Febeuaey 16, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



151 



THE FIELD 



It can not be too thoroughly and univer- 

 sally understood and remembered that for 

 the purpose of research, teaching and dem- 

 onstration, agriculture means farming. 

 Agriculture is so broad a term; it touches 

 so many sciences and at so many points; 

 its problems are so varied and the ques- 

 tions involved in their solution are so fas- 

 cinating that the temptation to' wander far 

 afield is often well nigh irresistible. 



However, the funds appropriated, 

 whether public or private, were set aside 

 for the express purpose of improving the 

 quantity, quality, reliability and perma- 

 nency of our food supply and for the wel- 

 fare of those who work the land and who, 

 experience shows, rapidly descend to the 

 level of peasantry under conditions which 

 they are unable to control without the as- 

 sistance of science, the benefits of educa- 

 tion, and the support of the public con- 

 science. 



Wherefore, we are to distinguish sharply 

 between those lines of investigation that 

 bear upon the business of farming and 

 those collateral lines which, though they 

 may arise out of the materials of agricul- 

 ture, have yet little or no significance in 

 the field of food production. 



In saying this the writer is not to be 

 understood as restricting the field to so- 

 called practical lines. Far from it. For 

 this purpose at least there is no distinction 

 between what is practical and what is sci- 

 entific. But let the scientist be not de- 

 ceived by the materials with which he 

 works. It is not the materials that deter- 

 mine whether a piece of work is truly agri- 

 cultural ; it is the outlook, the purpose, the 

 application that is to be made, these are the 

 tests, not as to the excellence of the work 

 or its general significance, but as to its 

 legitimacy, especially in the experiment 

 stations. 



Wherefore, these funds are not available 



for ordinary scientific research, however 

 valuable, even though the materials in- 

 volved be drawn from the farm. They are 

 not available for the amusement or the per- 

 sonal enjoyment of the investigator; 

 neither are they to be devoted to paying the 

 expenses of aviation excursions into the 

 i-arefied and upper atmosphere of specula- 

 tion even in so worthy a field as the so- 

 called pure sciences. 



The temptation to wander afield is not 

 only due to the fascination of outlying pas- 

 tures, but it is strengthened by the actual 

 and frequent necessity of spending much 

 time and energy in clearing tip an abstract 

 point which science in its imperfect state 

 has not yet touched. But these excursions 

 into outlying territories after truth neces- 

 sary for purposes of further research are 

 to be regarded as essential rather than log- 

 ical ; as a means to an end and never a pur- 

 pose. At no point does the research man 

 in agriculture need to step permanently 

 aside for facts which science has not yet 

 supplied, but which he must obtain before 

 going ahead with his proper work. 



Fortunately for some reasons, unfortu- 

 nately for others, the time has come when 

 agriculture is popular. Among the fortu- 

 nate features of so happy a condition of 

 affairs is the fact that we now command in 

 this field the respect and the service of the 

 highest grade of men with the best obtain- 

 able training. And if some are yet tempted 

 to enter this form of service in the hope of 

 premature, if not undue publicity, we have 

 the satisfaction of believing that their 

 numbers are growing relatively smaller. 



Indeed, as matters stand to-day it would 

 be difficult to find in any other branch of 

 human activity a more self-sacrificing and 

 public-spirited class of men than are those 

 of our agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations. They have had some trouble, it is 



