884 JOURNAL 01^ FORESTRY 



scientific staff, forestry problems which apply to state forests as well as 

 to Government forests. In other details they w-ill emulate the present 

 excellent system of agricultural experiment stations in the United 

 States. 



Strange as it may seem, our agricultural stations are organized in 

 the same manner as the forestry experiment stations I have already 

 spoken of in Europe, India, and elsewhere. In 42 state agricultural 

 experiment stations the office of the dean of agriculture and the director 

 of the experiment station is combined in a single person. In 26 others 

 the director of the station is an independent officer, reporting directly 

 to the head of the agricultural college. This difference is due primarily 

 to the fact that at some stations the number of duties and functions 

 make two men necessary instead of one. In every case the close rela- 

 tion of the station with the educational institution is apparent, as well 

 as the fact that overhead bureaucratic supervision has been reduced to 

 a minimum. The experimenting staffs of these stations consist of from 

 several to sometimes as many as 55 investigators. Most of them are 

 are also professors at the agricultural colleges ; all of them are spe- 

 cialists in their particular lines. 



The co-ordination of research work with educational institutions has 

 advantages which have been recognized for many years by scientific 

 men all over the world. It has been common observation and experi- 

 ence that where a research organization is connected with a bureau- 

 cratic government organization research loses its freedom and inde- 

 pendence because administrators lack the scientific point of view, and 

 without knowledge of the needs of this class of work are not competent 

 to handle appropriations for it. Appropriations are easily throttled 

 and the work made to suft'er in other ways. In our own Government 

 service the research organization is top-heavy from an administrative 

 standpoint. In the matters of improvements, personnel, and other work 

 of the station the director has very little to say. Sometimes he is di- 

 rectly governed by a man in the district office who changes all the 

 director's plans to suit his own ideas. Then, of course, the assistant 

 district forester in silviculture and the district forester also have power 

 to work out their ideas. In Washington there are two or three more 

 officials and chiefs, namely, the assistant forester in research, the chief 

 of forest investigations, and lastly the forester himself. If a plan or 

 request, or whatever it may be, passes this array of officials, it is a 

 miracle. 



The advantages of co-ordinating the research work with the educa- 

 tional institutions are many. While under the other organization the 



