106 EXPEKIMEXT STATIOX RECORD. 



and adaptation of the findings of experimental study and the pres- 

 entation of them to the student and to the farmer. And on him 

 rests in large degree the furnishing of the initiative. 



'\Miether research flourishes or decays depends ultimately on the 

 ideals and conceptions of the class it seeks to serve. If there is not 

 a desire for it and an appreciation and belief in it which constitute 

 a sustaining influence, it can not rise above the mediocre. 



It is unreasonable to expect that the animal husbandman, more 

 than the agronomist, will be alike investigator, teacher, and exten- 

 sion Avorker at the same time, but if he is to be assigned to the experi- 

 ment station force he should be capable of taking an active and 

 intelligent part in investigation. If he is to take a vital part, and 

 not merely attend to the mechanical operations of feeding and han- 

 dling the animals, it is not sufficient that his training should make 

 him a good j^^dge of stock and a successful feeder and breeder, but he 

 must have an insight into the method and the spirit of inquiry, and 

 familiarity with the progress of investigation in his field along the 

 theoretical as well as the applied side. These things will require 

 training in science beyond that given in the agricultural course. 

 They mean special preparation for investigation and for its direc- 

 tion. Lack of training in animal physiology and other sciences 

 which will open the way for broader inquiries will constitute a seri- 

 ous handicap to the animal husbandman as a station worker and 

 necessarily impose limitations. 



In the system of organization which is becoming common in our 

 institutions, the animal husbandman may be called upon to outline 

 and direct investigations within his department that involve the vari- 

 ous branches of science concerned. Unless he is able to see the needs 

 of such investigation, to suggest problems and points of attack and 

 to make himself a part of the investigation, he will have only a 

 passive relation to it and can hardly be expected to take a vital in- 

 terest in it. 



A well known investigator has said : '^ That researches directed to 

 immediately practical results frequently fail to yield all that may 

 be expected of them is largely due to the imperfections of the sci- 

 entific work of the past, and so makes evident the importance of 

 undertaking in the present purely scientific studies which will lead 

 to more definite and valuable results when future experiments are 

 directed to the solution of practical problems." 



This is equivalent to saying that the practical efficiency of feeding 

 trials depends on knowledge of the principles and scientific facts 

 underlying nutrition. If our understanding of the principles of 

 physiology and chemistry is deficient, it is impossible to account for 

 or explain results secured in practical experiments, or to interpret 



