930 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Hence it is that much of our experimental work has given results 

 which are largely empirical. We find that if we follow a certain pro- 

 gramme of operations we will get a given result quite constantly. 

 Why \ Usually because this result has been observed in a variety of 

 trials; not because the underlying principles have been determined, and 

 the relation of these to the particular problem, as for example, that a 

 given practice is found to have a special effect on the moisture condi- 

 tions or aeration of the soil, or to bring about more congenial condi- 

 tions for the organic life of the soil, or to have a definite effect on the 

 physiological activities of the plant itself. The experimenter often 

 sees only the final result, and is satisfied with this if it is favorable. 

 The investigator will strive to determine the cause of what he sees 

 and the broader bearings of the results of his experiments. This will 

 stimulate him to make investigations into these problems which will 

 go down to the fundamental facts and enable him to prove his propo- 

 sition step by step. 



These differences in the use of terms, which have grown up as a 

 result of circumstances and environment, make it desirable that we 

 should discriminate carefully and intelligently in apph T ing the funds 

 under a new act which restricts them to investigation. Such discrim- 

 inating study of the different branches of the subject will be an aid in 

 the development of agricultural science and will lead to a clearer view. 

 It will enable the systematizing of investigations, so that we may go 

 forward step by step in a logical way and as a result of things defi- 

 nitely worked out and proven. Until this is done we shall continue 

 very largely to be groping in the dark, and not laying the founda- 

 tion for scientific deductions which will help in the next set of prob- 

 lems or in another locality. 



Some one has said that ''Science seeks to make our knowledge of the 

 small, the invisible, the mysterious, as accurate, as practical as our 

 knowledge of common things;" and that "it seeks to make our knowl- 

 edge of common things accurate and precise that this accuracy and 

 precision may be translated into action." This fact finds expression in 

 the results of many lines of research in agriculture. The intelligent use 

 of lime is such an illustration, the combating of plant pests, the making 

 and curing of cheese, the handling of milk, and a wide variety of 

 other matters. But these subjects have each passed through their 

 empirical stage before they reached a scientific basis. 



For example, there was much experimenting upon the use of lime 

 for land. Applications to some soils gave beneficial results, while on 

 others there appeared to be no benefit, and it was thought by some to 

 exhaust the soil and to be ill advised. A few years ago this repre- 

 sented the status of knowledge and experimentation. The results and 

 the practice were entirely empirical. The lime was usually not needed 



