The herald., 1896-11-01
A MALICIOUS ATTACK.
The State Agricultural Department Is
Scored.

The people who see and appreciate the
work of the University of California Ag-
ricultural Department is doing were sur
prised and disgusted by half column
editorial which appeared last Sunday
in the Los Angeles Herald. The article
in question accused the staff of the ag-
ricultural department of being ineft1-
cient, and petty politicians, and charac-
terized the agricultural college as
waste Of the hard earned money of the
tax payers of California.
An explanation of the attack is SIM
pie. A Los Angeles man named Wood
bridge, the inventor of fertilizer asked
Professor Hilgard for a recommended
ton of his invention. Professor Hilgard
examined the fertilizer and refused tc
recommend it. Ever since Mr.. Wood
bridge has lost no opportunity to injure
the agricultural department. One Abb
bot Kinney, another Los Angeles man,
was formerly a state forestry commits
eioner When the commission was abol
ished, because of it's inefficiency ara
corruptness, it's duties were given to
the Universityof California agricultural
department. This aroused Mr.. Kinney's
wrath. He is part owner of the Herald
and he and Woodbridge have inspired
this policy Of attacking the U. c. agr
cultural department on every possible
opportunity.
Such attacks merely disgust those
people who really know something
about the institution, but it is calculat-
ed to harm the university's interests by
leading people who have not come in
contact with it's work to form false i'm
pressions. 1t is unfortunate that per-
sonal spite should go to such extremes.
-Berkeleyan.
The answers of the people who are
trying to discredit the charges of in
competency against Prof. Hilgard and
fHa ty1A ffnin nf h ic oCryi in11I tI1ro
lege are of two kinds. First, laudation
of the professor and the college and, Sec
ond, abuse of those who are engaged in
showing up the comparative worthless
ness Of the director and his college. Prof.
Hilgard has many times tried to make
it personal fight, but the editor of the
Herald does not intend to be caught in
any such battle, however much Hill
gard may desire it. Our criticisms have
been entirely upon the incompetency
of the director of our agricultural COL
lege and some members of his staff.
The above article is published for the
purpose of showing the second kind of
defense" Prof Hilgard is setting up,
either directly or indirectly.
1.-The explanation" is pure fabrication,
and the writer of this article is "the
man named Woodbridge" and he makes
this statement because the above fab
rication must have come either directly
Prof. Hilgard; for who could know that
Woodbridge had ever asked Prof. Hill
gard for ton for fer
tilizer but Prof. Hilgard himself? This
man Woodbridge" denies that he ever
invented any fertilizer or that he ever
asked Prof Hilgard to recommend his
(Woodbridges) alleged invention or
any other fertilizer of which he is the
manufacturer, and calls upon the edi-
tor of the Berkeleyan to retract the
charge or produce the proof of his as
sertion.
Indeed there was no reason why the
man Woodbridge" should have asked
Prof. Hilgard to recommend his brand
of fertilizer, for the professor had been
doing it unsolicited as the following let
ter will show. The letter has been in our
possession since the time Messrs. Col
Inns Bros received it:
BERKELEY, Jan. 8.-Messrs. Collins
Bros, San Dimas, Cal. Dear Sirs-The
samples of soil accompanying yours of
December 9th have been received and
examined, so far as can he done at short
notice; a full examination would take
more time than you would wish to wait.
The examination reveals no prominent
deficiency in your No. 1, of which No.
2 Is evidently only a modification. Yet
there seems to be a deficiency in vegeta-
BILE mold, Notwithstanding the color of
the soil is rather dark. 1t is pity that
stable or sheep corral manure is not
available to you, as l think that would
be the best thing for so sandy a soil.
1t may be that a more complete exam
ination of the soil, which we will make
hereafter, will give more decided in
dication; for the present I think you
had best use a Complete" fertilizer,
like 'Woodbridge's No. 2" orange fer
tilizer, together with some gypsum,
r