168 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



The Distinc- 

 tion Between 

 Experimenta- 

 tion and 

 Demonstra- 

 tion 



ferent states and the Federal Government, and giving- that in- 

 formation to the farmer in practical form. The point was: 

 That information had to be passed through a central source, and 

 translated into terms of practical application to the local con- 

 ditions, and that is what you people have today. I simply want 

 to give you confidence in this proposition. 



Dr. C. V. Piper: There is a very important distinction be- 

 tween experimentation and demonstration. You cannot demon- 

 strate a thing until you know it. Do you get that? Now, I 

 think my friend's ideas are not very far off, but I don't like his 

 confusing two words, experimentation and demonstration. If I 

 understood the speakers right yesterday, they think that with 

 the information we already possess live stock farming on an ex- 

 tensive scale on these cut-over lands can be made successful. 

 They had in mind the establishment, under practical conditions 

 and with a minimum expense, a place where all these pieces of 

 knowledge could be put together and then cited. I submit to 

 you that this is an experiement station, not a place of demonstra- 

 tion. If we had the knowledge we could go ahead and do it. I 

 call that demonstration. Then there would be no need of the 

 meeting here today. The experiment station that I had in mind 

 and that Dr. Nesom had in mind are pretty nearly one and the 

 same thing; but until we have the knowledge, you cannot call it 

 a demonstration. It is a very important distinction ; and I 

 think we will get our minds confused if we confuse experimen- 

 tation and demonstration. 



