224 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1157 



the farmer's profits, has given way to a tendency 

 toward the other extreme which holds that good 

 crops are an injury to the farmer since they are 

 usually accompanied by lower prices. Both ex- 

 tremes were declared erroneous. The conclusion 

 was drawn that "agricultural practise is the re- 

 sultant of many forces acting in as many different 

 directions," all of which must be fully taken into 

 account in prescribing rules for improvement. 



In considering the subject of "Eegional Condi- 

 tions in Determining the Type of Agricultural In- 

 quiry, ' ' Director Youngblood took for illustration 

 the state of Texas, which is especially well adapted 

 to the purpose. Within the state the variation in 

 rainfall is from 8 to 55 inches, in elevation from 

 sea level to approximately five thousand feet, in 

 temperature from semi-tropical to strictly tem- 

 perate, and in topography from fiat to rough, 

 while the soils of different localities are derived 

 from various phases of at least ten geological 

 periods. And apart from these physical differences 

 the general character of the agriculture, the dis- 

 tance from market, and the intellectual status of 

 the people all have to be taken into account in ad- 

 justing the agricultural inquiry to the needs of the 

 locality. 



The plan in Texas is adapted to these diverse 

 conditions by means of a system of branch experi- 

 ment stations located in typical agricultural areas 

 and closely articulated with a central station at the 

 agricultural college. In a sense these branch sta- 

 tions represent the industries of the locality and 

 deal largely with practical questions, the plans for 

 the experiments aU being made with the advice of 

 the experts at the central station, where a strong 

 scientific basis is worked out on which to rest 

 them. Director Youngblood laid emphasis on the 

 endeavor to educate the people to the appreciation 

 of aU agricultural investigation, however simple or 

 technical, and he expressed the conviction that even 

 under the new and often transitional conditions in 

 Ms state technical studies may be of the greatest 

 practical value and may be made popular with the 

 people. 



In commenting on the papers in this symposium, 

 Dr. Jordan drew the conclusion of the value of 

 sound research and carefully guarded interpreta- 

 tion. He asserted that the experiment stations 

 have been and are still putting too much time on 

 mere variables that have no general significance, 

 and too little on broad fundamentals. He also 

 called attention to the fallacy and unwisdom of at- 

 tempting to state the results of experiment in 

 terms of dollars and cents — measures which have 

 no real permanent or scientific significance. 



Dr. L. H. Bailey referred to the difliculty in 

 interpreting in the lives of the people and in pub- 

 lic policy the results of agricultural investigation 

 and inquiry; and he mentioned the desirability of 

 a large and powerful organization which should 

 bring its influence to bear in this direction, espe- 

 cially in expressing the voice of science in political 

 matters and measures of public policy. 



The officers elected for the coming year were as 

 follows: Vice-president, Dr. H. J. Waters, presi- 

 dent of the Kansas State Agricultural College; 

 Member of the Council, President R. A. Pearson, 

 of the Iowa State College; Member of the General 

 Committee, Dr. J. G. Lipman, of the New Jersey 

 Experiment Stations; Member of the Sectional 

 Committee (for five years). Dean A. P. Woods, of 

 the College of Agriculture, University of Minne- 

 sota. 



E. W. Allen, 



Secretary 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 

 ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 506th meeting of the society was held in 

 the Lecture Eoom of the Carnegie Library, on 

 February 6. On this occasion Dr. J. Walter 

 Pewkes, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 

 presented a paper on "Prehistoric Ruins of the 

 Mesa Verde National Park," illustrated by lan- 

 tern slides. 



Dr. Pewkes described in detail the uncovering 

 and repair of a large pueblo-Uke building in the 

 Mesa Verde Park, near the ruin known as Spruce- 

 tree House. This work was accomplished by the 

 speaker during the summer of 1916. The struc- 

 ture brought to light was 113 feet long by 100 

 feet wide, the ground plan showing the existence 

 of four circular ceremonial rooms compactly em- 

 bedded in fifty rectangular enclosures which were 

 formerly used for secular purposes. From its wide 

 southerly outlook this ruin has received the name 

 of Far View House. It is the first pueblo habita- 

 tion of this type ever found on the plateau. 



After an extended consideration of the kiva or 

 sacred room in its relation to pueblo architecture 

 Dr. Fewkes described certain prehistoric kivas of 

 the type generally called towers which he found in 

 a canyon near Ouray, Utah. From their location 

 on top of inverted cones of rock these were called 

 by him Mushroom Rock ruins. The shape of these 

 inverted cones of rock bore evidence to the enor- 

 mous erosion which has occurred in this region. 



Frances Densmore, 



Secretary 



