The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-07-13


The New York Times calls attcn-
ton to the fact that the sum Of 1920
900 will be expended this year upon
experimental work in agriculture,
which represents the interest upon
a capital of $24,000,000. If to this
| is added the amount invested in
agricultural colleges, the total CAPT
tai now in use for the benefit of agri-
culture will amount to $4,000, 900.
That is large amount of money
and it should bring large returns in
the way of agricultural improvement
and the. material prosperity Of the
country. The American people will
expect it to do this, and will watch
for results with eager interest. In
deed, they have been watching for
the results Of the agricultural col
lege endowment, for several years,
and are getting impatient because
they do not materialize faster. Many
of these colleges have had running
fire of criticism during several years
past, and it is still going on. 1t will
dono harm, and may accomplish great
good. We have great faith in the
| final result of this magnificent en-
dowment of the government. Tween.
ty years is too short time to work
out the weighty problem it involves.
1t is barely time enough to establish
the colleges and get them into run
ming order. Experience will grad
ually lead them into right ways and
methods, and the objects, dimly per-
ceived by the men who conceived the
project, will eventually be reached.
The passage of the Hatch law and
the planting of an experiment sta
ton in every State of the Union will
greatly facilitate progress in the
right direction. In most cases these
stations are connected with the col
leges under consideration, and they
will give a practical direction TO ed
vocational thought and method.
Bnt it is to the stations themselves
that the farmers are now looking for
substantial aid in overcoming the
difficulties they must encounter.
They are to do for the farmer what
he cannot do for himself. They are
to supply the time, money, training
and skill which the farmer does not
possess, and without which the diff
fcult problems of the farm must re-
main unsolved, or must be elucidated
only by the slow and expensive pro-
cess Of practical experience. But as,
with agricultural colleges, too much
must not be expected at the start.
Time must be given for proper or
ganization, to reduce q system, to
outline the work to be undertaken.
and to conduct experiment and in
vestigations. The grayest questions
require years to answer, and few Of
the problems important enough to be
referred to these institutions can be
settled in a single season. Due al
lowance must be made for the crude
ness of such enterprises in their ear
ly stages, and for the lack of expert
ence in conducting them, as referred
to by Mr.. Colman in his last report.
But how is the information devel-
oped by these stations, at cost of
$720,000 annually, to be conveyed to
farmers? The Times says that at
present not one farmer in thousand
gets any adequate value from this
large expenditure. Directly, this
may be true. The bulletins ISSUED
by the stations can reach only the
few compared with the many, and
these are intelligent, reading men,
who do not need the information so
much, or would get large part of
it from other sources. The very
men who need the knowledge most
are the most difficult to reach The
local press will always be the lead
ing agent in disseminating the prac-
teal facts developed by the stations,
and as the journals of this class now
reach nearly every neighborhood in
the country, the proportion Of farm
ers who will not be benefited will be
great deal smaller than our con-
temporary suggests. One intelli
gent man will enlighten an entire
neighborhood. Even though all his
neighbors are so prejudiced against
book farming that they will not read
a bulletin or agricultural paper they
are not proof against successful ex-
ample. Any fact that makes one
man successful will be accepted by
those who fail, and in this way the
useful knowledge developed by these
schools of investigation will have
wide dissemination.