CONSIDERATIONS IN SILVICULTURAL RESEARCH 795 



Looking at the causes of the war from a purely philosophical stand- 

 point, we must, I think, agree with Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who in 

 the commencement oration at the University of Nebraska in June, 191 5, 

 attributed the world conflagration to "the cross-purposes of men," 

 which had their origin in commercial and industrial expansion — in other 

 words, in one nation attempting to block the other in gaining possession 

 of world markets. Hence, when peace comes, competition will be 

 keener than ever before and science will come more and more to the 

 fore to aid competition and commercial and industrial expansion. 



If science is going to play such a large part in the life of nations, 

 then research, which is the process by which science is advanced, must 

 also play an important part. The wonderful impetus which the war 

 has given to research in every branch of science is but an indication of 

 what we may expect in the keen competition which will come after the 

 war. Take just one example, namely, agriculture.- In our own coun- 

 try before the war was a month old there was organized an agricultural 

 committee of the National Research Council. All scientific men capable 

 of rendering service in agriculture or its allied lines were listed through- 

 out the United States. In England about two years ago Sir William 

 Ramsey pointed out the need of vigorous support of scientific research 

 as a war measure. The recent publication by the Board of Agriculture 

 and Fisheries in England of a comparative study of German and Brit- 

 ish agriculture has shown the advantage to be on the side of Germany, 

 even in the face of less favorable climatic conditions than prevail in 

 Great Britain. A well-organized system of technical education, pains- 

 taking investigations at the experiment stations, and trustworthy advice 

 supplied to the farmer have been at the foundation of German agricul- 

 tural prosperity. That is why Germany shows a greater food-produc- 

 ing power per acre than Great Britain. Professor von Ruemker, of the 

 Royal Agricultural High School of Ikrlin. i)ut this succinctly when he 

 said, "the great progress that agriculture has achieved in Germany dur- 

 ing the last quarter of a century is the result of the union of practice 

 with science. ■■ Within the last year I'rance also has awakened to the 

 great present and the greater future need of scientific research. The 

 French Academy of v^cience recently ])roposd the establishment of na- 

 tional laboratories of scientific research. A commission of the academy 

 pointed out the necessity of the reconstruction of the entire system of 

 agricultural encouragement, instruction, and research from toj) to bot- 

 tom. It observed further that the countries that had develojied their 



Data from Experiincnt Station Ktcord, 36:7, pp. 604-8, lyi/. 



