The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-10-23
N. D. Agricultural College

great army of Industrial workers shall
be properly trained, but the main goal
Of education should be toward fitting
the common man for life. rather than
the uncommon man for leadership.
There has been in the past and there
may be i'm the future too much emr
phasis laid on scholarship as an end.
1t lis but the beginning, and for the
great part Of humanity, 1t must be
limited. All the more necessary is 10
then. that 1t be free. as far as possible
from the unattaina'ble and imprac-
ticable.
The purpose Of education, as So
cial asset OF the state, is two-fold--
to trains leaders, and no less to At
the great body Of the people for bet
ter Industrial and civic life. And the
call to leadership, which comes to but
few men, is no more honorable than is
the call to every day living that has
been touched with an inspiration tow
ard better and broader personal and
business and civic ideals. And con-
sidered fairly, the two are one; the
man who puts into his days work
the best and highest there is In him Is
in the real sense professional; while
the man of ideals, of ideas, of leader
ship calibre, VINO throws himself into
the work OF fitting others for a place
In the civic life. has melted profess
sionalism into the highest type OF
industry known to man.
Power Machinery Course Established.
Something of this thought has been
worked into the power machinery
course of three years, opened last
week 1t has the training of men for
the farm in mind. and it offers the
same advantages as to time, cost and
general advantages as does the farm
husbandry work One of its intensely
practical phases may be seen in the
traction engineering work. The state
OF North Dakota hires hundreds Of
men from other states during the fan
to handle its traction engines. In the
first year Of the power machinery
course there is a strong course of trac-
tion engineering and a young man
OF ability, with previous knowledge as
a fireman, may easily AT himself to a
point where he can run an engine
successfully the following season.
Mind you, 1t is not said that all men
will do this, but II can be done. The
equipment is there, the instructors
can do their part 1t remains to furnish
the man, and no one but the man him
self can do that. Some dozen or more
have registered for this course this
fall, and Professor Guinness looks for
ward to a steady, healthy growth along
this line of work. This may the more
naturally be expected when the great
expansion In the use Of motor power
on the farm is recalled. The automo-
bile, the gas engine, the steamer, are
all coming more and more into use.
The farm is becoming a workshop; the
tools of the farm are tools Of great
and intricate manufacturing plant; in
every way-1nancial, social, intellec-
tual--farming ranks with the great
professions.
Draining and Experiment Station.
The north half OF the section be-
longing to the North Dakota expert
mont station lies low, dishing toward
the north center. On the west is q
slough, lower than the lowest of the
land on the farm. but separated from
IL by a ridge of land bordering the
slough. Steps have been taken recent
ly to drain this land In the most
manner, and the plan finally
laid before the board Of trustees was
to provide for open bitches, with slop-
ing sides, SO that they can be crossed
by teams, draining the water from
east and west toward the center and
it through central ditch to
the north road. and along the road
a cut into the slough men,
toned. This plan of draining will
be far less costly than tile, and there
was some question whether tile might
not fill up, as high water in the
sloug backs up at times well toward
the level Of the lower parts Of the
farm,
Comparative Cost.
A thorough system Of tile drainage
would cost somewhere from $4,000 to
1000, but would be good for the
next 100 years, If properly laid. This
liz an initial charge on the land of
something like $50 an acre, and the
average farmer cannot afford to put
that much onto his farm. Another
point Is that such system would re-
quire large amount or hired labor
to do the work of laying the drainage
system. The plan adopted, while IL
will cost as much i'm the end, can be
put through for a present outlay OF
some $1,000, much of which can be
done by the farm teams after fall
blowing lis over. The open bitches
will grow UP to seeds, and will re-
quire scraping each year. This main
tenance cost will be a heavy item.
year after year, and so the statement
made above. that the open ditch will
cost probably as much as the tile
drain, viii doubtless hold true.
And Results.
The yield on this farm for the past
few years has ranged all the way from
good to practical failure. The re-
turns for one year will warrant the
carrying out OF the open ditch plan.
The earlier working season, the In
surance against drowning out, the
harvest time foods that have before
this destroyed the crop certainly
averted, all these factors make the
work desirable. Professor Slocum OF
the department Of engineering, has the
owl IN hne