198 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



February, 1922. 



for all that he does. Scientific research 

 will flourish under such conditions just as 

 a plant flourishes in a dark cellar. It vaay 

 live, it may even grow to be tall but it can 

 bear no fruit. 



What must be done to properly estab- 

 lish and to adequately encourage Agri- 

 cultural Eesearch ? 



First of all you must engage the best 

 and most highly trained men obtainable. 

 The second best are not good enough. They 

 must be men Avorthy of confidence, men 

 whose opinions you will accept. You must 

 have the strongest minds, minds that have 

 been prepared for their work by many 

 years of training in the best universities. 

 Probing into the secrets of Nature is not 

 a child's task. 



Obviously these men must be adequately 

 paid. A cheap man is useless, and a small 

 salary is an insult to a competent one. I 

 do not mean that a research specialist 

 must be paid as much as a base-ball player, 

 the chief cook in a hotel or a cinema clown. 

 But he should receive a salary large 

 enough to ensure freedom from financial 

 worry, to enable him to give a university 

 education to his children and to spare his 

 wife from having to wear herself out work- 

 ing like a slave. 



Next, you must provide conditions under 

 which your research specialist can accom- 

 plish something. Remember tha" he is not 

 Avorking for his salary but for the sake pf 

 Avhat he can achieve. He does not keep 

 his eye on the clock ; he does not care what 

 time it is, and he resents it bitterly if you 

 ask him to keep track of the time. What 

 he cares about vitally is the progress he is 

 making. He wants a proper laboratory, 

 not a makeshift, he wants suitable land 

 and he wants trained assistants. Certain 

 kinds of assistants are easy to obtain, but 

 the highly-trained assistant who has 

 caugh* the spirit of research is very rare 

 in Canada. He is hoAvever, precisely the 

 man your research specialist Avants and 

 must have if he is to carry on his work 

 on a fairly large scale. 



And noAv I come to the last, the least 

 obvious, and yet the most important point 

 of all. Having obtained a good man, paid 

 him a fair salary, provided him with as- 

 sistants, laboiatories and land, there is 

 one other absolutely essential condition to 

 be fulfilled. 



You must trust him and leave him in peace. 

 Here is where Democracy rebels and 

 ignorance protests. "But having hired 

 him surely we have a right to keep track 

 of his daily output, to see that he is reg- 

 ularly at Avork and that he issues periodical 

 reports — preferably on stereotyped forms. 

 Our efficiency expert says this is essen- 

 tial and that Ave must stand firm." If 

 the efficiency expert kncAv anything about 

 research he AA-ould cease to make recom- 

 mendations. I am personally familiar with 

 the blighting effects of his touch when he 

 undertakes to regulate and imxprove re- 

 search Avork. I knoAv the loss of self-res- 

 pect and enthusiasm that inevitabl}^ result 

 AA'hen an official in a high position, where 

 he should be respected and trusted, is re- 

 quired to sign the daily attendance book 

 in order to entitle himself to a miserably 

 inadequate salary cheque at the end of 

 the month. 



Research is a spiritual problem, not a 

 problem in manual labour, and the results 

 of ignorant interference are fatal. 



You must not allow the partial truth 

 to obscure the greater one Avhen you say 

 that you hire and pay the research Avorker. 

 There is one vital element about the man 

 on which his success mainly depends — 

 his enthusiasm. You do not hire this or 

 pay for it. It is not for sale. It cannot 

 be measured or estimated. He will use it 

 laAdshly for your benefit, if you treat him 

 properly ; but if you put annoying restric- 

 tions on him his enthusiasm Avill perish. All 

 that you can do is to provide favourable 

 conditions and then leaA'e him alone — or 

 else you can kill his enthusiasm by stupid 

 interference. 



Do not fear lest your research specialist 

 may waste his time. A long and arduous 

 university training is not taken by indo- 

 lent people. There are much easier Avays 

 of being lazy than that. If your research 

 Avorker cannot be trusted, dismiss him and 

 engage a superior man. Don't control or 

 fetter him, for by so doing you Avill cer- 

 tainly bring disaster. 



This is the end of my argument. Let me 

 sum up. Scientific Research in Agricul- 

 ture in Canada is to-day in a deplorable 

 condition. It is much talked about but to 

 very little purpose, for it is not being 

 encouraged. On the contrary, conditions 

 are becoming Avorse rather tlian better. We 

 need superior men, men of longer train- 



