SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS WORK 



ing, and prediction of what will follow a certain course of 

 action can be made far more accurately than ever before. 

 What this means to agriculture is emphasized by the state- 

 ment of one of our most experienced station directors that "the 

 success of the farmer consists not so much in the skill of his 

 hands as in his ability ... to avoid the isolation of natural 

 law." The force of this Doctor Hopkins well understood, and 

 his work was directed to interpreting those laws and influences 

 so that the farmer might better understand how to avoid vio- 

 lating them and how properly to employ them. 



Doctor Hopkins was a keen critic, and in this role, again, 

 he rendered conspicuous service, because his criticism was 

 honest and was tempered by real desire for the truth not by 

 any sordid motives or purpose to break down. The watchful- 

 ness he maintained of the publications in his field had a whole- 

 some influence, for criticism which is sound and constructive 

 is the life of progress in investigation. It guards against error 

 in deduction and it leads to a strengthening of the evidence. 



Criticized himself, he stood firmly for his views and de- 

 fended them tenaciously when he felt that he was in the right, 

 but he did not fail to profit by questionings in reinforcing his 

 position. He differed often and honestly with others, but if 

 I view him aright he did not bear malice or personal feeling, 

 and the vigor of his contentions expressed the force of his 

 nature. He was sure of himself, as he had a right to be. 

 Difference of opinion was with him a question of facts and 

 their meaning, not a personal matter. 



The influence of such a man on the progress of thought and 

 investigation is not easily estimated. And yet he was not often 

 seen at meetings of scientific men, altho honored by member- 

 ship in many scientific organizations. He lacked the time, 

 apparently. More often he was to be found in the meetings 

 of farmers, who were his real clientele. He did not need the 

 inspiration of personal contact with men of science, for he him- 

 self felt the infusion of the divine fire, and he imparted it to 

 those who came in contact with him. 



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