142 MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



work of inquiry. In our enthusiasms we have proceeded, I am 

 coniinced, to create a condition that is out of balance. We 

 should bring the situation into balance by giving more attention 

 to the development of men. 



Another condition, more or less unfortunate, is that agri- 

 cultural research work is largely dependent upon annual legis- 

 lative appropriations, either national or state. The legislative 

 mind, for most excellent reasons, is peculiarly sensitive to popu- 

 lar sentiment. It also very generally holds the quid pro quo point 

 of view. The query in legislative halls is quite naturally apt 

 to be, not "What is truth?" but "What is truth worth in com- 

 mercial units?" A closely related fact is that the agricultural 

 public is not always patient or discriminating. Only investi- 

 gators themselves understand the length of time and the per- 

 sistent effort necessary to the formulation of sound conclusions, 

 and because a constituency that has no adequate conception of 

 what research involves complains to its representatives in the 

 legislature that the appropriations for agricultural investigation 

 are not producing equivalent values, the investigator is placed 

 in a position of defending himself before a jury that does not 

 understand him. The condition of expectancy that prevails 

 on the part of the public that it must have results of immediate 

 value to practice, and on the part of various institutions that they 

 must have public support, has been an element most dangerous 

 to the'quality and integrity of our work. 



As among the remaining factors related to agricultural in- 

 vestigation in the United States, permit me to refer briefly to 

 the much discussed adjustment of teaching and investigation in 

 its bearing upon the efficiency of our experiment stations. There 

 is an unquestioned advantage to an experiment station, we all 

 admit, in locating it in a college or university environment, 

 provided the relations established are of the right sort. The 

 college atmosphere is essentially speculative and is conducive to 

 reflection and inquiry, or should be, and in a community of 



