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Editorial
EDITORIAL It has been said that there is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking. "With this in mind it is refreshing, to say the least, to read an article which gives such evidence of serious thinking as does the leading article in this issue by Dr. Jull. Too many of us are inclined to go at our work day after day just from habit and because the work is there to be done, without taking time to think about what it is all for and what we should really endeavor to accomplish. As a more or less natural result we are likely to be tied down by our work when we should instead be planning that work and directing our energies toward some definite objective. Teaching is serious business and is Avorthy of any man's best efforts. When an instructor spends so much of his time in digging up material for lecture note that he overlooks the opportunity which is constantly before him of encouraging independent thinking on the part of his students, he is falling far short of the standard by which he should be judged. Dr. Jull puts the matter briefly and forcefully when he says, " I t is the capacity for future development which is the measure of education. ' ' It is this capacity which is either nourished or stifled in college students by the manner of class room instruction to which they are subjected. Finally, it is essential that the results of research be put in simple form so that they can easily be understood by those not familiar with the technical side of the subject. As Dr. Jull puts it, " T h e aim of scientific research is to simplify, and to develop simple facts and statements that are easily comprehended. Altogether, we think Dr. Jull has given us an article which will bear reading and re-reading. Readers of this journal will all be interested to learn that Professor W. C. Thompson, of New Jersey, has been appointed Director of the National Poultry Institute of England for a 22
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period of two years beginning November first. It is expected that Professor Thompson will spend most of the next two years in actually organizing the Institute, which was created by a special act of Parliament as " a n institute for teaching advanced poultry husbandry and the pursuit of research." The Institute will be located at Newport, Shropshire, near the Welsh border, immediately adjacent to the Harper-Adams Agricultural College. Eventually it is believed that the Institute will offer a four-year course in poultry husbandry. At the present time the Harper-Adams College has a ten-acre, 1000-bird plant. Fifty additional acres have been made available for the use of the Institute, and an initial grant of £50,000 has been made for its support. We congratulate Professor Thompson on his appointment, and wish for him real success in his new undertaking. According to information received just as we go to press, responsibility for the work of thé department at New Brunswick, while Professor Thompson is in England, will rest with Mr. George W. Hervey, research specialist in the department. In the article on mashless rations appearing in this issue is suggested the importance of adapting the ration for laying hens to existing local conditions. It is, of course, well recognized that there are certain important principles to be observed if the feeding of hens for egg production is to be successful. At the same time, the very fact that several quite different rations are being recommended and successfully used in different parts of the country, would indicate that there is no one best feed for laying hens. Where corn is normally abundant and cheap it is logical to build the ration around corn as a base. Wliere corn is scarce it is usually more economical to build the ration around wheat, barley or kaiir corn, as the case may be. Price must always be a consideration in deciding upon the ration to use, since the feed cost is a major cost in the business of egg production. There is encouragement for many poultrymen in Professor Martin's statement that ' ' A balanced ration is not necessarily a complicated ration since very satisfactory production can be secured from Barred Plymouth Rocks which receive only shelled corn, sour skim milk, and ground limestone as sources of nutrients."
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period of two years beginning November first. It is expected that Professor Thompson will spend most of the next two years in actually organizing the Institute, which was created by a special act of Parliament as " a n institute for teaching advanced poultry husbandry and the pursuit of research." The Institute will be located at Newport, Shropshire, near the Welsh border, immediately adjacent to the Harper-Adams Agricultural College. Eventually it is believed that the Institute will offer a four-year course in poultry husbandry. At the present time the Harper-Adams College has a ten-acre, 1000-bird plant. Fifty additional acres have been made available for the use of the Institute, and an initial grant of £50,000 has been made for its support. We congratulate Professor Thompson on his appointment, and wish for him real success in his new undertaking. According to information received just as we go to press, responsibility for the work of thé department at New Brunswick, while Professor Thompson is in England, will rest with Mr. George W. Hervey, research specialist in the department. In the article on mashless rations appearing in this issue is suggested the importance of adapting the ration for laying hens to existing local conditions. It is, of course, well recognized that there are certain important principles to be observed if the feeding of hens for egg production is to be successful. At the same time, the very fact that several quite different rations are being recommended and successfully used in different parts of the country, would indicate that there is no one best feed for laying hens. Where corn is normally abundant and cheap it is logical to build the ration around corn as a base. Wliere corn is scarce it is usually more economical to build the ration around wheat, barley or kaiir corn, as the case may be. Price must always be a consideration in deciding upon the ration to use, since the feed cost is a major cost in the business of egg production. There is encouragement for many poultrymen in Professor Martin's statement that ' ' A balanced ration is not necessarily a complicated ration since very satisfactory production can be secured from Barred Plymouth Rocks which receive only shelled corn, sour skim milk, and ground limestone as sources of nutrients."