Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-12-10
STUDY 1T AN AGRICULTURAL COL
IEfE.

The question is frequently asked.
Does il pay It young man VINO proposes
= H. q farmer 90 iuke q course at an
aericaitur4i college answer wltholt
-,sItauoa ,sat ii does nay b. more ways
.Ial one. The occupation ot 2 farmer IS
tn= which i1 rftuaS past las been con
Scored ca-.l re icI0NcJ NitE 4t-t >-tt-
cess without 1eT@ri fp N.GeGs nN pr"pAT
tin. tuc ~ccsta WHY during TN. ra <
teH years. SO many .-r-ueTS rare fd,e /
y II ,ke :. competency Is t4e lact that
and hereafter the greatest measure Of
success in farming WI be attained by
those who have the greatest fitness for
the business by fitness we do 70 mean
that only those who have pursued
courses OF study AT our agricultural col
leges will sIccecd. neither do we mean
that all who have pursued courses of
study at an agricultural college will suc-
coed
4 young man with average ability who
would meet with fair success III farming
without the education derived n ell ag-
ricuitural college. would probably meet
, win far greater success as cp1Se-
duencc OF the training. We iinu in e
ranks OF the farmers many who oppose
most strongly the acquiring of n college
education by young men who are looking
toward Turning as profession. Tie
reasons for this are two. viz. those
farmers who have been successful by rea-
soif of their superior Judgment consider
| that others can be equally successful.
Those farmers who have proved them
SELVES lilluTeS can STE IlOtflflfr III the oc-
cupation To attract young men OF ability.
Bat To go bach 10 the original PROPOSE
| ton: Does n course at an agricultural
college pay for Young man Whose bust
ness is To he that OF Il farmer? The dle3-
ton of pay should not be considered from
/ the financial side alone, but also from
the broader standard of appreciation OF
nature and of natures gifts, the upportt,-
| nifty offered for doing good. and the en-
joytnent TO the fullest extent of tho C
gifts of God which were intended to min
lister to our pleasure.
The agricultural college instructs young
men with reference TO those forces OF ila-
ture with which they will have to deal.
While these forces are constant ard act
through all time, Vet the conditions t,n-
der which they act are never twice alike.
and rs 4 consequence results from the
! action of the same force are ever vary
| ing. Success in farming Is measured by
ones ability to make these forces OF ma
ture harmonize and work together for
the accomplishment of n purpose. 1t has
been often said that the successful man
is the one who knows best how to ma xe
others do work for him This is especial
~ true In agriculture. He who knows
best how to make the rain and frost md
wind. and sunlight and heat change .po-
tcntial into active energy. convert the in
ert matter of the soil into fruit and flow
ers and vegetables, is the one who W II
succeed as Il farmer.
The agricultural college trains n young
man in the laws of physics. chemistry.
meteoroogy. animal nutrition. &c. These
laws operate the same for the train d
farmer ana for the unframed. But the
man who understands the nature of the
forces and their modes Of action can so
arrange the conditions that the forces
shall serve him instead of oppose him.
One farmer complains of the dry wealth
err which cuts short the crop of corn and
potatoes. The other farmer has learned
that soil well filed with humIis holds
water like a sponge. He has made u sc
of cover-crOps, and by plow'ng under va
rous organic matter has filled the SO |
his soil is held firmly, and by oft-repeatcd
tillage the moisture is conserved While
the neighbor's crop burns up. the crop on
the properly managed soil thrives and
produces q satisfactory yield.
The greatest value impaired by an ag-
ricuitural or any other college is not In
the specific things taught IL is found in
training of the eye and hand. AS con-
ditions are never twice alike. that system
of education which make one Self-reliant
which enables one to grasp the situation
however il may present itself. is the most
valuable. OHr leading agricultural col
leges are now teaching, not so much how
work should be done. as why work is
done. 1t would be a simple matter for a
teacher of agriculture III New York sta e
TO tell how to raise crop of wheat in
New York. Bat the instructions would ne
entirely at FAINT when applied TO wheat
raising in some other section Of the COIN
try. If. howeVea. the principles which
underlie successful wheat culture are
taught they VIII apply anywhere. ii is
not a question OF how TO piov and IT the
.s..!1 for wheat or any otHeg crop, whish
should he taught. but why the land iS
proved and fitted. once the science is
learned thC art Is easily ae4alI.d. ~