EDITORIAL. 211 



the United States, it seems proper that they should receive additional 

 financial aid from the National Government now that they have demon- 

 strated their ability to stimulate and increase the agricnltural produc- 

 tion of the country. This supplemental aid should, of course, be 

 granted under conditions which will insure its exclusive application to 

 meet the expenses of agricultural investig-ations, and which will stimu- 

 late the States to increase their contributions to the support of the 

 stations. 



In this connection it is well to consider that, with the increase of 

 agricultural operations in this country, the States generally will be 

 called upon to establish a much larger number of stations or substa- 

 tions than at present exist. The areas over which many of the stations 

 in this country are required to extend their jurisdiction are so large 

 that they can not meet the demands for investigations adapted to the 

 various conditions of soil, climate, and rational agricultural practice 

 in their several States. In no section of the United States are there 

 as many stations in proportion to land area as in France or Germany, 

 In our smallest States along the Atlantic Coast we have one station for 

 2-1,000 square miles; France and Germany have eight times as many. 

 The South Central States with their 10 stations are 40 per cent larger 

 than all of France and Germany with their 151 stations, and Texas 

 alone, with one Federal station, is 27 per cent larger than either of 

 those countries. The ratio of stations to area in France and Germany 

 is 96 to 1 as compared with Texas, 28 to 1 as compared with Minnesota 

 and the Dakotas, and 39 to 1 as compared with the Pacific States. 



Under present conditions the stations as a rule are not able to grap- 

 ple with the larger problems of our agriculture in a sufficiently broad 

 and thorough manner to give the surest expectation of success. Gen- 

 erally speaking, they are now in a position to utilize larger funds 

 effectively, since questions relating to organization and methods and 

 lines of work have been largely solved. 



The kind of work most needed at present is expensive, requiring 

 investigators of the highest ability, ample facilities in the way of 

 equipment and assistance, and opportunity for concentration of effort 

 without interruption from inspection or routine work or for instruc- 

 tion. The experiment station is a university department standing at 

 the head of the institution, and the fundamental importance of its edu- 

 cational function is already apparent. Its chief business is to find out 

 new applications of science to agriculture which shall result in 

 improved practices and products. On its success depends not only the 

 advancement of agricultural practice in particular regions, but also 

 the effectiveness of the agricultural colleges and other institutions for 

 agricultural education. 



The amount of data published by the stations on many agricultural 



