The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-01-24

stitute in Illinois and by the farmers
organizations there generally; also b,
the Minneapolis-St. Paul Conferenc,
mittee in this state.
{; Cooperation With Bankers
| With the cooperation of bankers
and farmers and school men, 1t would
seem we have reason to expect some
such measure will be enacted. Po-
| litically it would seem that when the
annual appropriation of $250,000 fol
the ten southern states comes up fol
considerable this year in congress
there should be little difficulty in
having a work demonstrated by
years trial to be so wonderfully sue
cessful in the south extended to the
other states. President Taft is quot
ed as saying recently in his speech
at Kansas, City that he favored hav-
ing a field demonstrator in every
county in the United States, 5000
in all.
But while we are waiting for such
a law to be enacted, there are many
things we can do at once. You will
note nearly all the work contemplated
is to be done through the state COL
Bankers Committee is already in
touch with the state college, urging
practical work and carrying their
knowledge to the people. You have
noticed a series of meetings already
announced for the Yakima valley.
The most successful agricultural
education work has been done by
Minnesota and Iowa. Two years ago
the Putnam Act was passed in Min
nesota appropriating $500 to every
high school to maintain agriculture,
cooking, sewing and manual training.
There are many conditions, one be-
ing that the school district appropri-
ate $3.50 for the same work. Today
there are 20 of these agricultural
high schools and Is consolidated ru-
raj schools. Gov. Eberhard says this
is the biggest problem in Minnesota
today. Next year he expects to have
Is consolidated rural schools. The
last five years, says Gov. Eberhard,
there has been growth of 100000 in
Minnesota, largely in the cities. Many
little farmer is selling out to the big
farmer, because he hasn't got suffi-
cient information how to run his
farm. The problem is to get the in
formation to the farmers and we
cannot get 1t to them in any way ex-
cept to give the youngsters the prop
er opportunity for an education and
establishing the consolidated school.
The time has come when the little
school house must go and the consol-
idated school take it's place.
A very important work that should
be done in this state at once is to
get the State College at Pullman, or
State Horticulturist Huntley to issue
frequent bulletins or letters covering
latest information on fruit pests,
sprays, pruning, tree planting with
suggestions when and how to spray.
In Minnesota the state college issues
bulletins twice a month and sends
them to the newspapers. They do not
mail them to the farmers for they
want the farmers to get the informa-
ton through their local papers which
are strong supporters and helpers of
the movement in Iowa and Minneso-
ia.
Value of Publicity
l have tried to get our local inspec-
tors to use the newspapers more, but
1 understand Prof. Huntley objects
fearing wrong Information may be
given. Prof. Huntley is intelligent
and a hard worker, but he misses the
main thing to my mind in not getting
his information to the people prompt
ly. Timely articles on how to plant,
how and when to spray would be of
great value for our many new or
chardists, and 1 am sure the papers
would be glad to help.
In Minnesota the agricultural col
lege has asked the governor to issue
seed corn proclamation the last two
years, declaring and proclaiming a
certain week for the selection Of
seed corn. The college has also is
sued a big poster on the same sub
ject and all the farm papers have
run a full page duplicate of. the pos
ter without charge, calling attention
to the proper time to select SEED
coIH IHey LINK III tnlS way the COL
lege reached at small expense rs per
cent of the farmers of the state.
We need the same thing in this
state as to the proper time to spray.
Many orchards were not sprayed at
the proper time last year and had
so per cent of wormy and stung APP
pies
In Iowa the college sent out 700
letters to the ministers of the state
and asked each minister to preach a
sermon on testing seed" Prof. Hol-
den states that some of the preach
ers got hot, but most of them at
cepted the proposition and preached
q sermon, and he further reports
that there were lots of audiences
that were awake for once during the
entire sermon"
Prof Holden further states that
an immense amount of good resulted
and it helped the ministers Many of
them went to organizing farmers
clubs, getting the farmers together to
study their own business and prob
lens. Prof. Holden says the biggest
problem we have is TO help the peo-
pie in things that concern them in
life. Let the minister help the boy
in the small things that concern him
and the boy will follow him to
church"