EDITORIAL. 729 



and experimenting, important as it has been, has been merely the 

 attempt to apply to local conditions and Deeds or bo introduce into 

 practice these general principles which have been previously worked 

 out. together with the result of accumulated experience. The station 

 worker who has not taken account of these fact- has been either an 

 imitator or an indifferent experimenter. 



The new fund will call for sharper discrimination between different 

 kinds of work. If held strictly to the purposes specified in the act it 

 will give a great opportunity for placing the American stations on a 

 high level as research agencies, and give them a leadership in develop- 

 ing the science of agriculture. It is the greatest opportunity for con 

 tinned -\ stematic research along agricultural line- which ha- ever been 

 presented in any country, and this opportunity and the realization of 

 the ultimate importance of investigation should be the inspiration of 

 every station man and every friend of agricultural advancement. It 

 should he a strong incentive to tin 1 careful choice of problems t<> be 

 investigated, thorough and exhaustive work in their solution, and the 

 securing of permanent and far-reaching results. 



The best use of the fund in the different States will call for wise 

 administration and the selection of men with a genius for agricultural 

 investigation. The Adam- fund roll might well he regarded a- in a 

 sense an honor roll, made up of men who have been selected on account 

 of demonstrated special ability and qualifications for research work. 

 The standard should he set as high as the available supply in this 

 country will permit, and the outlook should furnish an additional 

 incentive to men with taste and ability for research to prepare them- 

 selves thoroughly for their work. 



Many of the stations have been planning in advance line- of investi- 

 gation to b inaugurated under the new act. Many of these line- were 

 not conceive lof when the Batch Act was passed, and would have been 

 impossible in the state of knowledge then existing. This indicate- 

 how opportune the new grant is, and -hows how wise the provision to 

 (•online it to advanced work. The granting of a comparatively small 

 initial appropriation, with an annual increase for five year-, will allow 

 the -tat ions to adjust themselves to the new work and to plan 

 economically. 



The Hatch fund will continue to cover some <>f the elementary work 

 which will appeal more immediately to the farmers' need-, the adapta- 

 tion of principles to local condition-, and the working out of improved 



methods. The research under the new act will extend the ba-i- for 



demonstration and verification experiments leading to general improve- 

 ment of farm practice in many direction-. But more and more the 

 State- will be called upon to make provision for the local demonstra- 

 tions intended to bring facts home to the farmer, the cooperative 



