Miscellaneous, 



[May, 1910. 



the re-elaboration of present knowledge." 

 Citing an illustration from horticulture 

 of this distinction he said : "To deter- 

 mine what varieties of apricots are best 

 adapted to a region may be one of the 

 most useful undertakings, but it is of 

 temporary value and a new test should 

 be made every five or ten years. To 

 describe the varieties of apricots is of 

 the same order. If, however, one were 

 to inquire for the principles that control 

 the variation of apricots, or that deter- 

 mine the limitations of varieties, or that 

 underlie the physiological processes in 

 apricot growing, or that explain the 

 close inter-relation of the apricot flora 

 with climate, he would be entering the 

 field of real research." 



Research depends on the intention and 

 method of the work, and specially on 

 the capacity of the man who undertakes 

 it. Its intention is to go to the bottom. 

 It requires a research type of mind ; 

 " few persons are capable of projecting 

 and completing real investigational 

 work," hence men must be selected who 

 have the special aptitude and qualifi- 

 cation for it. It is futile to attempt to 

 exact it of all men. 



Professor Bailey expressed the belief 

 that on the research side the horticul- 

 turists in the colleges and stations are 

 not making great headway, and that 

 few new men are being turned out who 

 promise to meet the coming problems. 

 The reason for this condition was 

 assigned very largely to improper or in- 

 efficient organization and plan. " Horti- 

 culturists are forced to cover too 

 much ground," he said " and neces- 

 sarily they cover some of it very thin. 

 The work is not sufficiently specialised. 

 There is the same need that horticul- 

 turists become particularists as that 

 other college officers become unquestion- 

 ed authorities in particular subjects. . . . 

 If the subjects that we class with horti- 

 culture had been wholly unrecognised 

 until this time, it is inconceivable that 

 they would now be organised under the 

 present form." 



He urged differentiation in function 

 and specialization in horticulture, and 

 pointed out that the horticulturists 

 should themselves be actively preparing 

 a reconstructive movement. 



In regard to the kind of men needed 

 for the college and station work, Pro- 

 fessor Bailey laid great stress on the 

 development of the point of view and 

 the scientific spirit, and upon the neces- 

 sity for graduate work. In this he drew 

 upon his address given before the Asso- 

 ciation of American Agricultural Col- 

 leges and Experiments Stations, at Port- 

 land, the past summer. He urged that 



57 



the colleges must not only train farmers 

 but must train the trainers ot farmers ; 

 they thus have a double work to perform. 



" The college that makes no adequate 

 distinction between these two lines of 

 service ought not to undertake to train 

 men for the best leadership, or to ex- 

 pect that even the best men from the 

 graduating classes will be fitted for it." 



The point was made that the college 

 that trains a man inoculates the spirit 

 into him, "No person is prepared for 

 college and station work who does not 



possess the scientific spirit The 



point of view is the first consideration; 

 the curriculum is one of the means of 

 working it out," The type of mind deter- 

 mines the man's attitude toward a 

 problem. "The attitude of the young 

 man toward his work is just as im- 

 portant as the work itself ; and for 

 this attitude his instructors are in large 

 degree responsible. 



"Because a man has graduated from 

 a college of agriculture it does not 

 follow that he is fitted tor a position 

 in a college of agriculture. My con- 

 tention is that we have now come to 

 the time when we must more closely 

 scrutinize the men who are to officer 

 our colleges ot agriculture and our ex- 

 periment stations. We have now 

 skimmed the surface in agricultural 

 investigation, taking off the apparent 

 and the easy subjects. The constituency 

 is rapidly rising in intelligent appre- 

 ciation of what we do. We must now 

 go deeper, attack the essential under- 

 lying problems, teach more funda- 

 mentally." 



Professor Bailey urged strongly the 

 importance ot postgraduate study; to 

 prepare men for service in the colleges 

 and stations. Such study he considered 

 essential to efficient service at the pre- 

 sent stage. He pointed out that practi- 

 cally all the postgraduate students of 

 to-day will be candidates for positions 

 as teachers and experimenters. It is 

 important, therefore, that only men 

 suited to it be encouraged to enter upon 

 such graduate work, and that we ap- 

 preciate the value of the time element 

 in training persons for college and 

 station work. They should be allowed 

 to mature and ripen. 



These are important considerations. 

 They are fundamental to progress. 

 There has been no cessation in the 

 demand foe men for our colleges and 

 stations. The supply has not kept pace 

 with it, and men have been pressed into 

 the service who were never intended 

 for it. The demand is especially for 

 men of advanced training, men ripened 



