'"•;..:'-,.:■■
VOL. XIX
FER
■2S-
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1884.
NO. 9.
THB AaBIOULTUR-^'OOIJ^E&E.
Its Mission and Needs.
wper iwd before tbe State Board ot .Agriculture
..lu January meeting, by Prof. W. C. Latta, of _*ur-
due University.]
Tlio purpose of tbo national eiluoatlonal
u„,l gnat act of 1882 was to establish
,ii*l maintain, in each State, "at least one
.ullego whero the leading object shall be,
ultliout excluding other scientific and
,-iii-alcal studies, and including military
its-tin*, to teach such branches o .learning
,i<are related  to agriculture  and'theme-
, lianic arts." ■
I. Mlaalou of the Asrleul-unil ColI«-_re.
It is evident from the wording of this
__t that our national law-makers intended
io found colleges whose leading object
-liouUl bu to promote the manual Industrie), aud this was to be accomplished
through tlie education afforded. We shall
l.u.iles- all agree that the men who
;.._Mod this law had a dear conception of
fbe true purpose or mission of the agricultural ..liege, but with reference to.the
:neaus of accoinplishiug this desirable end,
tli.re will be, as there always has been,
.vule divergence of opinion. Of the forty
r more colleges pro tiling by this national
..[i|.ropiiatiou, no twoajre.-e__ftotly.aHke';
1:1.1 probably not one of the entiro number
s fully currying out the provisions of the
... of .SB., lt is not to be inferred from
liia that these colleges have failed—far
rom it. They perhaps have done all that
nas possible under the circumstances; but
tmust bo admitted that they have not
mil that measure of success which they
[.serve. . '■
fHaTACUiS  TO  AOIUCnl.TUBAI> KDUCATIOK.
The fuller our knowledge of the difficul-
les that beset the agricultural colleges,
he bettor able shall we be to devise means
or making these colleges more successful
u the future. Let us therefore brietlv
onsider some of the obstacles that impede
ho progress of agricultural education.
1. lhe organic law:—One of the hln-
Inuices is to be found in the law already
.(erred to, which provides for classical
md military, as well as scientific and in-
'astrial training. This embraces more
liaa can be accomplished in a four.years
ourse of study. Something must be
mined. Tbe sciences cannot be left out
muse of their intimate relation to In-
iiutrial pursuits. There must be a good
mctical ti-aining in English. The techni-
•u instruction must of course have a place
a any industrial education. Hence it folio «ihat the dead languages are practically
■«luUed, not as undesirable, but because
a™ is no room for them in a course of
'My embracing but four years.
- Associating industrial with __ou-in-
''jainal colleges:—The cause of industrial
■miration has been further impeded hy
-«*iating agricultural and mechanical
5»eges ivitti classical and non-industrial
•isiuuiions. As a rule, whioh has no ex
■Ptions as far as I know.the result of such
• .iR-ination has been unfavorable to in-
vrf ■ •,ducatl<"»- Where students have
-If * Beof choosing between indus-
.',,' ?ud. non-industrial ooursos In the
,rrn«.'Uullou'the number entering the
lore si,1,! Pitiru"y small. Very many
ni\l i eucs are tound 'n those agricuit
tPtt.,.- n)echanical colleges which have
''titution a'00t tl0m olhel educational
xes'Ieafer «luiP'ientof industrial col-
min^ ot.her hindrance is the meager
Wmeniof these c0_ieges.   They neees-
:.Di"ra*rr,lllr.8 ex'eusive and expensive
fobW arUd >Ineans of "lustration, as the
:oastr.,- *. e •''assrooni must be de-
ii^ft the laboratory, the field,
:'*--i,..>,',. ". national endowment is
'■*'•« aidIn", ^U8t be supplemented by
wiabli. '*>, State appropriations • are
'-•a- with,*amouilt appropriated fluctu-
Io«than.i7e temper of the legislature.
r«iult *.,,„ a"ey are uncertain; and, as
l'sou,e of these colleges have been
kept in suspense—hanging in the balance,
as it were,—for weeks and months, with
about an equal prospect of life and death.
' 4. Not generally demanded j—The most
serious obstacle to the success of the
agricultural colleges has been, and still is,
the lack of demand for industrial education. Especially is this true of agricultural education. The farmers do not generally manifest a desire for It.
AQRICUIsTVRAls BDPCATION NOT TOPUtsAR.—
WHY?
The agricultural colleges were designed
largely, if not chiefly, to benefit agriculture. Why are they not more generally
patronized by farming classes? There are
several reasons.
1. Agricultural colleges not known:—
These colleges are not generally known In
farming communities. There are hundreds and thousands of farmers in this
country who have never heard of the agricultural colleges.
