The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1912-08-16
The CALL FOR THE SKILFUL
INCORPORATING THE
POST GRADUATE.

dustrial training at Tuskegee Insti-
tute. / In no calling is this special
training in higher demand than in
agriculture, and in no school, certain
ly no Negro school, are the facilities
so ample to meet this demand as at
Trskegee Institute. There is the lab
oratory with its appliances and ap-
paratus suited to the experimental
study of farming-to' the study of
seeds, seed termination, chemistry of
soils and the composition and i'm
portance Of var Gus kinds of fertili-
ger The best Negro teachers avail
able, teachers who understand the
colored student and teachers who can
also grow the product, conduct these
classes and experiments. On the
other hand there is the farm with
its 2400 acres of farm land, 1000 Of
which is under cultivation, to test
and apply the theories developed in
the laboratories.
| This combination of theory and
/ practice exists not only on the gen.
eral farm but in the special branches
Of farming as we'll Over all farm
ing industries there is one man
known as the Director of Agriculture.
Under him there is a head for each
division. Thus there is one man
who instructs in, and has charge Of,
pig raising, and he actually raises
pigs. There is another who has
charge of butter-making and the
selling of milk-while actually max
ing butter and supplying market
himself. There is a third who gives
instruction in truck farming, while
he himself is raising and handling
produce for 1000 people about Tus-
kegee Institute. 1t thus happens
that no student could take a course
in agriculture and go away a mere
theorist or a mere farm laborer.
Rather he gees away with skill in
all the various lines of his work.
The story of this years peach crop
at Tuskegee Institute will illustrate
in detail this system Of agricultural
training. In the orchard there were
several students specializing in fruit
growing. " OF course they were
taught in a practical way how to
grow other fruits than peaches, but
as peaches called for the biggest har-
vesting they will be taken. To be-
gin with the school bought 1000
peach schrubs and set them out on
land that was good for little else,
but excellent for peach growing. It
taught the student how to set out a
peach tree how deep to dig. when
to dynamite hole and why, what
vegetables could be grown in the or
chard and why, when the growing
Of any other product in the orchard
should cease and why. At the same
time there was a vast orchard over
there bringing forth peaches. What
was to be done here and why. There
was smudging to be done if the
weather was cold; there was the
making of solutions for spraying the
trees. Moreover there was spraying
for different purposes and at differ
cnt times of the year, each requiring
different solutions. There was one
kind Of spraying for San Jose Scale,
another kind for insects, and still
another kind for worms. All the
theories Of spraying peaches were
learned, and then applied right there
on the trees.
Then came the peach harvest
Given a large peach crop, how shall
the student save it9 The first prob
lem was that OF labor. Persons we're
hired to pick by the bushel, but it
was found that they raked anything
off the tree to fill up the measure.
Thus they ruined the harvest Then
these same persons were hired by the
day, but an average number of
bushels was determined upon and re-
Quired Of each picker If a work
man fell below the average for any
length of time he was locked 1t
was found, too, thatvery small boys
and girls can pick peaches, thus saw
ing the heavy workmen for other
tasks
Another problem they learned to
handle was that Of marketing. What
will man do when his products
overrun the local markets? Break
into other markets. N How, and at
what gain? All this '>e young fruit
grower learned this " by actually
doing, for this was the = uation that
confronted the fruit-growfng division
at Tuskegee Institute. Thus the
student fruit grower learned how to
: plant. harvest, pack and ship his
fruit, meeting in a practical way
every problem he would meet in act
ual life
The incident in the fruit growing
division is typical as showing the
kind of training the Negro agricultu
ralist receives. He meets this same
happy combination Of theory and
practice in farming, truck gardening
= market gardening, care and manage
ment of horses and mules, dairy hus
bandry dairying, swine raising,
: beef production and slaughtering,
canning and veterinary science.
To meet the demand for the stu
dent trained in agriculture Tuskegee
: Institute offered several alluring ad
vantages. 1t will be noticed that in
all cases the agricultural student
, must work, must do actual and prof
) table work For this work the In
stitute gave him certain advantages
In the first place all other students
on entering school pay $40 entrance
fee; the post graduate agricultural
student has this sum omitted. AL
: other students pay $40 per month
for board, part of which they may
work out The post graduate agrl
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