114 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The field for experimental work is of large extent. It is two-fold 

 in its nature, scientific and practical. It may be scientific and not 

 practical, and again, it ma}' be practical and not scientific. The 

 grand object of the promoters of the agricultural experiment stations 

 was to make them of practical value to the farmers as producers of 

 the sustenance of life ; and secondarily, of importance to the world at 

 large. There has apparently been more or less confusion among the 

 stations in formulating the work to be done, but the general organ- 

 ization of the stations will remedy this confusion, and give unity to 

 their purposes and plans. The directors of the stations are men 

 who have been selected for their several positions in consequence of 

 their scientific attainments. They are, so far as we can judge, dis- 

 posed to make the general work of the stations practical ; at the 

 same time, they are quite unanimous that it shall be scientific. 

 This suggests the tendency, which in some of the stations is already 

 too apparent, to make them purely scientific. The station officers 

 are engaged in study and research, and are disposed to learn all 

 there is of importance on the subjects under consideration. The}' 

 are associated in their work, and know little of the necessities of 

 local agriculture, and there is good reason to suppose they will be 

 likely to pursue only those investigations that are most congenial to 

 their tastes. There is certainly a tendency that waj', not premedi- 

 tated, but perfectly natural. There is only one remedy for this, and 

 that is, to have the interests of the farmer brought home to them. 

 In our own station, the officers are sincere, earnest workers, and 

 express the wish to undertake the lines of work most important to 

 the farmers. But if the farmers fail to make known to the officers 

 of the Station what work they need to have done, it naturally follows 

 that the station officers will select their own work. Thus far, there 

 have been two meetings of the council. Your society was the only 

 organization, outside the college and station, that was represented. 

 Probably there will be no meetings in future of equal importance, as 

 at these meetings the future work of the station was agreed upon. 

 Should this policy continue in the future, the results may not be 

 entirely satisfactory to the farmers. 



REPRESEXTATION OF IMPORTANCE TO THE FARMERS. 



There is only one remedy for this, and that is, to secure in some 

 way representation at all the meetings of the council, where the 

 work done is subject to criticism, and future work is discussed and 