2. Agricultural education yet In its Infancy:—These colleges of agriculture are
still young—something new, an Innovation. • To some people the most convincing proof of the merit or success of anything is that it is old. Men of this class
have great veneration for wrinkles and
gray hair, and apparently forget that we
cannot measure a life by its summers and
winters. No more can we measure the
usefulness of a college by the years it has
numbered.
3. The farmer does not need an education^:—There is a.very. general impression
among farmers that a man does not need
an education to farm. This impression
frequently crystallizes in words like the
following: "If a young man is going, to
be a lawyer or doctor or preacher, an education is'all well enough; but if he expects
to be farmer what's the use of going to
school?" Let me bring this point home
to you my fellow farmers. How many of
y6u are educating your sons for the farm?
4. Prevalent system of education anti-
Industrial:—Our present educational system, throughout the country, is anti-industrial, in spirit and influence. From
the common school to the university, this
system is permeated and saturated with
illustrations and ideals that are so many
incentives to lead the student away from
tbe industrial callings. Our oommon
school readers, and common school teach.-
ers, are to-day so bending the twigs as to
Incline the tree of knowledge unfavorably
to agriculture. I do not mean by this that
our schools and colleges are avowedly
hostile to industrial training. I only wish
to emphasize the fact that they do not
foster a taste for industrial work. I believe our present educational system is
responsible, to a large extent, for the
sentiment, almost universal among the
laboring classes, that the purpose of an
education is to lift one above the necessity
of manual toil. The same sentiment is not
uncommon in the higher ranks of society, and is pretty generally accepted by
farmers. Is it not easy to see that the agricultural colleges, can make but slow
headway against an opposing tide of public sentiment?
6. The city exerts an opposing Influence:
—The attractions of city life oppose the
growth of agricultural education by creating a demand for an education radically
different from that aflorded by the industrial college.
6. Influence of the newspapers unfavorable:—The newspapers are exerting—no
doubt unintentionally—an Influence away
from the rural pursuits. They so portray
the doings of the outside world as to make
the quiet life of the oountry seem dull and
uneventful. And, In so doing, they help
to make unpopular an education that
specially fits its possessor to live in the
country.
7. The railroad an opposing factor:—
There Is an attraction for us aU ln a moving train of cars; and to no one is this attraction stronger than to the oountry
youth to whom the passing train is the
event of the day. Our farmer boys watch
the living train and in fancy they follow
it through forest and dale to the busy
mart; thev pursue it across tha prairie
and over the mountains, to the sea. The
railroad excites a desire to see the outside
world and renders possible a trip to far off
countries. T'ls true the larmer boy's life
is a little larger for the railroad, but it is
also more restless. To whatever extent
our farmers' sons have their love of excitement aroused by the rush and glitter of
the railway train, to the same extent will
the quiet life on the farm seem to them
humdrum and tiresome, and a farmer's
education the thing to be avoided.
8. Agricultural education misunderstood:—The last reason, that I shall name,
why this new education is not more general, is popular misapprehension of the
true character and purpose of the agricultural college. Tn the minds of some it is
little more than a farm, and should therefore be self-supporting. Hence as these
colleges are not self-supporting they are a
failure. Need T reply io this that all education costs money, and that, as a rule, tbe
better the education the more it will oost?
Others have the mistaken notion that the
chief work of the agricultural college is to
give manual training in the art, the practice of agriculture; to teach the boys how
to plow and sow and reap. Men of this
class will say: "Our boys know how to
do farm work now; why send them to
college to learn what they already know?"
This reasoning is good enough, but it is
based on a false- assumption. These coif-
leges do not aim to teach the "how," so
much as tbe "why." If the student is
made to clearly understand the objects to
be secured by plowing,and the importance
Of thorough work; if he is made familiar
with the mechanical principles Involved
in the construction and working of the
plow, he will readily learn how to adjust
aud use tho tool to accomplish the desired
purpose. While tlie training of tho hand
is not lost sight of, the aim is rather to
train the head, which is to guide the hand.
Instead of sending out "crack" plowmen,
"boss" teamsters, and "champion" wheat
stackers, the agricultural college aims to
so ti'ain its men as to fit them—except in
the matter of experience—to take charge
of the farm, either as manager or foreman,
and wisely conduct its many operations.
Another "misapprehension is that these
colleges are mere special schools of agriculture, designed to turn young men into
farmers as uniformly as the miller turns
his wheat into Hour. The agricultural
college is not a special school. Almost
without exception these colleges have full
four-year courses of study, the aim being
to impart a broad, a liberal education, if
you please, which shall at the same time,
be a thoroughly practical one. Some of
the graduates of these colleges, having
special taste for, and brighter prospects in
other pursuits, do not engage in farming.
Is this to be greatly wondered at, and
shall we annihilate the agricultural colleges because a good many of their graduates do not become farmers? I will answer one question by asking another.
