The agricultural experiment stations have contributed in a very material way to the progress of agriculture in the United States not only by the development of better crops and livestock and production practices, but, through basic research on the many and varied problems of agriculture, they have furnished an understanding of those principles upon which progress must depend.
The permanent value of these research centers to the progress of agriculture is no better illustrated than in the present emergency. The ability of farmers to meet the tremendous additional contributions to defense in the way of increased food supplies is dependent in no small way upon the application of knowledge that has been obtained through research in experiment station laboratories over the past decades. As never before, the war production program in agriculture has demonstrated the importance of agricultural research. Without the application of the improved production methods discovered in the research fields and laboratories of experiment stations, the goals set by the Secretary of Agriculture would have been outside the realm of accomplishment. The use of better feeding practices to increase egg, milk, meat and wool production; the control of plant diseases and insect pests; and the breeding of new plant and animal varieties are but examples of the importance of such research.