The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-04-01
STATES AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE

interest the query, why support Two
Universities Now, 1 beg leave to
differ with you. After spending
week at the State College last June
l came to the conclusion that the
State College should have liberal sup
Fort. If the young men and women
l saw in attendance at the college
are the children of Pullman and vic
unity, the parents in Pullman are TO
be congratulated. L think President
Roosevelt would go into ecstacies over
them. There were 1879 different per-
sons enrolled the past year, including
those in the winter school for far
mers 945 exclusive of the winter
schools, a total of 351 pursuing agri-
cultural subjects One hundred and
fifty young women studied domestic
economy. About 175 women were in
attendance. Cost of board in the three
dining halls is $2.75 per week. These
halls board about one-third of the
students Thirty-five thousand dol
lars is spent on the dining halls. There
are seven professors in the agricul-
tural department.
The field operations are limited by
the area of the farm. Experiments be-
gun by Prof w. J. Spillman are still
being carried on in wheat culture.
Eighty-five samples of wheat have
been collected, representing every
wheat-growing district in the state,
and every variety of wheat that is
grown. Great variations in the value
of different varieties of wheat and of
the same kind of wheat grown in diff
ferent localities have been found. For
instance they have samples of blue
stem wheat yielding all the w. rom
10 per cent. up to As per cent. of glu-
ten. They are carrying on expert
ments to ascertain what it is That
makes these differences and proceed
ing to select the best grains for pro-
pagation for seed. They are also de-
termining the feeding value of bran
and shorts from different samples of
wheat They have found variations
of from 10 per cent. to 1876 per cent
in the protein contained in the bran
from different wheats. Forage crops
and commercial feeding stuffs, insecti-
cides and fertilizing the soil are fruit
full subjects in which they are expert
menting I have not time to write
book. I merely mention these to show
you that the experiment. station is
very much alive.
Agriculture is the foundation of our
national prosperity. The live stock
husbandry overshadows all other
branches of agriculture. The veter1-
nary department is virtually at the
head of this industry. DR.. S. b. Mel
son. one of the "Old Guard" still oc-
cupies the chair at Pullman. He is
peer to any of the veterinarians in
the United States, and should have
what he asks for. The livestock de-
partment is seriously handicapped,
both in numbers of the stock and IA
cilities for handling the same, espec1-
ally the dairy division. The produc-
ton of sanitary milk is at present very
much in the 1imelight, and as an aid
to proper instruction the college should
have a modern dairy barn and herd
of dairy COWS large enough to make
the dairy interesting TO students. Inc
COWS need not all be pure bred TO
start with; in fact, as an OBJECT
lesson part of them should be grades
and if a few of them were Just cows,
such as the men milk VINO say dairy
in don't pay, nohow," so much the
better. 1t is opportunity for demon
stration the faculty needs. Enough
stock that they can enthuse over. L
spent some time with student who
was studying agriculture and his visit
full look and quiet remark, I'VE need
more stock, especially dairy cows" is
an appeal that should be granted They
have we'll equipped creamery, but
no milk to make it of consequence. The
dining halls on the campus will FUR
nish a profitable market for the pro-
duct of a large sized herd OF dairy
COWS. They also need more beef cat
tie, sheep and swine.
I was shown the stock of the Min
..A.o4n Anrin11ltnral C0llaPe. which is