Decembek 23, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



615 



of 113 who are connected with the separate 

 research institutions. It is, perhaps, because 

 of my recent change from one tj^pe of these 

 institutions to the other that the inevitable 

 distinctions between graduate school research 

 work in agriculture and agricultural experi- 

 ment station research work have forced them- 

 selves upon me. They now appear to me to 

 be so significant as to justify my comment- 

 ing upon them in the hope of at least par- 

 tially clarifying the situation and so afford- 

 ing a better basis for future development of 

 all of the possibilities of agricultural research 

 work. 



The questions at issue may be more clearly 

 indicated if formulated into two definite 

 queries, the reply to the first of which is 

 necessarily dejjendent upon the answer to the 

 second. These questions are : " Is the main- 

 tenance of an experiment station as a separ- 

 ate unit of the land-grant college desirable?" 

 and " How does an experiment station differ 

 in its methods and accomplishments from 

 other agencies for research, such as the gradu- 

 ate school, or the personal research work of 

 an academic faculty ? " 



Turning first to the second of these ques- 

 tions, namely, " How does an experiment sta- 

 tion differ from other agencies for research ? " 

 my answer is that it differs in the environ- 

 ment or atmosphere which it creates. Its 

 atmosphere is that of research for the ac- 

 complishment of definite economic progress; 

 while that of the graduate school is chiefly 

 research for training of gi'aduate students in 

 the method of critical investigation, and that 

 of individual research work is the promotion 

 of individual professional standing and wel- 

 fare. Now, I recognize many exceptions 

 which might be taken to such a generaliza- 

 tion when applied to the cases of brilliant in- 

 dividual research workers in these different 

 organizations. But I am discussing now the 

 environmental conditions of the organized en- 

 tities or institutions known respectively as 

 experiment stations, graduate schools, or uni- 

 versity faculties. 



As between the research work done at an 

 experiment station and that done at a gradu- 



ate school, both parts of the same land-grant 

 college for example, the physical materials 

 worked with may be the same and the final 

 results of the investigation of any given prob- 

 lem by either agency ought to be the same, 

 provided the ultimate truth of the matter 

 is reached; but the environment under which 

 the investigators will work is essentially dif- 

 ferent. In both organizations there may be 

 less mature and less experienced investigators 

 working under the inspiration and guidance 

 of older and more experienced research men; 

 but in the graduate school the immediate ob- 

 ject to be attained is the completion of the 

 work in such a way that it can be formulated 

 into and defended before a group of examin- 

 ers as a thesis; while in the station, the in- 

 vestigation is to eventuate in some contribu- 

 tion to agricultural science or practise which 

 must stand the test of practical application 

 in farm management operations. It is pos- 

 sible that the methods and mental attitude 

 of the leader of the work toward its ultimate 

 outcome may be identical in each case; but 

 that of his assistants will most certainly be 

 different, and the leader himself is almost 

 super-human if he is not influenced by the 

 desire to see his students present " a good 

 thesis " as the result of the work. But the 

 more essential differences lie in the undi- 

 vided interest in and devotion to research 

 problems which is, or at least ought to be, 

 characteristic of the experiment station. Fa- 

 culty men necessarily have to be interested 

 in class-room problems and in the prepara- 

 tion of the results of their research in forms 

 which are pedagogically sound and academic- 

 ally attractive. Graduate students are usu- 

 ally taking course work in addition to thesis 

 work and are likely to have their interest in 

 their investigations diverted from the main 

 issue, or their observations influenced by 

 their coordination or contrast with class-room 

 ideas. I am not arguing against research 

 work in the graduate schools. On the con- 

 trary, I regard it as the very essence, the sine 

 qua non, of graduate school work. Neither 

 would I belittle the economic value of the 



