The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-02-12
Raleigh, N. c., February IL, 1901
AS THE STUDENT SEES IT.
TIE Short Course in Agriculture in Tennessee
as Viewed by Farmer Taking It.

!
as Viewed by Farmer Taking It.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The short course in agriculture at
the University of Tennessee is a sur
prise to every student. The articles
in newspapers, even the bulletins
from the University, valuable as
they are, have given no adequate
idea of the thOroughness, the fine
equipment, the practical value of the
course to the farmer, the stock
grower, Or the market gardener. It
is surprise in other ways, as it
gives to the man without scientific
training an idea of the stupendous
number of things that the farmer
should and must know if he works
intelligently. The short course is
eminently practical. While we have
lectures on soil physics, on botany,
on horticulture, feeding and farm
management, every lecture is made
to apply directly to the farmers
everyday work. For instance, in
chemistry we are shown the results
of analyses of the soil and what can
be determined by such analyses; we
are informed as to the elements and
Deficiencies of the soil and the exact
part that fertilizers play, just why
and how they should be applied
This particular branch of the work
is immensely valuable. The current
conceptions of all these matters are
found to be entirely erroneous, and
the amazing thing is that an agricul-
tural education has never been
thought worth while.
In the dairy the student learns
first to run boiler and engine, in
formation which he is more than
future. Then he is put in charge of
churn and taught how to make
butter, the temperature of milk and
cream, the amount of salt, etc,
needed or possibly, he is assigned to
a separator and taught the process
by which cream is separated from
the Iuilk. He is then assigned to the
milk tester, which tests accurately
the amount of butter fat in milk,
and by an easy calculation the amount
of actual butter the milk contains
He is also taught the process of
cheese making. For all this work,
! the men are required to wear white
duck suits and to do the work with
care and cleanliness. Preceding the
work in the dairy, Prof. SOUle deliv-
ers an explanatory talk upon the
processes and principles of milk pro-
ductiOn by which the whole cOmpli-
Gated process is made exceedingly
simple. He inspires such interest
among the students by his enthusi-
asm and animated talks that the
men enter upon the work with zest
and find it interesting. The dairy
equipment is said to be the best in
the South, and the dairy hall itself
as complete as anything of the kind
in the country.
The other phases of the work, how
ever, are not less thorough. Prof.
SOule's valuable lectures, illustrated
and enforced in various practical
ways, on feeds and feeding and
breeds and breeding, touch and eluci-
date subjects of vast Importance to
the farmer.
Prof. Keffer is admirably equipped
for the work of teaching hOrticul-
ture, which has to do with gardens,
fruits, etc Already he has shown
the best methods Of pruning by
making the men take pruners under
his direction and prune grape vines
at the University farm. hater on
we will have grating and the prun-
ing of fruit trees.
Altogether, the work of the shOr6
course surpasses all expectations in
the fact of it's being more thorough,
more practical, far more interesting
and valuable than any one has real
lied who knows nothing Of the i'm
mense field which it covers and the
amount of work attempted, the i'm
portance of it and the enthusiasm
and energy with which those who
have it in charge are pushing it to a
successful issue.
JAS. w. YOUNG.
University of Tennessee, Knox Co.,
Tenn
Ewes with early lambs need foods
that will produce milk and keep up