EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XVII. June, L906. No. LO. 



The outlining of plans for work under the Adams Act has led to 

 greater consideration of what should be regarded as research in agri- 

 culture. The terms " research " and " investigation "' have been used 

 freely in reference to experiment stat ion work, and often more broadly 

 than they arc employed in science generally. We have fallen into the 

 habit of speaking of much of the work as investigation, which in a 

 strict sense can not he regarded as of that grade. The result ha- Keen 

 considerable confusion in the minds of station workers, as well as the 

 general public, as to the distinction between this and other grades of 

 work less technical and fundamental in character. 



There are several reason- which contribute to this uncertainty in the 

 use of terms. Agriculture is a new science. Our knowledge is not as 

 well systematized and classified, and the problems for research are not 

 so definitely outlined as they are in the older sciences. Being a com- 

 posite science, it has been buill upon the basis of the pure and natural 

 sciences. It has drawn upon these for many facts, which have been 

 given a scientific or a practical application in agriculture. Important 

 as this application may be, it is not always to be regarded a- research 

 or a scientific discovery. All knowledge is supposed ultimately to 

 have a useful application, and the work of the experiment stations has 

 done a vast deal to demonstrate this fact and to give this knowledge a 

 tangible value. 



Again, the needs of agricultural practice have frequently blinded 

 station workers and led them to mistake for investigation tests and 

 demonstrations or simple experiments involving no original feature-. 

 but which led to an answer to the farmer's question. They have been 

 flooded with practical questions, and have set out to answer these ques- 

 tions in the most direct and quickest way. Results of this kind have 

 accumulated very fast. The workers as a rule have been too busyand 

 too much absorbed to stop long to philosophize or speculate upon 

 the broader and deeper scientific aspects of their work or to inquire 

 into the reason of the results observed. 



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