The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1912-02-16
WHAT is FARM MANAGEMENTp

Address by Mr.. Byron Hunter befo
the Wheat Growers conventio
Pullman, WASH, Jan. "a. 1912.
Farm management is compar
lively new phase of agricultur
science. To treat the subject fully
a single address is entirely out
the question. Hence it will be DO
sible here to consider only few {
the more fundamental points.
must be remembered also that whs
IS said here pertains only to far1
management as it is being develope
In the U. s. department of agricu]
ture.
The office of farm management
grew out of the old division of agro
stology. now known as the office o
grass and forage crop investigation
The aim at the very outset was te
study farm methods and farm expert.
ence. 1t was believed then that many
farm problems have been solved in
satisfactory and practical way by
the more progressive farmers them
selves. This study early proved a
very fruitful source OF information
and 1t was soon learned that the
farmer has many other problems in
addition to those of growing crops
and handling livestock, problems
which are difficult to solve and which
are not being discussed by the agri-
cultural papers or in the bulletins of
the state experiment stations of the
U. 8. department of agriculture.
The office of farm management has
undergone considerable modification
and evolution since it's organization
some six years ago. AS the various
lines OF work develop and farm prob
lens present themselves, the view
point and methods of investigation
change, The process by which this
line OF investigation has developed is
concisely set forth by Mr.. Spillman in
the Country Gentleman of Nov, 25th.
as follows:
Agricultural science had it's incep-
ton in the work of the chemist. the
Dotanlst and the devotees of other
or primary sciences.
These men viewed agriculture from
their laboratories, and hence looked
at the farm from the outside. They
saw only that agriculture involved
certain elements of their particular
sciences, and became interested in
farming only in so far as it had to do
Win these sciences. First, the bot
mist discovered that plants draw 1
'art OF their sustenance from the soil |
Ehen the chemist said. If plants e
raw food from the soil, we, by ana t
wing the plant and the soil. can n
rescribe fertilizers for the farmer C
USE Upon this assumption, which e
re now know to be true only within Ii
extremely narrow limits, half a CEN 7
Try of soil chemistry was based o
With the advent of agricultural is
experiment. stations came a new type g.
agricultural scientist. The older &C
'pe were followers of the more fun st
sciences; the new devel- TT
'ed a series of secondary sciences, of
'ch OF which was in certain sense or
application of the principles of be
On sciences as chemistry, physics,
ceramics, botany, zoology and phys liz
ogy to some branch of agriculture. wi
now have the agronomist, who liv
ais with the problem of growing an
Dps; the animal husbandry man. be
10 studies animal production; plant pa
q animal breeders, who apply the is
nciples of breeding and selection to ha
Improvement of farm crops and
m animals; and long list of 9TH Diet
specialists, all of whom are trying chi
answer the question Howl in it
ne branch of agricultural industry. the
endid results have followed the in 7
legations of these men, and agri- ere
ture has received marked stimu- facj
Farm animals are better bred and
more intelligently fed than for 7
'ly; the yield of farm crops has do ,
increased. Farmers everywhere ing
more prosperous. cert
The New Agricultural Scientist six
But even these men sometimes men
a laboratory view of farming. 800
If insight was into the principles each
methods used in some DEPART SYST
t of agricultural production and vest
ed mainly to the production of a i. is
er yield to the acre, more meat to 1 60.
pound of feed and better quality Of +,
roduct would not in the least sam.
mize their work. it is fundament- tho
important. l wish only to call Of +.
ltlon to the fact that thew also +bo ,