Middletown transcript., 1911-08-19
ANSWERS CRITICISM

EDITOR MIDDLEToWN TRANsCRIPT-My
attention has beencalled to your editorial
ia recent issue in the "TRANscRIPr."
As the editorial you reprint from the
American Agriculturist gs well as your
own comments are criticisms Of an in
sitution supported BY public funds, and
one in which every citizen should be
personally interested, your readers have
right to presentation Of the other side
in order that they may judge Alright
whether or not the criticism ia Just.
II is only fair that constituents Of the
College who are so loyalty supporting il,
should know that the motive that
prompted the attack upon the .Agricul-
tural Department is one Of personal spite
on the part Of the editor, Of which the
writer was warned some months ago, and
not because of any desire on his part to
render a service to this commonwealth.
Il was the purpose Of the editorial to
deceive the people Of Delaware by mis-
representation and misinterpretati0n OF
the facts If not, they would have been
used with more discretion and accuracy.
In the fir I paragraph Of the American
Agricuturist, the writer seems much i'm
pressed that but seventeen students
registered in the Agricultural courses last
year and boldly states that there should
have been from 170 to $40 instead.
There is no reason for expecting that
twice as many young men Ia proportion to
the white population, should be attracted
to the Agricultural course 10 Delaware as
are attracted to these courses in the
neighboring states of Maryland, Pennsyl-
vania or New Jersey. According to the
recent catalogs Of the Land Grant Colleges
ii these states and published csnsu 9
figures, Delaware has proportionally
more students in the Agricultural depart
ment of her State College than any of the
neighboriDg commonwealth.
The editor OF the American Agricultural
ist feels called upon to criticise the agricul-
tural faculty Of Delaware College. Urges
them to go to work, etc. Perhaps be
has been so busy finding fault with
others on general principles that be does
not know just what the agricultural
faculty has accomplished during the past
four years. For his information, it may
be said that when the present faculty
came to Delaware College four years ago,
it found but single student in Agricul-
ture, and practically no equipment for
teaching the subject. At the present
time, the equipment in this department
compares favorabIy with most State
Colleges, and the students in Agriculture
have increased more than 100 per cent,
a greater gain than hes been made By any
other institution 10 the same length of
time.
No state has supported the Agricultural
Department Of its College more lovally |
than Delaware and with the results in
hand, the trustees do not feel that they
have any apologies to make for its pres
ent condition. It should be borne in |
mind, however, that the value OF the |
department to it's constituency is not
measured by the number Of students
taking its prescribed Agricultural courses.
It is tru5 now, and probably shall always |
be true, that Tor every student that is in
structed in the College from thirty to
fifty men and woman engaged in actual
farming are materially assisted by cor.
respondence, lectures, or by personal
contact. This applies with greater force
perhaps in this state with its small
number OF farms ard ease OF accessibility
than in any other.
The watchword OF the Agricultural
department in Delaware College is
"Public Service" 1t has no excuses to
make, no secrets to hide, nothing that il
not open and above board. The depart
ment is anxious to serve the people and
to do its share to make Delaware the
best state of all states in which to live
and work. H. HAYWARD
Dean of the Dept. Of Agriculture