February, 1921. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



The Place of Research in Agriculture 



71 



DEAN E. A. HOWES. 

 T^iiiversitv of Alberta, Edmonton. 



(Read before the Western Canadian Soeiety of Agronomy and publislicd lUi-on^li the courtesy of that Society.) 



The ai)pIieation of the word research to agriculture 

 has been .subjected to considerable variation. Perhaps 

 this is as it should be, and it has yet to be shown that 

 a certain amount of elasticity is undesirable. It is a 

 fact that among many the idea of research covers prac- 

 tieall.v all work of an experimental nature no matter 

 what the {)urpose of the experiment and notwitlistaml- 

 ing the fact that the experiment may have been re))eat- 

 ed hundreds of times in other times and other places. 

 Others, no doubt of a somewhat different cast of mind, 

 would curtail the use of the word research and apply 

 it only to sucli, enterprises as may be described as ex- 

 ploration into the realm of the entire unknown or 

 exclusively the search for underlying principles. It 

 has been thought well that this paper should endeavor 

 to keep clear of either extreme, dealing with such 

 phases of the subject as are most pertinent to our 

 time and condition and leaving the i-est to others and 

 to other times. 



It might be well at the outset) to .submit this idea, 

 that possibly it would be to the advantage and in the 

 interests of research if not only the public but also 

 men in the so-called professional work, would establish 

 some fairly definite line between enterprise which we 

 maj' call experimental and that which may be termed 

 demonstration. There is no intention to belittle the 

 value of demonstration work. It has been found, par- 

 ticularly in new Provinces and States, that demonstra- 

 tion work is of prime necessity and of undoubted value. 

 At Vermilion it was necessary for the writer to demon- 

 strate that the growing of the sorghum of the semi- 

 arid area of the middle West was almost out of the 

 question in our country of cold nights. The American 

 settlers in that locality simply had to be shown. Then 

 again demonstration work of any kind in agriculture 

 is alwaj's provocative of attention and interest and we 

 must not underestimate its value in holding the inter- 

 est and attention of younger people — old ones too. But 

 when we grant all contained in the foregoing, it would 

 seem that there is some room for protest that so miu'h 

 work which is purely demonstration should be termed 

 experimental and therefore possess some claim to be 

 classified under the heading of research. It would be 

 well to have this work, whether in field or laboratory, 

 properly ticketed so that all would understand the 

 nature of the two enterprises. It is true that such 

 definition might be objected to by some who go so far 

 as to claim that in connection with educational institu- 

 tions nothing should be attempted in the way of so- 

 called experiment unless those in charge had a pi'etty 

 fair idea of what the outcome should be. I may con- 

 fess that I was taken severely to task by a prominent 

 public man because I allowed our Professor of Animal 

 Husbandry to undertake certain research work, the 

 outcome of which was unknown to him, and I may 

 admit, to a certain extent is yet unknown. Again, in 

 visiting a good many institutions one is struck with the 

 fact that as far as field work is coiu'.erned, they are 

 carrying on, year after year, certain work which, be- 



cause of its many repetitions in other places also, can 

 scarcely be designated as experimental. In some places 

 I have found that a large part of the work may be de- 

 scribed as purely demonstration. If the men who eon- 

 duet this work are content to go on with this and 

 nothing more from year to .year it is safe to suppo.se 

 rhat they will not care to have the boundaries of re- 

 search work too clearly defined. These contingencies 

 are simply mentioned in passing to indicate that the 

 definition of the line between research and demonstra- 

 tion will not be so easily accomplished as the apparent 

 simplicity of the task would indicate. 



In discussing the work of research before such a 

 society as thi.s, it is well to keep in mind the particular 

 type of work pertaining to the part of our Dominion 

 which you represent. The very fact that you have 

 organized under the name of the Western Canadian 

 Society of Agronomy is proof positive that you have 

 decided that you have as a body a particular cause to 

 serve. Having gone so far it would be well that you 

 consider going one step farther, if you have not already 

 done so, and organize your efforts in a way that will 

 secure an attempt at solution of those problems most 

 immediately pressing. One rea,son for this is obvious 

 — the younger the province the less its farmers know 

 about adaptation to its unfamiliar conditions — in other 

 words, the greater the number of agricultural problems 

 pressing for solution. This should be the first duty 

 devolving upon the experimentalist. In the second 

 place it is good policy in the interests of research. The 

 people who idtimately pa.y for this service will inevit- 

 ably be more sympathetic, if the results of research are 

 closely related to the problems facing them most direct- 

 ly. These are two powerful reasons, simply stated, 

 why many jn-oblems of remote application to present 

 conditions, even though infinitely more interesting and 

 attractive, should be left for a later date. It is not for 

 me to dictate to you as to what these problems may be 

 — you as a society can settle this question much better 

 than any one individual — the important thing is 

 that you approach the task as a body rather than as 

 isolated individuals. Some of you may think the im- 

 plied warning is partly unnecessary. This is not so ; 

 I believe we are just at the beginning of a great deve- 

 lopment in research work, and in this there are two 

 dangers. The popularity of the work will inevitably 

 tempt many toward what we used to call "grand 

 stand" performances unless they are in a .sense controll- 

 ed by the beneficient influence of your society. In the 

 second place we shall be exposed to the same danger 

 experieiu'ed by our friends .south of us. Government 

 aid will increase we trust; to that financial aid will be 

 attached certain strings, to guarantee adequate results. 

 A man in research work will be expected to produce 

 material for a certain amount of publication in a given 

 time. He will produce it and some of it will not be 

 worth much ; your society should stand sponsor for the 

 individual before that time can arrive. 



Mention has beeu made of increased government 



