Oxford eagle., 1904-01-21
The Evident Influence Of the State
Agricultural College on Missis-
sippi Agriculture.

DIR. H. Z. Stockbridge, of the
Florida agricultural experiment sta
ton. in 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-
gressive farmers of the State. DR..
Stockbridge said, in part:
"It is fact that, however great may
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.
| fad however. that these conditions
exist in Mississippi to 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. have been surprised to fiad
that everywhere the relation between
. the farmers institutes and the instltu-
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
terested was simply one of the many
phases of the agricultural work OF the
college. | must admit that in my own
State (Florida) / would not have
dared to adopt similar methods.
would have believed it necessary In
many places to have even minlmlzed
the 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
ence of the one upon the other is fully
recognized. | cannot but believe that
this auspicious circumstance Is evil
dence of the fact that for years the
Mississippi Agricultural College has
been distinctly agricultural in charac-
ter. | should allude to 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 its 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 established and are not main
tained by the general government for
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 for
the several vocations and professions
of life. Agriculture is, therefore. not
made the only profession to the ad-
vancement of which these colleges are
dedicated; it is simply recognized as
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. i am certain that the response
bility for the fact must at least be dl-
vided and that the home influences to
which the boy is subjected before he
encounters the college influence is
mostly rsponsible for these results
| Notwithstanding this counter infiu,
ence. many college boys have returned
| to Mississippi farms, and are today en-
gagged in the elevation of Mississippi
| farming"