Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-02-17

Few better examples of the way
in which man may rise TO promi-
nence in Pennsylvania by using the
talents given him are to be found
than in the career of Norman B.
Critchfield, for a dozen of years State
Secretary of Agriculture, who was
buried here today. DIR. Critchfield
died Thursday beyond the patriar-
chial age of eighty and his body
will be taken in the spring to his
native town of Mount Pleasant. In
timately connected with the State
government for many years and the
representative of Somerset county in
the Senate, DIR. Critchfield was one
of the men who liked Harrisburg so
we'll that he made it his winter
home in his declining years. He was
"a great admirer of this city, it's To-
cation, its progressiveness% and in
spite of his age had walked over
most of it.
+ 1t is not generally known that it
was DR.. Critchfield who helped wake
UP people to the fact that Pennsyl-
vania with it's coal and iron and
oil production was in reality a great
agricultural state and that it could
do more, which was demonstrated
during the war just ending. He was
a great student of figures and was
impressed with the possibilities of
Pennsylvania. Years ago after he
had made speeches about it, he
found some. Washington figures one
day which did not seem right. He
conducted his own inquiry and then
put out statement that jolted fed
eral complacency and advanced the
keystone State several pegs in the
agricultural line.t And it has gone
up since.
While he was secretary he was
always working on ideas to make the
department of better service or
as he put it, to have it 'at the call
of the farmer" He injected ginger
into the farmers institutes by going
to some unannounced and joining in
the discussions to the confusion of
the lecturers, occasionally, but to
the edification of the farmers. "Get
them telling their troubles, maybe
we have a prescription around" was
his advice. With his deputy, A. L.
Martin, he worked out the plan for
farm advisors, or travelling experts,
who have been of such vast benefit
and a couple of times he turned up
at farms along with experts.
Perhaps the most notable innova-
ton Mr.. Critchfield made in his de-
partment was in the use of pictures.
I'm going to grow corn with a
camera" he said to some callers
one day and when they had settled
down again he announced that he
was going to have photographs of
the tallest and best corn taken and
sent around to institutes in a NOV
ing picture machine. He started
several Controversies about big
corn. but as he remarked later, .I
got them growing and watching
what they were growing"
Governor Samuel w. Penny
packer, who first appointed DR..
Critchfield, was a great walker, but
met his match in the man from
Somerset. They did not agree about
agricultural propositions sometimes
and incidentally, Mr.. Critchfield
made some experiments and demon
strated that the Sage of Schwenks-
Vile was wrong. But that is an
other matter. When the first Sur
face controversy ragged Judge Penny
hacker sent for DIR. Critchfield one
day and suggested that they make
n personal inquiry. And he walked
the secretary clear over to Camp
Hill or beyond. The result of the
investigation was that there was
nothing more doing about Surface.
But the walking was rough. Not
long after Dr.. Critchfield asked the
Governor If he would like to take
a walk. There was nothing that
the executive liked better, as his
strolls through Wetzel's swamp and
other places are recalled. DIR. Critch-
field took him out Chambers Hill
road and over. around back of
Rutherford. 1t was a warm day
and the pair trudged along until
they struck a lane which led to the
Hummelstown trolley line and the
Governor suggested that they ride
home. The secretary said after
wards that they were never very far
away fron4~trolley cars at any time,
but the Governor never knew it and
took his medicine.
DIR. Critchfield was born on July
90, 1888, and his life is unique