13 



the new Farm Director, Mr. C. Heigham, is now well in hand 

 and the new arrangements for the improvement of field observa- 

 tions and records are already in operation. 



The general method of investigation at Rothamsted is to 

 start from the farm and work to the laboratory or vice versa. 



There are four great divisions in the laboratory — biological, 

 chemical, physical and statistical — which may be regarded as 

 the pillars on which the whole structure rests. But the method 

 of investigation differs from that of an ordinary scientific 

 laboratory where the problem is usually narrowed down so closely 

 that only one factor is concerned. On the farm such narrowing 

 is impossible; many factors may operate and elimination results 

 in conditions so artificial as to render the enquiry meaningless. 

 In place, therefore, of the ordinary single factor method of the 

 scientific laboratory, liberal use is made of statistical methods 

 which allow the investigation of cases where several factors vary 

 simultaneously. In the crop investigations a large number 

 of field observations are made ; these are then treated statistically 

 to ascertain the varying degrees to which they are related to 

 other factors — such as rainfall, temperature, etc. — and to indicate 

 the probable nature of the relationships. Thus the complex 

 problem becomes reduced to a number of simpler ones susceptible 

 of laboratory investigation. 



It has been found desirable to widen the scope of the work 

 by repeating some of the more important experiments elsewhere, 

 and various centres in different parts of the country have been 

 selected for this purpose. 



In October, 1921.. the Station undertook, so long as its 

 funds should allow, to carry on the continuous wheat and barley 

 experiments at the Woburn Experimental Farm, till then con- 

 ducted by the Royal Agricultural Society, and Dr. Voelcker gives 

 his services as Honorary Local Director. In December, 1922, 

 E. D. Simon, Esq., generously placed his Leadon Court farm at 

 the disposal of the Station for experimental purposes. This is 

 being used as a large scale test of the soiling system for keeping 

 dairy cows (see p. 41). 



The acceptance by Lord Bledisloe in November, 1924, of the 

 office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture 

 and Deputy Minister of Fisheries necessitated his vacation of 

 the chairmanship of the Lawes Agricultural Trust Committee, 

 which he had held since October, 1920. Lord Bledisloe con- 

 sistently favoured the policy of extending the activities of 

 Rothamsted outside the Station and bringing the scientific workers 

 more closely into touch with the actual farmers themselves. This 

 policy has proved stimulating and beneficial to the Station and 

 the results have abundantly justified its wisdom. 



Lord Clinton has now been elected Chairman in place of Lord 

 Bledisloe. 



