18 Direcror’s REPoRT OF THE 
tural research. On this point, and in relation to freeing the in- 
vestigator from hampering conditions the Commission made the 
following statements : 
“The progress of agricultural a De now demands that 
agricultural research agencies shall deal as largely as possible 
with fundamental problems, confining attention to such as can be 
adequately studied with the means available.” 
“The work of research in agriculture should be differentiated 
as fully as practicable, both in the form of organization and in 
the relations of the individual investigator, from executive work, 
routine teaching, promotion and propaganda, and should be under 
the immediate direction of an executive trained in the methods of 
science who should not be hampered by other duties of an entirely 
unlike character.” 
“The investigator should be free from all coercion whatever. 
In reaching his conclusions he should be equally free from the 
prescription:of received opinion and the temptation to exploit his 
results for the purpose of obtaining future support. To this end, 
his work should be as far removed from immediate dependence . 
upon legislation as is consistent with due responsibility to the pub- 
lic, and his relations to the public and to the organization of 
which he is a member should be such as to promote individual 
initiative and not interfere with freedom of conclusion or utter- 
ance on scientific questions.” 
REVIEW OF THE YEAR’S WORK. 
DEPARTMENT OF BACTERIOLOGY. 
Inoculation and lime as factors in growing alfalfa.— The ob- 
ject of the co-operative experiments reported in Bulletin 313 was 
to get a measure of the real need of inoculation and of lime in 
connection with the growing of alfalfa on the farms of this State, 
and, so far as possible, to determine the relative importance of 
these lines of treatment in connection’ with the growing of this 
crop. 
