main departmental sections are 

 recognized, namely, agriculture, home economics, and engineering; 

 but by common consent subsections for experiment station and agri- 

 cultural extension work were provided under the section of agri- 

 culture, and officers for them were appointed. There will still be 

 opportunity, therefore, for discussion of matters of special interest 

 to these branches, which have been so profitable in the past and are 

 still felt to be needed; and the standing committees of the associa- 

 tion from which annual reports have been expected are all retained. 

 The executive committee is to include two members selected at large, 

 and for the coming year these positions are filled by the deans of 

 two of the leading agricultural colleges who are likewise directors of 

 the stations. 



While details under the new organization remain to be worked out, 

 the body remains essentially what it has been in the past, an organi- 

 zation in which the various branches of the land-grant colleges find 

 representation; and in the actual workings of the association the 

 changes may not be especially noticeable in most respects. 



The new officers elected for the coming year include Chancellor 

 Samuel Avery, of Nebraska, as president. Dr. E. J. Aley, of Maine, 

 as vice president. Dean J. L. Hills, of Vermont, as secretary-treas- 

 urer, and two new members on the executive committee, namely Dr. 

 W. E. Stone, of Indiana, and Dean A. R. Mann, of New York. These 

 latter replace President W. O. Thompson and Dr. W. H. Jordan 

 who declined reelection and announced their intention to retire 

 from their present positions during the coming year. Both of these 

 men have rendered long and conspicuous service in the association 

 and on its executive committee. They will be greatly missed from 



