Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-01-17

mlnuS with something practical, would
estimate the number Of acres Il would
irrigate and the number OF cattle or
sheep II would produce, the Indifference
with which we now watch this great re-
source running 20 waste would have an
end
The last address on the morning pro-
gram was a paper 10y Prof L. b. Lin
Geld OF Logan upon 1.-THE Work OF Ag-
rcultural Colleges
PROF LINFIELD OF LINFELD
Prof Linneld OF the Utah Agricultural
college being introduced said. Man. ike
all animal creation. must live on the
products Of the soil. be they the direct
or Indirect products--plants or animals
! will not attempt to decide whether the
first man, like his nearest relation in
the animal kingdom, the ape, lived on
nuts or fruits or whether the products
of the chase satisfied his appetite
certain It Is II the paleontologist right
ly Informs us both flesh and fruit early
formed the basis of his sustenance
With the progress Of civilization ana
the increase IN population which fol-
lowed, AN Increased and improved food
supply became necessary end thus the
incentive towards the amcU0rltiOn Of
the sources OF food animals ana plants
Man II an observing creature and all
down the ages he has been accumuIat-
ing experiences. frequently very fire..
quently perhaps deductions have been
drawn from insufficient data and thus
arises erroneous OF only partially TRUE
ideas ana systems Of practice. a large
amount Of valuable facts has. however,
been gathered and put In practice boy
succeeding generations of successful
farmers. Many Of the practices OF the
old Romans cannot Doe improved upon
az the present day. They understood
the value Of rotation OF crops and prac-
ticcd some very good ones The im-
portance OF cultivation. Of manuring
Of drainage. and many other points
were also recognized. There is perhaps
no class Of people in civilized countries
that are more isolated than the farm
ers This arises from the nature OF
their operation. The farm where
one man finds occupation b.
measured 10y acres. not Boy
feet, az I'm the case Of the manufac-
turer Then, again, especially In Amer
lea. the farmer has been a pioneer, he
has led the way In the march Of civil
ization over very much OF the present
area OF the country This isolation has
through generations reacted upon the
farmers They are as a class cOnserva-
tive. they lack organization and that
aggressive spirit which characterizes
many OF those in other callIngs These
characteristics Of the farmer are FREE
Quenty intensified by horodity, as gem
orally the farmers calling desceuis
from father 20 son and not infrequent-
vs. along the least aggressive line; the
wlde-awake farm boys form the leaders
In nearly every other occupation the
country affords Because of the condi-
lions and characteristics above referred
TO- the knowledge ~ farm practice ON
most farms In America has been large
ly the result Of the family experience
handed down from generation TO gem
Grafton perhaps augmented by the eX-
periences OF their ueIghbOrs surround
Ing Much Of this practice was good,
yet &c was limited I'm quantity and cm-
pircal. having no strong basis in rea-
son. Neither was there any method OF
distributing the advanced thought and
experience Of the best farmers among
The great mass of the people and thus
elevaung the practice and increasing
the returns Of the whole Here was the
first field OF work Tor the agricultural
colleges
AS noted above. the methods of urac-
tice IN farm work were empirical In
their origin; they were based on ex-
perienue hus the -eason for the results
was not known These deeper problems
In agricultural science seem 10 have
been scarcely thought about. much less
inquired into IL was not until about
the beginning Of the past century that
the foundation was laid for the scicn-
liic agriculture OF today. The early
Investigators in the agricultural field
were chemists whose work, or taste. led
them into this field
Among the first IN the work was Sir
Humphrey Dayy IN America. Later De
Soussure and BOussingault celebrated
French chemists, and about 1870 Lie
bes's work placed agricultural chemis-
Try on an advanced scientific basis
Other noted men have followed up this
work until now there are thousands
scattered In all parts OF the civilized
world who are engaged In various lines
OF agricultural research.
The work OF these carly scientific IN.
VesIgators was largely a contest be-
tween various theories and for many
years it commanded but little attention
from the man on the farm. Later the
economies OF production formed a
prominent part Of the Work-the quan-
THY Of the crop I'm relation 10 the force
cyerted % get Il. The Improvement in
the quality OF the plants and animals
seems 10 have been largely left 10 the
practical aEriculturist. and for what
has been gained In this direction we
are indebted to the farm and live
stock enthusiasts who have devoted
their lives TO developing some partiCu-
lar families Of plants and animals. In
this most intricate field, where the skill
OF the farmer has been most promi-
nently oXempIitied the scientist has
only recently entered II is a field.
however, which has had q very great
influence In the agricultural develop
ment
The work Of the early scientific In
vestigator In the agricultural field
shows that while agricultural practice
was largely empirical IN us methods,
yet IL had a scientific basis and 70 was
al once recognized that the develop
ment OF this phase OF the research In
agriculture promised much in renewed
prosperity 90 the farmers. and thus 20
an the people ~ the country. n was
from this recognition that the agricul-
tural college started, Tor from the evil
dencc. Il would appear that they arose
not from the demands nc the people but
out Of a recognition ~ their needs. The
early agricultural societies and early
professorships in agriculture, were not
created on the suggestion of the farm
ers. az whole; nor when the societies
were composed Of farmers but rather
what might be called patrons OF agri-
culture" Many Of the early teachers IN
the agricultural field failed 90 reach
their constituency because, while en-
thuslastic in their particular neld they
were frequently unacquainted with and
sometimes out of sympathy with the
practical phase OF the farmers work
which 60 him is an important and ever
prominent. They also failed 10 recog-