Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1909-06-18
Work Of Exper-
lment Stations
(From The New Earth, " by w.
4 5. Harwood. J

should be borne in mind that the
are the property of the people. in
a Seculiarly close and intimate
SENSE. While they are under the
immediate control Of scientific
men, and articulatc in a certain
sense with the national govern
'hent, they are preeminently pop
AR III character. While no Gle
ment of paternalism enters into
their administration, they vet
come into close relations with
those who gain their living from
the soil in directing and aiding
them in their work. The key
note, if | may use such figure, of
the Experiment Stations, is abso-
lutte unselfshness. They carry on
experiments and achieve results
that would bring not only fame.
but a large measure Of profit to
those who have the work in
charge if they should seek their
own ends. If the men who carry
on this work Of the stations should
devote themselves to the mere ac-
curing Of wealth, they would
Slake more money IN year than
they can make in a lifetime on
the slender salary given them; ;
for out of their discoveries grow.
sometimes, vast sums of money
saved to the state indirectly, large
amounts brought to the people
directly. So, unselfishness is the
keynote Like all unselfish work,
it is successful in the highest
sense
There are sixty stations-onc
in each state and territory and in
several states two. one in Alaska
one in Hawaii They are organi-
zed under what is known as the
Hatch Bill, a measure which be
came a law in 1887. Work had
&oeen carried on several years pre-
vious to this in similar lines. N
some of the states. The national
recognition carried with it an APP
preparation Of fifteen thousand
N6ollars year for each station for
maintenance. This amount some
i Of the various states quickly be
gan supplementing, as the impor-
tance of the stations III their bear
I. iKg upon agriculture became APP
parent. Lands and buildings
were. in many instances, allotted
7 by the states for the furtherance
Of the work. The annual amount
appropriated by the national and
state governments is one million,
five hundred thousand dollars,
equivalent to only about fifty
ceuts per inhabitant per year. The
return on the investment, to put
it merely upon unitarian grounds
is quite beyond all ordinary per-
centages. so enormously are the
stations adding to the wealth Of
the states. In d single decade.
the North Dakota station, for eX-
ample. is adding II hundred mil
lion of dollars to the wealth of
that state alone, ten millions Of
dollars per year, largely by the
reason of the experimental work
of the station in the development
of cereals. And this Is but an IL
lustratiOn.
- Usually the states are affiliated
4 With the state universities or agrl-
cultural colleges, and very large
" the station stats are made up
from the college faculty. | do not
/ know that | can, in any way, pre-
sent a clearer view of the scope
of the stations, than by giving
! the outline of their prospective
work under the act establishing
] them, though the needs OF the
7 various states along particular
lines frequently call for indepen-
dent Investigations in directions
not included in the initial pro
4 visions of the government. The
duties of the stations are prescrlb-
ed as follows:
''To conduct original research
or verify experiments on the ply
the diseases to which they are
severally subject, with the remed-
les for the same; the chemical
composition of useful plants at
their different stages of growth ;
the comparative advantages OF
rotation of crops as pursued I'M
der a varying series of crops; the
capacity of new plants for aecll-
matization; the analysis OF SOILS
and water; the chemical compost
ton of manures, natural or artl-
fetal, with experiments designed
to test their comparative effects
on crops of different kinds; the
adoption and value OF grasses and
forage plants; the composition
and digestibility of the different
kinds of foods for domestic AMI
mails. the scientific and economic