The Grenada sentinel., 1904-01-23
Mississippi State News
The Evident Influence OF the State
Agricultural College on Missis-
sippi Agriculture.

. uS o~'OcUA StUOSUSS O1 IuS oIaAS
Agricultural College on Missis-
sippi Agriculture.
DIR. H. f. Stockbridge, of the
Florida agricultural experiment sta
ton, in a short address before the
State Farmers Institute held at the
Mississippi Agricultural and Me-
chanical College during August,
1902, spoke of the forcible evidences
he had noted of the great influence
for good which the college and sta
ton have exerted, and the good fel
lowship apparently existing between
the farmers institutes and the pro-
gresSivc farmers Of the State. DR..
>tockbridge said, in part:
be the recognition given to improved
methods, to scientific agriculture and
TO agricultural investigation, there
still exists among the farmers in many
portions of the country tendency to
scoff at what is known as book farm
ing and to manifest Skepticlsm to-
ward the possibilities of agricultural
education or investigation as related
to practical achievement on the farm.
find, however, that these conditions
exist in Mississippi to a less degree
than in any other Southern State; that
leading farmers everywhere recognize
the sincerity of the effort on the part
OF the college authorities, and recOg-
nize the harmony of interest existing
between the farmer and the farmers
college. l have been surprised to fl I'd
that everywhere the relation between
No fc inc tltA Il
tion has been emphasized, that the at
tention of the farmers has been con-
stantly called to the fact that the
farmers institute in which he was in
.rerested was simply one of the. many
phases OF the agricultural work of the
college. l must admit that in my own
State (Florida) I would not have
dared to adopt similar methods. |
would have believed it necessary in
many places to have even minimized
ne connection between the farmers
Institutes and the college. and wish to
congratulate both the Mississippi Agri-
cultural College and the farmer that
they have reached a condition where
the suspicion Of the one by the other
has vanished, and the actual depend
cnce of the one upon the other is fully
recognized. l cannot but believe that
this auspicious circumstance is evi-
dence of the fact that for years the
Mississippi Agricultural College has
been distinctly agricultural in charac"
aer | should allude to a single crit
icism Of the college which has Occa'
sionally presented itself, namely, that
many of the students fail to become
farmers upon completion of it's courses
TO reply to this criticism may, per
haps. be more appropriate in an out
slider than in one actually engaged in
the work here in your own State. Let
me remind you that these colleges
were not esta blished and are not main
tanned by the general government fol
the mere purpose OF manufacturing
farmers. however capable these farm
ers may be. The law of congress dis
tinctly specifies that these institutions
shall furnish "a liberal education fO1
the several vocations and professions
of life Agriculture is. therefore, not
male the only profession to the ad
vancement of which these colleges are
dedicated: it is simply recognized az
one of the great fundamental profes
sions. so important to national welfare
that national maintenance is justified
If the boys of the Mississippi Agricul
tUral College fail to return to the
farm, am certain that the responsi
bility for the fact must at least be di
vided and that the home influences tt
which the boy is subjected before h
encounters the college influence i:
mostly responsible for these results
Notwith standing this counter influ
ence. many college boys have returned
to Mississippi FARMS and are today en-
gagged in the >elevation of Mississippi
farming'