2 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



actual rcquiiviiuMits were not ahvays fully appreciated. It is not 

 .sui'i)iisinir thcivforc that diiHcultics wciv ciiconntered. Compara- 

 tively few of the men hud been educated and trained for thorough- 

 "oing investigation, and hence the number who fully imderstood the 

 spirit and the meaning of scientific investigation was not large. 



Out of any large body of men interested in science only a few^ are 

 really productive in investigation. This is evidenced by the record of 

 any large scientific society, or even of any large university. While 

 there are many men publishing the results of their work, much of 

 which is of value, especially in cumulative form, there is a compara- 

 tively small number whose work is conspicuous for originality of 

 thought and for marking distinct advance. This is in some degree 

 due to the fact that the general average is already higher than 

 formerly, but it is also due to the fact that genuine research ability 

 is rare. Hence in any branch of science a considerable body of 

 workers is essential to a satisfactory output. There must be a quite 

 large number of men engaged before the amount of actually pro- 

 ductive research is such as to attract much attention. 



This is as true in station work as elsewhere. Out of a coiiipara- 

 tively small number wdio have prepared themselves for original scien- 

 tific work there will necessarily be but feAv who will exhibit special 

 aptitude and ability, and not until a considerable number have been 

 developed who have an interest and zeal for agricultural investiga- 

 tion will there be a sufficiently large body of genuine investigators 

 to lead thought and promulgate the spirit of that work. Hence wdien 

 the Adams fund came there were comparatively few who were able 

 to formulate productive lines of original research — undertakings 

 in which for the time being the consideration of principles pre- 

 dominated over the development of rules for practice. 



The result has been that the investigation under that fund has not 

 all been of uniformly high grade. Some has been abandoned or turned 

 over to other funds, and some has been reshaped and strengthened in 

 plan as a result of conference and advice. Much can be done by way 

 of suggestion, but it is becoming evident that no amount of planning 

 will make an undertaking a piece of research unless the guiding hand 

 of the man in charge places it there. The man may be aided by sug- 

 gestion and counsel in shaping his investigation, but his own genius 

 Avill determine its ultimate quality. Research is an individual prod- 

 uct, an expression not only of the man's technical knowledge but of 

 his mental grasp and acumen. 



It is time that the kind of men required for station work was more 

 fully understood. This applies to the stations themselves, as well as 

 to the men electing to enter that field. It applies to the experimental 

 work of the station as a whole, as well as to its research ^vork. The 



