The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-03-19
AGRICULTURE AS
A PROFESSION
BY D. l. VAN DINE.

( lege for the endowment of additional
professorships in history, chemistry and
agriculture" In 1918 the New York
Horticultural Society was organized.
In 1921 the State of Maine passed an
act granting $1,000 per year toward
the maintenance of an institution for
mechanics and farmers" In 1889 Con-
gress made an appropriation for the
collection of agricultural statistics, in
vestigation for promoting agriculture
and rural economy and the procurement
of cuttings and seeds for gratuitous
distribution among the farmers Be
tween this period and the Civil War
several States organized agricultural
colleges and schools and a course in
agriculture was offered ~ some of the
universities. AS early as 1S4S Yale Col
! lege offered a course in agricultural
1 chemistry.
The Federal Department of Agricul-
! ture. was esta bliShed in 1862 and the
same year the famous Morrill, Act pass
| ed Congress and was" signed by Pres
ident Lincoln. This act was presented
to Congress by Justin l.. Morrill, of
Vermont and provided by the donation
of public lands the establishment of
state colleges for agriculture and
mechanic arts" Under the Morrill, Act
The law providing for agricultural
experiment stations, known as the
Hatch act, was passed by Congress in
1887 There are now fifty-two such
stations which receive direct all from
the Federal Government.
1t is evident from this brief review
that agricultural education in the Uni
ted States has only recently become
of Importance as compared with other
lines of study offered by our higher
schools. There is then only one an
swer to the question, why, if agricul-
ture offers such great opportunities,
have not more men entered it as a
profession" There was no choice.
Agriculture had but one meaning, the
drudgery of farm life with dts small
returns apparently leaving out health
and a good living) and its limited op-
portunities for the ambitious youth who
dreamed of fame and fortune in the
professions of law or medicine, the
field of engineering or business ca
reer in our cities. We of the present
generation are the first to witness the
effect wrought by twenty-five years of
rapid progress under what I have al |
ready twice referred to in this paper |
as 1.-The new order of things in agricul- |
tural science.
Today there is an urgent demand not !
only from the agricultural colleges and |
schools, the Experiment Stations and |
Federal Department of our own coun-
try but an increasing demand for |
American agriculturists in foreign
countries. DR.. Galloway of our De-
partment was offered and refused a
salary of $4,000 by the Government of
Australia. DR.. Howard, chief of the |
Division of Entomology wrote only re-
Gently, 81 have sent one of my assist
ants to organize the Division of Ento-
mology in the newly established De-
partment of Agriculture in the Trans
wall" A classmate of my own is at
the head of a department under the
Brazilian Government and American
experts are found in the employ of
nearly every foreign country including
Japan and India. In fact the men
who are being placed in charge of the
agricultural institutions under the gov
eminent of Japan were sent to the
United States to receive their training
in our agricultural colleges. Finally,
aside from positions at home and
abroad for research and instruction 1
wish to speak of the opportunities |
to which I have already referred
offered by new agricultural enterprise.
doubt if many of you realize the mag
nitude of American agriculture. It is
not an eXaggeration to say that every
cultivated area on the face of the globe
has been visited by agents of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture to gain new
ideas or new material which might bet
ter our farming interests. Facts will
best support this point Today it is
unnecessary to have above the stalls
of our live stock the word imported"
in order that the animal attract a fam
cy price. We have so far improved the
various breeds of horses, sheep and
cattle that they far exceed anything
that could be imported. That is, dis
tinctly American types have been de-
veloped far superior to the best orig
inal stock brought from foreign coun-
tries. And in the case of the horse
We have a distinct breed which the
world cannot beat, the Kentucky sad
die horse" Stock raising and breeding
is wide field for students. In regard
to our crops the city of Minneapolis
is the second largest flour market in
the world Buda-Pesth, Hungary, be-
ing the first. In regard to wheat an
introduction by our Department of a
special variety of hard red winter
wheat has enabled us to export and
sell in successful competition, flour
with the best flours of Europe. The
production or this special brand for ex-
port is at present confined to the south
ern portion of Kansas. The introduce
ton of the Macaroni variety of wheat
and the ability to raise it with success
gives promise of another important
industry. An agent of the .. s. De-
partment of Agriculture in attendance
at national fair in Bavaria purchased
an entire lot of barley from the exhibit
tor who had received the first prize.
gold medal, because of the special fit
ness of the article for brewing pur-
poses. This variety and the introduce
ton of several of the best varieties of
hops promises to place brewing in the
u s. in the near future on an equal
basis with the countries of Europe.
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