ns of the old educational
institutions have been filled with the new wine of science and of
knowledge and training applied to the industries and businesses of life.
Agriculture has perhaps been slow to feel the current of the new wine
as it flows from the wine press of fast-growing industrial and social
need. But the least hopeful of us can, I am sure, already see signs of a
vast awakening. The farm, as well as the pulpit, the bar, the
schoolroom, the shop, the counting-room, is breathing in the new idea
that knowledge and training can be made of use to every man.
This awakening is due not merely to the desire of agriculturists to be
in fashion, nor to the efforts of agricultural pedagogues, but to a real
need. It is common knowledge that in America we have not farmed, but
have mined the soil. We have "skimmed the cream" of fertility, and
passed on to conquer new areas of virgin soil. This pioneer farming has
required hard work, enterprise, courage, and all the noble traits of
character that have made our American pioneers famous and that have
within a century subdued a wilderness to civilization. But the farmer of
today faces a new situation. The fertile lands are fairly well occupied.
The old lands are depleted. These old lands must be handled skilfully if
they are to produce profitably. They must be used because there is
little else to use, and because they are near the best markets.
Meantime, scientists have been studying the deep things of nature, and
have been learning the laws that govern soil, plant, and animal. Thus we
have the farmer's need met by the theorist's discoveries. The farmer, to
avail himself of these discoveries must know their meaning and be able
to apply the general principle to the specific case. This means
agricultural education.
Then again, the consumption of high-class products increases at least as
rapidly as does our wealth. The demand comes not alone from the rich,
but from the middle classes of our cities. Skilled artisans are large
consumers of choice meats, fruits, and vegetables. To grow these
high-grade products means skill, and skill means training, and training
in the large sense means education.
The need for agricultural education, is, then, a real and vital one. It
is pressed upon us by economic and social conditions. It is in line with
the movement of the age.
In discussing agricultural education, we must not forget that the farmer
is also a citizen and a man. He should
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