4 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT. 
we take in it as a local institution will be doubled when we remem- 
ber that it had the power, as a magnet, to draw within our borders 
you, our eminent and distinguished guests. And, therefore, wel- 
come, thrice welcome.” 
Dr. W. H. Jordan, Director of the Station, then gave the follow- 
ing address, reviewing briefly the history and work of the Station: 
STATION ISEORY: 
W. H. JORDAN. 
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.— In the name of my associates I give 
you a cordial greeting and a hearty welcome to these grounds. You 
have come to visit what is your own. ‘The ostensible reason for 
asking you here is that this Experiment Station has passed its 
twenty-fifth birthday. But this institution is not old — it is young, 
and has not even attained its full stature and vigor, and the real 
reason for your invitation to pay us a visit lies deeper than the 
mere matter of age. The underlying purpose of this occasion is 
that you may pause for a moment and give us your attention and 
interest. 
JUST A PUBLIC SERVANT. 
An institution like this, standing apart from a college or uni- 
versity, appoints few feasts. It has no family of devoted sons that 
it can call home annually to give cheer and inspiration — indeed it 
has no calendar of special days. It is just a public servant with 
its assigned duties, duties that if well met will be performed quietly 
and without ostentation. Real scientific investigation has few ele- 
ments of popularity. 
SOME MAIN FACTS. 
It would be ungrateful, however, on such an occasion as this for 
me to withhold a generous recognition of some of the main factors 
that have been efficient in the upbuilding of this Experiment Station. 
Something more than ten years ago I wrote: “It is a matter 
for congratulation that the Station is well located, both agriculturally 
and socially. It is in the midst of one of the most fertile and 
prosperous farming regions of the State, which has an almost 
world-wide reputation for its production of nursery stock and 
fruit. 
