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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 683 



impression upon the receptive mind of 

 President Clark, and it was one of his cher- 

 ished plans that such a station should be 

 established here. This hope has been real- 

 ized, although the fulfilment was not ac- 

 complished until several years after his 

 death; though it must be conceded that his 

 scientific observations, together with those 

 of Goessmann and Stockbridge, constituted 

 the real commencement of the Hatch Ex- 

 periment Station, and gave a powerful 

 impulse to a movement which at that time 

 was hardly more than a suggestion, but 

 which has since resulted in the establish- 

 ment of similar stations throughout the 

 United States and Canada. 



My fii-st recollections of President Clark 

 go back to that early period in the infancy 

 of this college, when technical training in 

 the principles and practise of agriculture 

 was an untried problem; when the young 

 institution was forced to grapple with all 

 the uncertainties of a future which too 

 often received the open and hostile criti- 

 cism of many otherwise intelligent and 

 progressive citizens. Many were the sore 

 trials and bitter disappointments of those 

 early years, but, fortunately, there was a 

 man at the helm who never wavered in his 

 firm conviction that the agriculture of the 

 future must rest upon a sound basis 

 of scientific knowledge, and who never 

 swerved from what he regarded as a cor- 

 rect policy. To his task he brought not 

 only firm convictions, but an enthusiasm 

 and determination which enlisted the re- 

 spect and hearty sympathy of all his col- 

 leagues, as well as of many influential 

 friends; carried conviction to the wavering 

 and brought success where failure might 

 have been looked for. His critics have 

 been wont to censure him for an enthu- 

 siasm which they believed to sometimes 

 carry him beyond the limits of safety, and 

 this may have been true in some instances. 

 Enthusiasm is one of the first requisites 



of a successful teacher and investigator, 

 and although due conservatism in its exer- 

 cise is most desirable, an excess is no more 

 to be condemned than undue caution. It 

 was a favorite maxim of President Clark's 

 that a man who never made a mistake was 

 one to be carefully watched. The most 

 successful of men are guilty of errors of 

 judgment which find their justifiable ex- 

 cuse in the great value of their achieve- 

 ments. The over-cautious man who never 

 blunders is thereby characterized by the 

 possession of negative qualities which are 

 rarely, if ever, capable of contributing 

 materially to the general progress and wel- 

 fare. Boldness of action and resolute de- 

 cision, promptness of execution, tempered 

 by a cool and accurate judgment, are the 

 qualities which bring success and command 

 the respectful consideration of our fellow 

 men. 



As one of those who were intimately 

 associated with President Clark in his work 

 in Japan, and who, from its very inception, 

 was able to gain an intimate knowledge of 

 his purposes, it is proper that I should 

 make some reference to that portion of his 

 career which had to do with a most pro- 

 gressive, intelligent and refined people of 

 great intellectual power. His entire period 

 of service under the Japanese government 

 extended over less than one year, but dur- 

 ing that time he laid the foundation of a 

 most successful college of agriculture, 

 which has since outgrown its original pur- 

 pose and has enlarged its sphere of use- 

 fulness to that of a university, of which 

 the college of agriculture remains one of 

 its most important features. Several of 

 the students who commenced their courses 

 of study under the guidance of President 

 Clark have since then studied in the United 

 States, from whose leading universities 

 they have taken higher degrees with dis- 

 tinction. One of these now presides with 

 ability over the destinies of the new uni- 



