Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Agricultural Research in North Carolina, 1939-1940
Agriculture is both a business and a way Of life. Its practice combines both art and science. Upon its productivity depends both the economic and social welfare Of the Nation.
The farmer is engaged in one Of the most speculative Of enterprises. His business is to produce living plants and animals whose laws of growth are still imperfectly understood. He is at the mercy of natural forces, for the most part beyond his control. He must sell his wares in markets subject to economic forces equally beyond his control. Precise rules for success cannot be laid down. Neither is success measurable in terms Of dollars alone. Satis factions, many wholly unrelated to cash income, are a part of successful life on the farm.
On every farm, the experience Of the farmer himself, that Of his neighbors around him, and the accumulated knowledge handed down by past genera tions on the land, furnish much Of the basis for sound farming practice. Every wise farmer knows, however, that gaining new information to meet new conditions through experience alone is apt to be a slow and costly process. Changing market conditions, the appearance Of new insect pests and diseases, the development of new sources Of plant food, the invention Of new agricultural machines, all create demands for new information. TO gain this information in minimum time and at least cost to the individual farmer, central agencies for agricultural research have been set up by government. The agricultural experiment stations in the states and the Federal Department of Agriculture serve this function. Their job is to apply the tools Of modern science - chemistry, physics, physiology, genetics, and a host of others - to the problems Of the farmer, aiming to discover principles upon which sound solutions can be based. This is not a simple task. The research worker is beset by the same whims of Nature as the farmer. NO two animals, two plants, or two seasons are ever exactly alike. Often years Of testing are required to establish the superiority of a new crop variety, Of a new method for controlling disease, or Of a new system Of animal feeding. Premature release may easilylentail heavy losses to farmers. Moreover, the number Of problems demanding solution invariably exceeds the human, physical and financial resources of the research agencies. These facts bespeak patience on the part of the farmer. They do not justify a dilly-dally atti tude on the part of the research worker or the devotion of his energies to problems having little or no practical significance, regardless Of how inter esting they are scientifically.
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