CONSERVATISM IN SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 37 



we often lack the data necessary to a proper interpretation of 

 resnlts. Until we have a wider and more exact knowledge con- 

 cerning tlie character and nutritive functions of the various 

 compounds which we huddle together under the terms protein 

 and nitrogen-free extract, we shall be handicapped in our 

 attempts to solve problems in animal nutrition. 



Such investigations as Stone of Indiana is making on the non- 

 nitrogenous compounds of foods, and workers in the two Con- 

 necticut Experiment Stations, on the nitrogenous compounds of 

 the cereal grains and on the functions and value of nutrients, 

 will, I am sure, ultimately prove of much greater service to Agri- 

 culture than that large class of experiments which have a more 

 apparent practical application. 



It is worthy of note that the only investigations which have 

 ■outlived a half or even (juarter of a century, and which have ex- 

 erted a profound influence upon Agriculture as an art, are those 

 of a severely scientific character, — investigations which were car- 

 ried on in the laboratories of scientists w^ho little dreamed of the 

 far-reaching influence of their labors. The men who have given 

 to the word Science the great meaning and dignity which it now 

 has, have been lovers of the truth for truth's sake, and I some- 

 times fear that we as a people are not cultivating the spirit of 

 the true investigator as we should. Is it true that our scientific 

 labors are taking on a merely commercial aspect ? Are we ask- 

 ing as the introduction to every j)iece of scientific work the ques- 

 tion. How much will it be worth in dollars and cents ? 



For some, these questions fortunately can be answered in the 

 negative. It is desirable, however, that the enthusiastic scientific 

 spirit shall more thoroughly pervade our Experiment Stations, for 

 we sorely need the inevitable outcome of such a spirit. While 

 it is properly a function of the Station to show how existing 

 knowledge may be utilized, by experiments which serve as object 

 lessons, I believe a more important function at the present stage 

 of knowledge is the discovery of laws and facts fundamental to 

 agricultural methods, leaving the application to farm practice of 

 much of this added knowledge largely with the mass of intelli- 

 gent farmers, where, after all, it must generally be left. I affirm, 

 then, that the conclusions derived from Experiment Station work 

 should manifest a conservatism that is induced by severe and 

 searching methods of experiment and investigation. 