Shall we condemn the law and medical
schools because not fifty per cent of their
graduates enter these professions? Shall
we close the doors of our normal schools
because a large majority of normal graduates do not follow teaching as a life work?
Shall we suspend the commercial schools
because every other one of their graduates
fails to engage iu commercial work? We
only asli the same clemency for the agricultural college that is exercised toward
the other institutions named, as the former will compare favorably with any of the
others as to the percentage of its graduates
in pursuits for which they were trained.
GRADUATES ON THE FABSI.
• These colleges of agriculture are sending
twenty-five to seventy-five per cent of
their graduates into agriculture and allied
industries. And this result is attained
notwithstanding several unfavorable conditions, two only of which I will mention.
1. Ad verse criticism:—The first is the
unfavorable criticism that greets the ear
of the graduate who returns to the farm.
His neighbors will tell him that he will
bury himself, throw away his education
by settling on the farm, and that he ought
to do something better. It takes a good
deal of moral courage ln a young man to
stick to the farm nndersuch circumstances,
and, unless he has an innate love for
agriculture  that nothing can  quench, ha
will be strongly tempted to sell   the farm
and engage in other business.
2. Want  of capital:—The   second  un-    v
fttvorable condition applies to  the poor,     '
the    moneyless, young    graduate.     lie
would like to engage  in farming at once, ■
but he has no farm and no  money to buy
one.   It would be  mere folly  for  him to   -
work  on the  farm as  a oommon  hand
when  he  can earn   inoney  much   more
rapidly in    other  work.   He   therefore
engages  in  teaching,  joins a  surveying
party, or obtains a position iu  some commercial or manufacturing establishment.  "'-
Ho expects to  follow farming  however,
when  he accumulates sufficient  capital. ''.*•
Should  the agricultural college  be criticised  because this  young man   does not
at once return to  tho farm?   Again, suppose that after years of earnest effort, the
young man accumulates the desired capl- -
tal in his temporary  calling.   Meanwhile
the lines  of business  bave been  drawn
about him, his habits have  become fixed,   v.
and he finds himself adjusted to his present surroundings.   Should we censure tne
young  man,   or bis alma  mater, if, with .
an era of prosperity dawning  before him,   .
he  forgets  his "first love" and   never returns   to the farm?   If the  graduates of   '
these agricultural colleges, after one year's
trial, could step into fairly  remunerative
positions  as   foremen or  assistant  farm  '
managers the percentage of  such gradu^
ates returning directly to the farm would
be greatly increased.   But there is not, at
present, a demand among farmers for this
kind of help,  and therefore we  must expect that   many of these  graduates, froin
sheer necessity,  will temporarily  engage  .
in other pursuits. ■■   ;
[CONC-.UDKD NJ.XT WKKK.] \"
Letter from Kansas.
J-dltora Indiana Farmer:
I left Boone county, Indiana, two weeks
ago to-day. There was good sleighing,
there. The snow extended as far as Kansas City. The streets there were flowing
with mud. ■ Passed through the most of'
this State iu the night. Arrived here the
31st of January. The ground was dry and
some were plowing. The weather was as
warm as it is in April in Indiana.
It clouded up the 4th of February, and
has been cloudy with light rains ever
since. To-day has been ;damp and misty,
the moisture freezing as it falls. The trees
are covered with ice. Since I have l>eeii
here the wind has not been higher than I
would have recorded iu Indiana. The
natural roads aro as good as they ever get
In Indiana in a dry season. Two small
horses haul 50 bushels of shelled corn at a
load with ease on the dirt roads. There is
an immense crop of corn here, and of the
best quality. Many of the farmers throw,
their corn in large heaps on the ground
without protection of any kind. It is
worth 31 cents per bushel. There is no ,
scarcity of Beed corn here. D. M. A.
Cowley Co., Kansas, Feb. 11.
 «  i  .
Northern Alabama.
Kdltors Indiana Farmer: .-.,
I see in your paper some inquiries about
Northern Alabama. I have just returned
from a trip to Huntsville. N. H. B., of
Splceland, said through your paper that
the soil near Huntsville was exhausted..
Now, Mr. Editor, I have farmed for over
30 years, and I think the soil ls richer -
around Huntsville than it is ln Indiana.
The largest cornstalks that ever I saw
were on the farm of Elias Donegan, a colored farmer two miles from Huntsville.
His wheat averaged 25 bushels to the acre.'
Oats grow there five to six feet high and.,
make from CO to 70 bushels to the acre.
Orchard grass, clover and timothy grow
larger than in Indiana. I saw orchard
grass boot top high .the middle of January
and green as in midsummer. It is the
country for stock raising. They can be
grazed the year round. Taking the cheapness of land into consideration and the
fertility of the soil, the farmer that cannot
do well there had better throw up tho
sponge.
-  Logansport.      - _ L; H, B,