Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-20
DENY WASTE OF
RESOURCES BIG
AS ANNOUNCED
CONVENTION AT PORTLAND
DISCUSSES ADVANTAGES
ORATORS SPEAK HIGHLY OF
AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
Claim That Better Methods for Farm
Ing Are Necessary and That
Profitable Results Must
Be Shown
TBy Associated Press. ]

IA ORTLAND, Aug. l9'-opeohlhS e1t
the convention of the Association
l. of American Colleges and Expert
ment Stations today on Conservation
of Our Natural Resources" Prof l..
@. CARPENTER Of Fort Collins, Colo,
declared the waste at present Of ma
tural resources is not so great as 10
Justify the prominence Beneraiiy given
the subject.
He maintained there was consider
able misconception about the So
called unnecessary waste OF the ma
tural resources of the country and
thought conditions are not as edeplor-
able as painted.
The subject Of providing agricultural
training in schools of secondary grade
came UP again and was the issue OF
two papers, interesting especially be
cause of the antagonism of one speak
er's views to the other. The first was
the paper of Dean e. A. Burnett of
Nebraska, who said:
"rThe function of the land grant col
lege in promoting agriculture research
and higher education is well defined
and the lines of work fairly well es-
tablished. but, while we nearly all
agree regarding the obligation of the
college to promote secondary agrlcul-
tural education, we are not yet agreed
on the organization under which 1t
should develop.
Agricultural College Vital
Broadly speaking, the colleges of
agriculture have vital relation to all
those questions which make for agri-
cultural progress.
"In fact much of the present de-
mand for extension of agricultural
education comes of the success already
achieved by men who have had the
advantage of agricultural training and
have applied the teachings of agricul-
tural science to farm practice.
1T is granted agricultural colleges
serve but a few of the young men
and women of any state and that pri-
mary and secondary schools must fur
nish the only opportunity for the aver
age boy or girl to secure an educa-
ton The great mass of boys and
girls never attend college and the
present high school curricuums do
not articulate wei wl8n Agra. T. Il
colleges. The great need then, at the
present time, is an adequate educa-
tion in the secondary schools. There
are, he said, but two methods pro-
posed for the extension of agricultural
training to those schools. One is to
include it in the high school courses
and the other is to establish agricul-
tural schools with sufficiently diversi-
fed courses in strictly rural communi-
ties and give them. in addition to in
come by local taxation, support from
the state.'
Expense Too Great
The speaker was inclined to disap-
prove of the former plan because of the
expense attached and because where it
has been tried it has not been satisfac-
torily effective. On the other hand
q ttan A~id AL
has been tried its effectiveness has
been proved.
Dean Eugene Davenport of Illinois.
in replying to Dean Burnetts address,
said:
IF the agriculture colleges and ex-
pertinent stations have shown ANYTHING.
1t is that science can help the occu-
patton of farming and that agriculture
can be successfully taught Thev have
shown. too, incidentally, that Whether
the young man Is educated away from
or towards the farm depends upon the
kind of education he gets and the edu-
cational atmosphere of the school he at
tends.
This is the foundation for the de-
mand that agriculture be taught in
schools other than in one college in
each state, also that agriculture should
be taught as a secondary school sub
ject so as to reach the many who can
not go to college. Some would found
separate schools of secondary grade for
the express purposes of schooling far
mers' sons and daughters in farming
and the affairs of country life.
Should Aid Agriculture
"I would do no such thing, but
would insist that every high school that
has a country constituency should pIt
in department of agriculture and that
the boy who is to be a farmer or thinks
he is should devote fourth of his time
to that study. 1t is bad public policy
to educate people of different profess
sions separately The proper principle
is industrial courses in existing schools.
not separate system of agricultural
schools"
After Prof. Davenport had conclud-
ed. Dean A. B. Cordley of Oregon dis
cussed the question of how best the
agricultural college can serve the
farmer in solving rural problems
Prof. Cordley pointed out that soil
fertility is our greatest natural re-
source, the maintenance of which is
absolutely essential to our national
prosperity and life; that the whole
history of American agriculture is a
story of ruthless spoliation of this in
heritance; and that the time has come
to institute more thorough campaign
for better farming. He said in part:
Must Show Advantages
"It cannot be expected, however, that
better methods will prevail until it can
be shown that they are profitable. The
farmer can scarcely afford to be a
philanthropist. Therefore any reason
able expenditure by the state or ma
tional governments which will tend to
hasten the general adoption of such
methods should be considered as
wise, even a necessary investment. The
state experiment stations and the de-
partment of agriculture have accumu-
lated a vast storehouse of facts regard
ing agricultural science and practice
and much has been done to elevate
American agriculture
what is further needed is some
method of bringing together the facts
of agricultural science, welding them
together into a rational system, or
systems of farm practice, and actually
demonstrating their adaptability and
Continued on Page Two