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 260]

Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1871
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252 Under section 4, article 3, it provides that an annual report shall be made, recording the progress of each college with regard to improvements and experiments made, with their cost and results, seeming to imply, but not necessarily, that they are to make experiments. Dr. Detmers—Several remarks have been made in reference to the feeding of corn raised in Maine and Louisiana and the difference in the grain. I admit there is a difference, but that is not the only thing that causes a difference in the results. There is a great difference in the climate of the two places, and that affects the physiological condition of the animal. The dampness or the dryness of the climate, the temperature, and perhaps a great many other things, have to be considered in making the experiment. Dr. Miles—I will make but a single remark. Prof. Swallow and myself are agreed that we are anxious to get at the result as soon as possible. We only differ slightly as to the way. One object I had in proposing the method of conducting the experiments was, that it would save time and get at the results sooner. I agreed with the Professor that it would be better to have one experiment without any error, than twenty with error. I will go further than that. I would rather have one without error than twenty containing error. The difficulty is this, however, and is one we must face: We cannot make a feed experiment, or an experiment in feeding, without it contains an error. But if we co-operate in trying the experiment we will sooner get at it, owing to the manner in which the experiment is conducted. I might experiment this year and get one result, and another next year. I do not know whether the variation is owing to differences in climate or not. If it had been tried at two different points under the same condition, it would be better than the same experiment tried two years in succession on the same ground. If the subject is assigned to me to settle, I might go on for fifteen or twenty years to do the same thing over again ; but if twenty of us take hold of it we can go along four or five years, and when we get one thing disposed of we can take another. Here is another point. Let each institution try as many of these experiments as it can, and just such as it chooses to try. If there are those that are strong enough, and have means to devote to the matter, so they can keep on with all of them at the same time, so much the better; but it is better to try some experiment than do nothing. We must not expect to get absolute accuracy, but to find the element of error, so that it can be eliminated. Even some of the most perfect instruments for philosophical investigation and observation are very imperfect—as the thermometer, the barometer, and many other instru-