the seeds of education cannot grow
in a soil barren of the richness of sentiment for and confidence in the
farm. Our agricultural colleges have been criticized because they have
graduated so few farmers. But the fault is not all with the colleges.
The farmers also are to blame. They have not had faith enough in the
farm to advise young men to go to college to prepare for farming. They
admit the value of education for the law, for building railroads, but
not for farming. This must be changed, is being changed. The last ten
years have seen a revolution in this respect, and the result is a mighty
increase in agricultural educational interest.

One powerful means of agricultural education is the farmers'
organization or association. All our dairy, horticultural, poultry, and
live-stock associations are great educators. So of an organization like
the Grange, its chief work is education. It brings mind in contact with
mind; it gives chance for discussion and interchange of ideas; it trains
in power of expression; it teaches the virtue of co-operation. Farmers
blunder when they fail to encourage organization. Sometimes, out of
foolish notions of independence, they neglect to unite their forces.
They are utterly blind to their best interests when they do so. They
should encourage organization if for no other reason than for the
splendid educational advantages that flow from it.

However, our chief interest is, perhaps, in those institutions that are
formed purposely and especially for agricultural education and which are
usually supported out of public funds. There are three great fields of
endeavor in which these institutions are working. The first step is to
know--to know the truth. So in agriculture we must know. Know what? Know
how nature works. So the man of science studies the soil and finds out
what plant-food it contains, how the water acts in it, what heat and air
do, and the inter-relation of all these elements. He studies the plant
and its habits and tries to discover how it grows and how it can be
improved for man's use. He studies the animal and endeavors to learn
what are the best foods for it and what laws govern its adaptation to
human food. He studies climate and tries to find out what plants and
animals are most appropriate to different locations. He studies
injurious insects and diseases and devises remedies for them. He
discovers, experiments. So we have research as the first term in
agricultural education.