The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1914-04-09
OAKOTA'S
FARMING NEED
is SUBJECT OF ARTICLE BY w. p.
kIRkWooD IN MINNEAP-
OILS JOURNAL
VACANCY IN S. D. S. c. PRESIDENCY
Affords a Great Opportunity For the
State-Agencies Now at Work
Need Strong Leadership

'NSSa StoUA GCdoCIoHIP
w. p. Kirkwood, country life editor
of the Minneapolis Journal, had the
following in a recent issue of that
paper:
The vacancy in the presidency of
the College Of Agriculture and Me-
chanic Arts at Brookings is the call
of a great opportunity to South Da-
kota.
Let the board Of regents of the insti-
tuition fill the place with a strong man
who possesses vision, persuasive yet
forceful initiatives, an executive abil-
ity that compels efficiency, and the
genius to organize an effective extern.
sion bureau that will carry instruction
and demonstration to every part of the
state,-let the board appoint such a
man, m it will put the common.
wealth on a cutoff route to a sound
and permanent prosperity. Let 1t do
the other thing-put in a man Of mar
row vision and inferior force, who has
not caught the spirit of the country
life movement Of today-and 1t will
just as surely postpone the day of such
prosperity. South Dakota's prosperity
depends wholly upon agriculture. The
man at the head of the College of Agri-
culture can direct the states agricul-
tural development. The job is, there
fore, the biggest in the states gift.
The responsibility upon the should
ers of the regents is, therefore, tire.
mendous. It calls for genuine states
manship, a devotion to the good Of all
the people above every personal inter-
est or relationship.
This is not at all to say that the Col
lege of Agriculture is not doing good
work at the present time. 1t is doing
much splendid work. But the effects
do not have the reach they might. The
work is lacking somewhat in unifca-
ton and much in driving power to
carry it to the greatest possible num-
Der of those who till the soil. More
over, it is hampered by lack of funds.
Again, it has not drawn to itself or CO.
ordinated with itself other highly valu-
able agencies that could be of vast
help in building up the states funda.
mental industry.
The thing greatly needed in South
Dakota is, then, direction and more
driving power, together with the cor
relation of every possible agency for a
better agriculture and a better coun-
try life with the logical head of such
man of persuasive and convincing per-
sonality, of executive ability of a high
order, of incisive agricultural training,
and of great vigor with the power to
project his activities to all parts of
the state-a man with all of these
qualifications will meet this need. Any
other kind of a man will fall short.
What could such a man do?
By unifying the agencies already at
work, he could awaken a new entbusi-
asm for agriculture throughout the
state. Recognizing the farm as the
basis of individual and state prosper
ity, through these agencies he could
start a crusade that would carry the
better farming movement far. Senti-
ment is already literally ripe for such
a crusade. 1t only needs a strong man
to gather the various forces together,
in order to put the thing yer.
Such a man, with an aroused people
back of him, could go before the legis-
lature and secure funds needed for
the intelligent prosecution of the work
rs a necessity in the service of the
whole people. He could, as the states
recognized leader in agriculture, show
that the Withholding of support would
mean the Withholding of prosperity
and the generalization of all Of the
states industries. Parsimmony here is
just as bad as trying to run an engine
with half enough fuel under the boil.
ers.
With a broader financial basis on
which to work, the college could be
better equipped for internal service.
The men now at work are hampered in
this respect.
More funds, too, would make posi-.
BILE the organization of an efficient ex.
tension bureau, which would make
the college as big as the state itself.
In such work South Dakota Is tagging
far behind its neighboring states. Elk.
tension work Is recognized today as