EDITORIAL. 



603 



be imi^osed upon the veterinarian to a point where, in his own juclg- 

 ment, the}^ are a drag upon his more legitimate work. 



Dr. Repp calls attention to the opportunities for cooperation with 

 the veterinarians of the State, which he has found very helpful in his 

 own case. By keeping- in close touch with these men the station vet- 

 erinarian is informed of the conditions about his State and can often 

 take advantage of opportunities which arise for investigation in the 

 field. To a certain extent these practitioners will become the medium 

 through which the station's more technical work reaches and benefits 

 the farmer. 



Cooperation between the station veterinarians in difierent States 

 where similar problems are presented is recognized as both practicable 

 and economical. It is a recognition of the maxim that "two heads are 

 better than one," and will often enable each to bring to satisfactory 

 issue pieces of investigation upon which working alone little, or at 

 best very slow, progress could be made. The more limited the time 

 and facilities of the veterinary department the greater would appear 

 to be the advantage of cooperation with other stations. 



And, finally, efl'ort should be made to secure from the State addi- 

 tional appropriation for the veterinary work where the stock interests 

 warrant it. In doing this the stations should steer clear of being 

 loaded down with a lot of routine work supposed to be in the interest 

 of the advancement of the stock interests. This is a danger which 

 has often to be met in securing State legislation for aid in a specific 

 line. If interest is aroused it maj' take the form of a demand for 

 speedy relief from a specific disease or along a particular line, which 

 will involve the station veterinarian in much administrative or rou- 

 tine work which will not advance the science of treatment of disease. 

 There are a number of instances of this kind which serve to illustrate 

 the disadvantage rather than the aid which has followed such legisla- 

 tion. A small appropriation — only enough, perhaps, to pay the salary 

 of a competent assistant — will often open the way for a more thorough 

 line of investigation and be of more real aid in promoting such work 

 than ten times that amount carrying with it duties of inspection, dis- 

 tribution of antitoxins, virus, etc. The Hatch fund should serve as a 

 nucleus around which funds from the State far developing work in a 

 number of difierent lines, as suggested by the agricultural interests of 

 the State, should be gathered. And in this connection it should be 

 remembered that veterinary work is of necessity quite expensive if it 

 is to be developed so as to form one of the features of the research 

 work of a station. 



