VOL. LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, DEC. 16, 1911.
NO. 50
The  Forward  Movement in  Agriculture
THE GOSPEL OF AGRICULTURE.
THE     AGRICULTURAL      COLLEGES
AND    EXPERIMENT    STATIONS
DOING   GREAT  WORK.
EXTENSION   WORK    CARRIED
TILE FARM.
TO
There was held in Columbus, Ohio,
recently one of the most important
meetings in the interests of agriculture
of recent years.    It brought  	
together the representatives
of the various Agricultural
Colleges and United States
Experiment Stations, with a
goodly number of others
connected with the United
States Department of Agriculture from Washington.
Perhaps never before have
been gathered together in a
single city so many men
eminent in the art of soil
production or of farm management. The papers and
discussions were of a high
order.
The dominant note of the
Convention was that we had
reached the time in agricultural development when it
was necessary to carry to
the farmer upon the farms
the new knowledge of agriculture and show him how
to apply it to his c-onrlitions.
The discussion brought out
clearly the fact that bulletins and lectures, running
of special trains with exhibits    and    speakers,    and
even     Farmers'      Institutes,  	
failed to meet the requirements,
do not connect up with the man
field
variously estimated at from five to ten
years. All agreed that the work should
proceed only as fast as capable men
could be secured. After full discussion
resolutions were passed in favor of the
needed legislation.
The Work Adjusted to Each State.
It was recognized that the problems
in one state are different from the problems in other states, hence the necessity of giving the Agricultural Colleges
back up and assist these organizations
and help them accomplish more fully
and quickly the purposes for which
they were established.
Counselled Care in the Work.
The speaker counselled those present
to proceed carefully, and above all, to
avoid placing incompetent men in the
field. That if it required ten years to
secure a full equipment of men for the
purpose, it was far better than to attempt to do it in a short time at the expense of efficiency. That this great
movement should not be   embarrassed or
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Purdue   University   Extension Work—Carrying the Gospel of Agriculture to  the Farm.
They
n the
It was agreed that all these instrumentalities served a useful purpose,
but something further is required if we
are to get the results so necessary to
obtain.
Legislation to Support the Work.
Hours were spent in discussing what
legislation was necessary in order to introduce successful scientific methods of
agriculture. The conclusion reached
was unanimous that the time was now
ripe for the Agricultural Colleges to undertake extension work and send into
every community as fast as men could
be found, and funds would permit, a
trained agriculturist who understands
the modern and up-to-date scientific
farm practice, and have him meet the
farmers face to face in their own locality and help them to interpret and apply the new knowledge to their respective farms. No other way was suggested that will accomplish the results that
will surely follow this plan. Personal
contact between the man who knows
and the man who desires to learn on
the very field wlhere the problems lie
will accomplish this purpose.
The consensu:: of opinion was that
the Federal government and the states
should undertake to finance this plan,
beginning with a small appropriation
and increasing it from year to year at
a rate that will enable the Colleges of
Agriculture to find and train men for
the duties of this important position.
The  time  necessary to  do  this  was
large discretion in carrying forward the
extension work in order that they may
meet as fully as possible the needs of
the various localities in the several
states. A strong committee was appointed to take up the matter of federal legislation.
President of League Explains the Plans
During the progress of the discussion,
the President of the National Soil Fertility League, being present, was asked
to take the floor and explain the plan
and purpose of that organization. He
did so, briefly stating that the League
recognized the importance of agriculture and the splendid work that the
Colleges and Experiment Stations, as
well as the Federal Department, has
been doing; that it believed that the
best interests of the country required
that this work should be emphasized
and extended; hence the League'was
formed to serve as a sort of "Ways and
Means Committee" to arouse public interest and secure such legislation from
both the Federal Government and the
several States as would enable the Colleges of Agriculture to establish and
maintain strong Extension Departments, and increase the w;orking force
from year to year, until a capable man
should be placed and kept in every
community to help the farmer to inaugurate a better system of agriculture, a
more perfect farm management. That
the League did not propose to undertake any of the work that belonged to
the Colleges and Experiment Stations,
but rather to be the    good brother to
made complicated by merging it with
other movements that involve fundamental changes ln our system of education that the people are not yet ready
to adopt. He assured the Convention
that already 470 Boards of Trade,
Chambers of Commerce, and other important associations, stood ready to aid
in securing the legislation indicated by
supporting it strongly with their Members of Congress and Representatives
in their several State Legislatures.
The members of the Convention were
enthusiastic to find that so strong and
representative an association as the
National Soil Fertility League, backed
by the largest financial, commercial and
manufacturing interests in the country,
had  espoused  their  cause.
Howard H. Gross,
Pres. Nat'l. Soil Fertility League.
Chicago.
to be kept   up till all    the people   are
reached.
Farmers' Institutes are extended thi3
season to every part of the State, and
the best farmers and live stock growers are taking hold of this work better
than ever before. Great interest is now
shown in counties where little attendance and participation could be se-
sured formerly.
If the farmers show by their interest
in better agriculture that they are
ready for the forward movement proposed, Congress and the several States
will not hesitate to provide the neces-
  sary legislation and appropriation to organize and
project the greatest work in
this line ever yet undertaken.
The Indiana Farmer in its
September 2nd issue showed that there were scores of
farmers in this state that
produced 30 to 50 bushels
of wheat per acre, by actual
production on five or more
acres in 1911. They sent us
ample proof of this, well
certified, and gave their
methods of doing it. Many
have likewise increased
their corn and oats produc-
tto per acre also, and these
proofs show that Indiana
farmers can do these things.
Now the plan is to increase
their number in this new
movement.
Let our farmers everywhere emulate this splendid
showing. Grow up to the
front till our lands, not yet
100 years under cultivation,
tan produce equal and better than the farmers' of Eu-
rope do on lands a thousand  years under cultivation.
Notes on tho Forward Movement.
Read again every line of President
Gross' letter, and get its meaning.
The Gospel or Agriculture is now being carried to the farm by all the Agricultural Colleges.
The Agricultural Press everywhere Is
constantly on the firing line helping in
the good wr y, by printing and scattering the Gospel of better methods and
larger production.
Purdue University    ln  the  past  few
years has sent Its railway trains laded
with its bulletins and the addresses of
its best teacher to nearly all the coun
ties of Indiana, and this good work is
BETTER AGRICULTURE.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I want to say to you that the Indiana
Farmer is doing more to promote better agriculture than any other of the
several good agricultural papers I read
every week. They are all good papers
but you are doing more than any of
them in tliis work of promoting better
agriculture.
Your first pages for a long while have
been an inspiration to every farmer
who has been trying to keep up in front
of agricultural work and I want to say
this much to show you how farmers
are looking at the matter of an advance  in   greater  production.
I want to say for myself for the past
eight years I have not fallen below 32
bushels of wheat to the acre, and in
some years during that time went above
40 bu. Also I want to say that following the advice on better methods of
corn growing in a rotation of crops
with wheat, clover and oats, I have increased my corn yield from an average
of 48 bu. per acre to 63% bu. This is
the fruit of the advanced methods and
teachings on agricultural productions.
I do not see why, if I can do these
things, all other farmers might not do
it also. The bulletins of the Purdue
Agricultural College have been a great
help also and I think that if every
farmer would carefully read for himself these and all other good things on
this subject he can do as well as me.
Indiana. W. E. Sales.