ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 



STATION-1934 



INTRODUCTION 

 F. J. Sievers, Director 



When the last annual report was in preparation, there was a genuine feeling 

 on the part of a considerable portion of our citizenship that research in general 

 and especially in the field of agriculture was so far in advance of its application 

 to practice that a partial holiday in the promotion of further investigations might 

 be justified. The pronounced interest in balancing budgets expressed itself very 

 forcefully in a definite attempt to curtail Federal and also State support to the 

 experiment stations. Although recommendations for curtailment did not prevail, 

 they had the effect of subjecting the entire experiment station service to very- 

 close scrutiny. Since then developments in attempts to solve the problems of 

 depression have been numerous and rapid, with the result that those adminis- 

 trative leaders of national, industrial, and political affairs who are giving con- 

 structive thought to this subject are becoming convinced that a sound solution 

 requires a type of basic information that is not now available. The acquirement 

 of such basic information is naturally dependent upon research, and nothing 

 could be more treacherous than to be misled at this time by so-called facts coming 

 from a prejudiced source. In other words it is becoming recognized that the 

 solution of the profound social and economic problems confronting the country 

 requires research emanating from a source free from bias. 



While individual experiment station workers may have their prejudices, there 

 is certainly no research agency in this country that should be as free from selfish, 

 commercial, or political influence as the several experiment stations as now organ- 

 ized in every state in the Union. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume not only 

 that service in social and economic adjustment is an obligation of the experiment 

 stations, but that there will be a demand for these agencies to supply basic in- 

 formation in this field similar to the contribution that is being made to science 

 in general and agriculture in particular. 



To make sure that we shall not be found wanting, an effort is being made to 

 reshape our program so that special consideration may be given to these sig- 

 nificant problems with which our entire consuming public is concerned. Such 

 modification in our program not only demands the best intellect available in the 

 organization, but also justifies a degree of enthusiasm for service that can not 

 fail to express itself in enlarged output. 



Another matter in experiment station organization deserving preferred con- 

 sideration is the encouragement of cooperation among members of the staff 

 engaged in different but related services. In recent years so much emphasis 

 has been placed on the importanceof specialization that the old-time agriculturist 

 or horticulturist who was conversant with the entire field of activities included 

 under these designations has practically disappeared. He has been displaced in 

 large part by the physiologist, geneticist, threpsologist, pathologist, etc., all 

 highly specialized in their training and interest. While this has made for a pro- 

 nounced advance in efficiency and in scientific quality 01 research, there is a 

 danger that if encouraged beyond reasonable limits it may result in the loss of a 

 sympathetic interest in agriculture as an industry or in a lack of ready respon- 



