The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1906-09-28
The Modern Farm.

The character Of farming is changing
rapidly 1t is becoming more and more
to be an efficient, profitable, and attractive
business. With here ard there an excep-
ton, in the past we have not given much
consecutive thought to the business
nothing like as much as the merchant
gives to his business or the doctor to his
1t has been so "easy" a business thai
unframed men could succeed in it. The
change in economic and social conditions
is breaking up the tradition. Farming is
becoming more difficult, and the old
methods must go. In the future only the
well informed and efficient thinking man
c iii succeed: that is, only the educated
mlH.
The country is to offe~ other advantages
to the educated man than merely to be a
good farmer. There are good emporium
tiles for lie ldership on public q l.s;ions-
probably better opportunity aud with less
competition tuan in the great cities. The
very fact that city representation IS
increasing in the leg islatures should make
the able country representative more OF
m ,rked man. The growth of the institute
movement, Of the grange and other rural
organic .tiols, gives fresh opp 'rtunlty to
develop leadership of high order.
II seem, to me that. by the very nature
of the progress we are making, the col
lege man must 90 To the farm. In fact,
college m.u have beeu going back from
the beginning of the agricultural educa-
ton movement. Statistics show that
very large percentage actually have
returned to farming, and this IN spite of
the fact that cities have been growing
with marvellous rapidity, and that the
whole system OF agricultural colleges and
tx perime MT stations has been developing
and calling tor men. Considering the
limitations und which the agricultural
Colleges have d,.ve :oped, with, ut sympa-
thy, with the Indifference and sometimes
he opposition of charlottesville very
men who shuu Id have known better-with
wholly inadequate funds, it is little less
IL I'll illdTSclpuS Wudl tHCS nave dCCoLu-
plished within generation. 1t is proba-
BILE that the proportion of students of the
leading agricultural colleges who now
engage in agricultural pursuits is greater
than students of that of college of law or
of 9th r professional colleges who follow
their chosen profession. No one now
questions the value Of education to a
lawyer or physician; why question its
value to farmer? The educated man
will 20 back to the farm if he is fitted to
be farmer
With all the awakened interest and the
exploiting of individual instances, the
townsman is not yet aware of the tremen-
dous rise in the tone and efficiency of the
entire agricultural industry, which may
well be likened to the gradual elevation
of a geological stratum of continental
population is retaining its old-tim vigor,
independence, and native philosophy.
The student who enters this field will
most assuredly not succeed unless he has
good talents and efficient training and
properly estimates the problem; but it is
nevertheless perfectly evident not only
that an educated man can succeed in agri-
cultural arts, but that in time this type OF
man will be the only one who can hope
for the best results.-From l.. II. Bailey's
The Agricultural College and the Farm
Youth" in the September Century.