194 BACKGROUND AND MEANS OF SERVICE 



diseases, etc. In some states they also have charge of 

 forest legislation, highway administration and immigra- 

 tion. They collect and publish agricultural statistics and 

 in most states have the supervision of the public aid to 

 state and county fairs. In the past they have usually con- 

 ducted farmers' institutes, but in most states this educa- 

 tional extension activity has now been transferred to the 

 state agricultural colleges. 



To state or federal departments then, according to 

 whether the question is local or national, should be ad- 

 dressed all inquiries concerning the law, all complaints re- 

 garding its enforcement, and reports or suggestions con- 

 cerning the things it is charged to do. 



THE RESEARCH FUNCTION 



The object of research is to discover and make available 

 to farmers and to the public generally fundamental agri- 

 cultural truths. This function is exercised by state and 

 federal experiment stations and by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. To these public institutions we owe most of 

 our knowledge of seed, feed, fertilizer and human food 

 analysis, bacteria in milk, and our ability to control in- 

 sects and diseases by spraying, together with other equally 

 valuable and useful information. 



In 1887 the federal government, through the Hatch Ex- 

 periment Station Act, established a federal system of ex- 

 periment stations and with it the principle of public sup- 

 port of these institutions. They were further aided and 

 encouraged by the supplementary Adams Act of 1906. Al- 

 though the federal government was the pioneer in establish- 

 ing these stations, the states have now become their chief 

 sources of support. Approximately four millions of dollars 

 of federal and state funds are now expended annually for 





