The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

. a so pressing, will be met. .,ooI to de- It is inc purpose of the schooI " vote more. attention to the ,,ses.d- Agriculture, during the naA' prsnara- ing period, than in the p,.nt past af the tions looking to the ss,d snib but not yet sut- nciertiv romnlete to justify formal announcement
 Tne school of Agricuiture.
 rr .ha account that follows an enorl
 has ,,esn made to give the public an idea of inc present facilities ana "ork | of the A<ricuituraI Department.
 f None of the work Of the IusAcsee ! NormaI and Industrial Institute mas | rrnyen more successful than the work | Hone in the Agricultural Department | snd that under tho supervision or tns
 Agr,cuitural Experiment station, es- tabIished by the Legislature or tne state of Alabama. in connection With l the school |. fo make the instruction practical as 1 well as scientific. From the beginning of the school special propinence nas been given to all forms Of work con | nected with the cultivation or the soii. About s5 per cent of the coiored people of the South live in the country dIs- 1 tricts They are farmers and by tneir | iahors must support themselves and l their families. A part of Tuskegees method of education has been to pre- pare young men, by actual work on the school farm, in raising food supplies: caring for stock, fruit and all useiui products, so as to become intelligent and successful farmers. In 1897 splendid modern building. the Slater Armstrong Memorial Agricultural Building, 1t is named, costing about sI0,00o, was built and equipped for teaching both practical and scientinc agriculture. About the same time the Legislature of the State of Alabama established an Agricultural Experiment Station in connection with the school About four years ago two wings were added to the building at a cost of $5,- o0o Room for adequate laboratory and museum is thus provided. Under the direction of the head of this depart ment, work is carried on ip the labo- ratory and in the field. The laboratory work is simple and easily understood by the students. It consists. in the main, of analysis of the various soils,
 for the purpose of learning what ele- ments need be supplied in order to make them more productive. This en- ables the students to make a proper selection of fertilizers. Fertilizers are also tested to find their composition. Feeds are tested to find those best adapted to fat. to milk, or muscle: There Is also practical analysis of all dairy products--milk. butter and cheese and comprehensive study of for | eign and native forage plants. All the | scientific knowledge is carried daily in- | to the fields and Into the practical
 work of the various divisions of the l department. In this way the techni- | cal knowledge of the laboratory is worked out in the fields and in the l products of the dairy. garden and or chard. About 1o6 cows are milked daily in the dairy division. The milk | from these cows Is used to prove the I experiments of the laboratory, and also
 supplied to teachers and students as l milk and butter in the Teachers and | Students Home Departments. Tuske- 1 gee butter has been called by conipe- | tent judges excellent. both Tn appear ance and quality.
 The orchard and truck garden are also used for practical results. Bud- ding. grating, trimming and the care of plants and trees arc taught always with view of supplying fruit and | vegetables for the school. Some splen- | did results have come from the Agri-
 cultural Department and are set forth
 in the bulletins Issued by the Expect ment Station.
 The Institute owns 2,SOe acres of
 land which are cultivated by students. 1 On the Home Farm are raised main | ly grain. potatoes, vegetables, etc. to supply the boarding department. TherN has been added to this department, work in dairying. poultry-raising. hor. 1 ticulture and Horticulture for girls. The
 experiment has been tried the past i've
 years with encouraging results. A large majority of the young women ! who come to Tuskegee are the daugh- | ters of colored farmers, living on small 1 plantations. How little benefit the peo-
 pie of that class get from gardens. one | has only to travel through the coun- | try districts of the Southern States 10
 see. If they have garden at all 1t is ! apt to be choked with weeds and oth- l CT noxious Erowths. With every ad- ! vantage of soil and climate, and with a | steady market. if they live near any
 city or large town. few ot the colored
 farmers get any benefits from this, one 1 of the most profitable of all industries. l The girls in the various agricultural | divisions have as careful training as do
 those in any of the other industries,
 sciences and arts taught here. This | work Is carried on in connection with the regular school work.
 FIorfcuIture.
 A department of agricultural study | In which the students are beginning to show considerable interest Is the Flori- cultural Division. This division was
 made possible by the presentation of an amount sufficient to build green house to care for plants and flowers. Mrs. C. l.. Byington of Lockport, N.
 Y. was the donor. The following re- port last March from the head of this Division gives some information show ing the success of the work:
 '"rhere is at present an enrolment in this division of fourteen students To-
 tai snrollment up to this time of thir- ty-four. It is gratifying to notice the cash receipts have increased. The sug
 gestfon which this offers is that both
 our own people and the town people
 are beginning to appreciate more and
 more plants and flowers. It Is very | noticeable that the students will buy | violets, a rose or a carnation amount ing to or 3 cents: and we are follow ing the plan of selling even for penny or two in order to encourage students In their love of flowers and plants. The
 citizens of the town of Tuskegee visit
 the green house perhaps as frequently
 as any place on the school grounds and in the past recent months the pur- I chases have increased materially. Sew
 eral of the people in town have spoken
 to MT, Crawford about laying out their
 grounds and supplying them with flow
 CTS for the coming year We are try
 ing to do this but am very much
 afraid that to go into this kind of
 work to any very great extent will
 cripple our own work.
 We have now on hand growing in