The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-11-02
INTENSE INTEREST
At EVERY POINT
ON THE ITINERARY
Specialists From the State De-
partment Greeted by Repre-
sentative Audiences of Sub.
stantial Farmers.
Tour Made Possible Through
the Cooperation of the Old
Dominion Steamship Com
pany---Social Features Re-
lieved Tedium of the Journey.
BY r. w. VINCENT.

BY II. w. VINCENT.
The representative audiences Of
farmers which greeted the specialists
OF the State agricultural department;
the calibre of the institute tour Of th9
Tidewater, which closed last week: the
calibre of the men who composed the
audiences and the close interest
evlnced In the discussions and demon
strations is ample evidence 10 the lay
man that this institute work Is doing
q great deal to promote agriculture.
| I wish the skeptics---if any there
be--couid have witnessed the earnest
ness OF purpose of the lecturers and
the interest given them by their
hearers. They were representative
men, these farmers--weu dressed
and prosperous looking and the sub
stantial agriculturalists at their re-
epective communities. Some Of them
had taken courses in agricultural col
ieges and have applied their knawl-
edge to good effect, as the questions
&saa.-:.Ts.a- at-taa- LECTURERS LetLAxEd-
The others have had the benefit of
previous Institutes and have taken
advantage too, Of the help the State
agricultural department Is always
ready To extend. and all of them
showed that they arc keeping abreast
OF the times Ia the employment Of
mDUeFn EnetB0GS.
Representative Audiences.
The institutes lasted from three to
four hours and we're attended by from
one TO two hundred farmers at each
point and this is "A good audience
when one remembers that most # the
Underwater farms are large and these
farmers represented large territory,
some Of them driving many miles to
hear the lectures. Many OF them
were wealthy farmers who have made
successes, but these did not scorn to
ask questions In an effort To gain
more knowledge. Some were med
with note books 10 take down salient
points and figures they wished 10 ap-
ply ii was ample evidence Of the
value of the work and the apprecia-
ton OF the farmers
| wish all the members OF the gen
erat assembly, who have been so par
e!monious with the department of
agriculture, could have gone on this
tour. ePrhaps they would be more
inclined to loosen up on the purse
strings this winter. When one con-
sders the fact that North Cardinals
legislature last session appropriated
s23o 600 for Its department and the
Virginia department II run entirely
from the sale Of fertilizer tags. and
then compares The agricultural pro-
Fress Of the two States one wonders.
But Of that more anon.
Had Good Team.
The boat institute tour this year
embraced three OF the brightest
agricultural specialists in the State,
Professor Lyman Carrier, OF the Nir-
Finia PoIytechnic institute al Blacks
burg: Professor T. c. johnson, of the
Norfolk truck experiment station, and
Professor A. +. Howard, of the dairy
and food division OF the department
men who are thoroughly versed In the
subjects they discuss and have the
happy faculty of being able 10 impart
II succinctly and clearly to others.
Director Of Institutes OHM j. owen
was IN charge OF the tour. greeted the
audiences and introduced the speak
ers Director Owen. while he Is an
ail-around farmer, makes speciality
III tobacco and the only thing they
know about tobacco in the Tldewater
Is how TO smoke and chew Il,
Lit was a mighty good team. Pro-
fessor Carrier probably knows more
about corn than any man In Virginia,
and he gave the farmers one Of the
ciearest and most comprehensive talks
On the selection OF seed corn and It's
rare and culture n man could wish
10 hear. He demonstrated with charts
and almost perfect ears of seed corn
GdffieH Tor tnt pun POSE tpAN$sbi
Johnson followed him with his lecture
ON the rotationeof crops and fertilizers
--devottng himself principally to the
truck ing crops, IN which the Tide
water section Is interested, Professor
Johnson Is now completing a most
valuable and important treatise on the
subject OF fertilizers, which will
shortly be ready for the press and will
be issued by the station IN bulletin
form 1t Is complete compendium
and guide. verified by long experiment
ut the station OF the amount and kind
of fertilizer to be used for certain
.rops: the chemical composition OF
these compounds and directions for
eompounding the ingredients TO secure
the best results. etc. 1t will be OF
Anestimablc value to the truckers
Common Sense Dairying.
Professor Towards discourse on the
subject Of dnirying Is one OF the best
the most Convincing ever heard.
He has made n thorough study OF the
subject in all its phases and knows to
present it simply and forcefully. To
me the most striking point Is the FAC.
he clearly brought out that IL a
farmer sells $685. worth OF crop corn
from his land no robs the soil of one
dollars worth of fertility, by keep
Ing dairy cows he could return that
/ fertility to the soil and make 700
!. pounds of butter---worth, say, $2l0--
before exhausting the dollars worth
Mof fertility. In the Industries Of Ash
Il Ing and trucking In the Tidewater