February, 1922. 



SCnENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



179 



: : EDITORIAL : : 



The statement that the rate of indus- 

 trial progress is dependent, in a large 

 degree, upon successful research work, is 

 seldom questioned. More and more, and 

 particularly in recent years, the value of 

 the research worker is becoming recog- 

 nized, and to no industry is this more 

 applicable than to agriculture. Within 

 the past forty years agricultural prog- 

 ress 'in Canada has been particularly rap- 

 id and it is surely significant that these 

 forty years of progress co-incide with the 

 period during which our agricultural 

 colleges have been turning out trained 

 men. 



It is true that comparatively few of 

 these graduates have entered the field of 

 research, but it is none the less true that 

 they have played an important part in the 

 agricultural development of this country. 

 Fort}^ years ago the Ontario Agricultural 

 College was turning out its first trained 

 men and if we trace the careers of those 

 graduates, and of the men who followed 

 them, we find that each one filled an im- 

 portant nic/ie. But the supply of trained 

 men was not sufficient. Other agricultural 

 colleges were equipped, the number of 

 trained men increased rapidly and today 

 we find them in almost every community, 

 holding responsible positions in Federal 

 or Provincial service, in commercial life, 

 teaching other students or — more re- 

 cently — qualifying themselves for more 

 advanced work. Our agricultural colleges 

 are now producing at least 200 trained 

 men each year. 



Within the past decade a new devel- 

 opment has taken place in agricultural 

 education, namely, the inclination on the 

 part of many graduates to specialize fur- 

 ther by taking post graduate courses. 

 Whether this is a natural inclination, or 

 whether it is the result of keener com- 

 petition, is debateable ; the fact remains 

 that the agencies employing trained men, 

 either for teaching, administration, ex- 

 tension or research work, are apparently 

 recognizing the value of specialization. 



And so Ave find that we are entering a 

 new period — a period of specialists. 

 Until recently the graduates, with Bach- 

 elors' degrees, were satisfied to take up 

 professional work and there was a keen 

 demand for their services ; today the 

 graduates — if they are able to do so — 

 are in many cases, and in increasing 

 numbers, continuing their studies. 



What is going to be the result of this 

 new trend? Will the increased value of 

 the specialist always be appreciated? Will 

 his services be at a premium? Will the 

 qualified research worker be left alone 

 to accomplish results in his own good time 

 and with his judgment, or will he be ex- 

 pected to turn out a certain number of 

 results per year, via the short cut met- 

 hod? And our best men, just when their 

 value to the country is being demonstrat- 

 ed, going to be "grabbed up" by com- 

 mercial institutions which are willing to 

 pay higher salaries? These questions are 

 all pertinent. It will not be many years 

 before we shall know exactly how fully 

 appreciated is the value of special train- 

 ing. 



This country can ill afford to lose the 

 services of men who have proved their 

 worth. Anyone who looks back upon the 

 agricultural development that has taken 

 place within recent years and who then 

 contemplates the tremendous possibilities 

 for further progress, will realize that the 

 demand for specialists will be eontinous 

 for many years. There are scores of prob- 

 lems requiring investigation and in most 

 cases the solution of those poblems will 

 be of financial, as well as of scientific 

 value to this Dominion. But these prob- 

 lems cannot be quickly solved and . can 

 never be solved without the services of 

 experts — in the laboratorv and in the 

 field. 



The present issue contains two papers 

 that have a particular bearing upon the 

 question of agricultural research, both of 

 which were read before the recent con- 

 vention of the American Association for 



