426 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



agricultural science. But there is such need for fundamental researches 

 on scientific problems immediately related to agriculture, and there are 

 at present so f(Mv agencies through which this higher research can be 

 carried on, that it was hoped some of the funds of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution might be turned in that direction. Such researches are for the 

 most part beyond the means of the individual experiment stations, 

 whose very work has developed the need for them and has brought us 

 to a point in the development of agricultural science where they are 

 well-nigh indispensable to progress. This is true in the nutrition of 

 farm animals, for example, the biology of the soil, the improvement 

 and the nutrition of agricultural plants, the complex operations of 

 cheese making and ripening, and a score of other subjects which are 

 too large and too far-reaching for an experiment station to undertake 

 single handed. In this field especially would the problems seem to 

 be so broad and fundamental in their character, and so far-reaching 

 in their relations to human life, as to ''show the application of 

 knowledge to the improvement of mankind." 



It would appear that the workers in agricultural science have been 

 very modest in their requests for aid, as the list of applications received 

 up to the close of October, 1908, shows only four under the head of 

 agriculture; three of the applicants did not state the amount desired, 

 and the fourth named $5,000. A larger number of definite topics for 

 investigation would have made the need of aid more evident and 

 imperative, and impressed the claims of agriculture more forcibly 

 upon the attention of the authorities of the institution. 



The largest number of applications for grants were in zoology 

 (109), chemistr}' (89), botanj" (60), and astronomy and ph3'sics (58 

 each). The total amount of the 142 applications received aggregates 

 $2,200,398, which far exceeds the present income of the institution. 

 The recommendations of the advisory committee carried an additional 

 $900,000 per annum, $100,000 of which was for phj^sics and geophysics, 

 $230,000 for astronomy (with a plan for $2,000,000, extending over 

 twelve or fourteen years), and $120,000 for explorations. 



While the report of the institution for the past year may perhaps 

 be taken as an indication of its tendencies, the aggregate amount of 

 these grants and recommendations ($3,111,898) clearl}^ shows that the 

 Carnegie Institution will not be able to cover the ground of general 

 science, let alone the special field of science as applied to agriculture. 

 This emphasizes the great need of special provision for research in 

 agriculture, in a form which will insure to the workers a large measure 

 of freedom from distracting influences and from direct responsibilit}' 

 to a popular constituency. 



