Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-18
AGRICULTURAL
9SGduCatiOn
~ AID SUCCESSFUL EARRING
zZZsa | AKDRMM SoULE
A Decade IN Agricultural Education

, public sentiment TO true apprecia-
tion of what agricultural education rep
resented and what it might be expected
to accomplish with the lapse of time
was the first undertaking. To this end
two educational trains were operated
throughout the state. Every section
was brought in contact with the in
fiuence of the ideal which the college
represented. One hundred and fifty
thousand people visited the first train,
and three hundred and fifty thousand
the second Its approach to the COM
munity was the signal for the declara-
tion of holiday: city and county Of
ficials attended; the boards Of edVca-
ton closed the schools and brought the
uperintendents, teachers and boys and
girls. Representative farmers and
planters for miles around were in at
tendance. Speeches were made and
charts displayed by those accompany
ing the train, and bulletins of a vital
character distributed by the thousand.
The exhibit cars were the center of in
terest. and convinced many where ora
tory had failed. Doubters were dis
mayed and overwhelmed The college
was submerged with letters of inquiry
and requests for literature on every
conceivable subject. and thus the great
initial victory which every institution
must fight for public recognition was
won.
FORMULATING LEADERSHIP.
As result, a college without "A constIt-
uency and lacking a student body soon
developed a representative attendance,
and in the past nine years has enrolled
approximately 5000 students in it's long
and short courses. representing nearly
every county in the state. The increases
in the long courses has Appropriated
l65 per cent; and in the short courses,
236 per cent-figures which could not
have been attained if the institution
had not in some way established itself
in the affections of the people Remem-
Der also that 46 per cent Of our popula-
ton is colored, and that these figures
would have been more than doubled but
for that fact
In this connection, it seems appropri-
ate to inquire what a trained agricult-
urist is worth Satisfies show that
the earning power of every man enter
ing the university is increased by about
S2O'a day for every day of the four years
he is ordinarily in college, or to the ex-
tent of $4,000 for his life farming pc
riod. These figures are based, of course,
on his public school training providing a
life earning ability of $4,000, his high
school training of S4s,O 900, and his uni
versity training of $4,000. Georgia
has invested half a million dollars in
higher education in agriculture, and ac-
cOrding to these figures, is destined to
secure return from graduates and post
graduates alone of $4,000; from short
course men, based on one-twelfth the re-
turn from q college course, S3,472, 900, or
a grand total of $5,392,OOO. No line
of human activity is more likely to give
returns equivalent TO these figures than
agriculture the least understood, ~appre-
ciated. or scientifically correlated of our
vocations. In fact. what investment
can a state hope to make which will pay
so large a dividend as the training of
her youth to participate with efficiency
in her basic agricultural industries?
Thus, the formations for initial lead
ership have been established. for Geor-
gia has been fortunate in returning
within her own borders practically every
man who has ever attended a course Mt
the college of agriculture, and the great
majority of the small but loyal and eff
hcient body of alumni are now working
for the state in some capacity. From
this 1t should not be gathered that the
policy of the trustees has been narrow.
for our faculty is truly COSMOPOLITAN,
and good men are eagerly sought for and
gladly employed if they are believed to
possess merit and capacity Personally.
feel that the very cosmopolitan nature
of our faculty has been a factor Of great
Importance in achieving any success
worth recording
TREATMENT OF DISTEMPER IN