EDITORIAL. 7 2 7 



change their composition, and adapt them to different localities and 

 purposes and a shorter season of growth. I >ry farming as \\ e now know 

 it was not heard of, ;m<l the crops which have to a large measure made 

 it a success had not been introduced or disseminated in this country. 

 The theory and practice of silage making had not been worked out, 

 and the place of silage in fa fin economy was only partially appreciated. 

 'The same was true of a wide range of feeding -mil-, and the effects of 

 different feeds, most advantageous combination, the period of profit- 

 able fattening and many other matters relating to feeding were quite 

 largely matters of tradition. We did not know that hens differ as 

 greatly in productive power as milch cow-, and that the egg-laying 

 habit could be largely developed by -election. 



We did not know that Texas fever could he eradicated, or that 

 tuberculosis could he weeded out of a herd and animals inoculated 

 against it; we had no conception of the extent to which plant diseases 

 and injurious insect- could he held in check by seed treatment, by 

 spraying the crop, and by various other mean- which have been 

 devised and have become a part of good farm practice. The country 

 was not aroused to the dangers of depleting our forests, and there 

 were no forest schools. Large amounts of by-products from various 

 industries which are now tinned to use for agricultural purposes were 

 allowed to go to waste. We did not know that the date palm could 

 he grown commercially in Arizona, macaroni wheats in the semiarid 

 Northwest, alfalfa in the South and many parts of the East, and the 

 sugar beet over a wide belt of country, that Alaska had any agricul- 

 tural possihilities, or that an experiment station could he of great 

 advantage to even the primitive agriculture of the range. 



Some of the things which it was thought were known were supported 

 by imperfect data, and the conclusions were far from secure. And 

 most important of all, only a small proportion of what was known 

 found application in the practice of the average farmers. 



This remarkable advancement is, of course, not due to any single 

 group of agencies. It is the combined product of a great variety of 

 institutions all over the world, some of them working in pure science 

 and others in its special applicat ions. But in all of this modern de\ el 

 opment of a more rational and scientific basis for agriculture, the Amer- 

 ican experiment stations, and the National Department of Agriculture, 

 which forms an integral part of the experiment station system in this 

 country, have been a conspicuous and very essential factor. 



Many classes of problems which the stations had to face nineteen 

 years ago are now settled in most States. Questions of organization 

 and the responsibilities of the States have worked themselves out. It 

 has been shown that the farmers can be reached and their confidence 

 won to such an extent as to form the basis for a substantial and infiu- 



