UIHistories Project: A History of the University of Illinois by Kalev Leetaru
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Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1871 [PAGE 257]

Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1871
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249 experiments, we must make allowances for the elements of error which underlie all our experiments. The distinction between the two lines of inquiry is very distinct. In art we want to get at certain rules of practice. An experiment that would be satisfactory so far as that is concerned, would amount to nothing so far as increasing our scientific knowledge is concerned. Scientific investigation must be made with more care; one great reason why such a change has taken place in our agricultural chemistry, has arisen from the fact that former experiments in chemistry did not control all the conditions; they had not apparatus sufficiently delicate to detect all the slight ch mges which took place. Just as long as we work in this direction we are going to meet with disappointment. In regard to the quality of corn in Maine and St. Louis, I do not know there-is such a difference in the feeding quality of this corn. I am not aware that the matter has been tested experimentally. I am aware there is a difference under certain circumstances ; an analysis will show a difference in the quality, but it does not follow there is a difference in the feeding quality of the grain.v We have been running along for a number of years with the theory that the composition of the grain was an index of its nutritive value. No one now will pretend to advance that doctrine who has examined the latest researches in physiology and chemistry. But, admitting there is a difference in the corn of Maine and St. Louis, what we want to get at is this : the result of feeding in Louisiana or Missouri under the same conditions precisely, and the same care taken to secure accuracy. If the corn from Maine was taken to St. Louis, there would be a difference. There is an element of error underlying that we cannot get at. We may not reach it in our life time, but we must determine it before we can get at principles that are safe for us to follow in practice. If experiments must agree exactly in order to be of value, we may as well stop experimenting, for you will never get any two experiments to agree precisely, because you cannot control all the conditions. But we can get at the general principle, after eliminating the error. For instance, I wish to know what the effect or value of a certain commercial fertilizer is. Should I apply it to one plat ? I should have to examine a large number of unmanured plats and find their variation, and then I may compare the unmanured with the manured plats. But in order to get at the value, I must deduct the variation of the unmanured plats. We can only make approximations toward accuracy, make the experiment as we will. If we have the experiments tried under the same conditions in different localities, we have the means of comparing —23