ADDRESSES 



23 



problems today are eitlier too complex for the training of 

 any one investigator, or they call for too many data for 

 one investigator to secure, at least in a reasonable time. 



This suggests what is probably the most serious obstacle 

 to any general adoption of the cooperative method. We 

 have worked so long in our isolated way in a kind of 

 monastic seclusion, tliat we have come to regard our prob- 

 lems as personal property, and feel a sort of resentment if 

 any other investigator ventures within our territory. This 

 means that, perhaps unconsciously, we are more concerned 

 with our own personal credit than with the solution of the 

 problem. If our old method has developed this attitude of 

 mind among investigators, it is high time to change it and 

 to realize that research is to advance knowledge, and is not 

 for self-glorification. What the science wants, and what 

 the world wants, is 7'csults. as quickly and accurately as 

 possible. If we cannot be large enough to put truth above 

 ourselves, the outlook for botany is discouraging. 



The spirit of competition between individuals is depress- 

 ing enough, but when it extends to competition between 

 research establishments it is worse. This spirit of aloof- 

 ness is the more emphasized between institutions that deal 

 primarily with practical questions and those that deal 

 primarily with fundamental research. 



In conclusion, if I may venture a prophecy, it would be 

 that if in response to the great opportunity that has come 

 to us, we shall pledge ourselves to be synthetic rather than 

 narrow in our point of view, to emphasize the possible 

 practical connections of botanical problems, and to sub- 

 merge our personal and institutional temperaments in a 

 spirit of general cooperation to secure results, botany will 

 come to be recognized as a great national asset, and 

 research will enter upon a new era. 



