1920.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 7a 



per cent more salary than was paid in 1911 to secure them. 

 Men and women with the technical training required in the work 

 of an agricultural experiment station are continually in demand 

 in the industrial and business world, where better salaries are 

 paid than can be paid here. This situation causes much loss 

 of time in filling positions vacated by workers who have 

 secured better positions elsewhere. It also renders almost 

 impossible the development of any new lines of research that 

 require additions to the staff of specialists. 



One possible method of securing specialists for definite 

 problems is that of making attractive fellowships for post- 

 graduate students. The particular object of such a plan 

 would be the employment of a specialist during the investiga- 

 tion of the problem, after which the worker would seek a 

 position elsewhere as a result of the training received during 

 his fellowship. 



Four resignations were tendered during the year because of 

 tempting offers from other agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations; three were from the department of chemistry and 

 one from the department of horticulture. Dr. J. K. Shaw, 

 research pomologist, accepted the position of head of the 

 department of horticulture in the University of West Virginia, 

 which was a well-deserved opportunity which could not be 

 equaled here. He has been identified with this experiment 

 station for twelve years, and numerous publications of the 

 station bear witness to the quality of his work. Up to the 

 end of the year it has not been possible to fill the vacancy. 



In filling the vacancies in the department of chemistry it was 

 found necessary to follow the plan of employing promising but 

 less experienced workers as the only available means of keeping 

 up the work. 



Publications issued during 1919. 

 Annual Report. 

 Thirty-first annual report : — 

 Part I. Report of the Director and Other Officers; 61 pages. 

 Part II. Detailed Report of the Experiment Station; 274 pages (being 



Bulletins Nos. 182-188). 

 Combined Contents and Index, Parts I and II; 12 pages. 



