The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1922-11-17
What Agricultural Education Means
to the State and to the Individual p

Excerpts from a radio address de-
livered Nov. 8, 1922, by Dean f. B.
Mumford of the Missouri College of
Agriculture. Broadcasted to the peo-
pie of Missouri by the Kansas City
Starr
"The University of Missouri be-
lseVSca0hat the young man who is to
manage good Missouri farm in the
next generation must have as
thorough training and as complete an
education as the engineer, the lawyer,
the teacher or the preacher. 1t has
therefore provided the College of Ag-
riculture, the chief function of which
is to train young men and women for
successful farming and country liv-
ing.
knowledge has always been one Of
the essential factors in the equipment
of the farmer, but it is far more I'M
portant in the Twentieth Century
than it was in the eighteenth OF nine
teenth centuries. When land of viz
gin fertility was practically free for
the asking, pioneer methods of farm
ing were successful. Ii the soil be-
came exhausted, and unproductive
under such methods, the farmer had
only to move to a new and virgin soil.
But now there is 10 more free land.
Al, the fertile soil has been enclosed
i'll farms.
"The problem of agriculture today
must be solved on the farms now oc-
cupied, The present day farmer ha3
very much more difficult task than
the farmer of the last century. The
lard is generally less productive. It's
value has increased 80 to 100-fold.
Every item of cost in production has
increased similarly. Great animal
sccurges such as foot and mouth dis
ease, hog cholera and tuberculosis de-
stroy farm animals. Boil weevil, cod
ling moth, corn borer, corn root rot,
corn ear worm and hundred other
insect pests and fungus diseases de-
stroy farm and fruit crops. These
pests are perennial, constant and in
escapable; but they can all be con-
trolled If the farmer knows how. The
colleges of agriculture have developed
methods Of treatment for these de-
structive enemies and have thereby
added millions of dollars to the an
nual incomes of American farmers.
Knowledge, therefore, has come to be
far more important. The College Of
Agriculture is organized to give this
knowledge to young men enrolled in
the institution and to prepare them to
meet these modern conditions.
"But the College of Agriculture
through the Experiment Station Gre
ates new knowledge. 1t is continu-
ously at work and constantly adding
to our knowledge of plants and ami
mails. The results of these investiga-
tions are made Immediately available
to farmers through the bulletins of
the Experiment Station and through
the Agricultural Extension Service.
In very real sense the caLapus of
the College Of Agriculture is the en-
tire area of the State of Missouri.
"There is no longer any argument
as to the value of an agricultural ed
ucation to the individual. II has a
great money value to the person ac-
quiring it.
"But agricultural education has all
so profound significance to the state
and nation. The soil is the greatest
natural resource. It. is the only nat
ural resource, executing only water
over, which is, or through education
may be made, inexhaustible. Agri-
culture as in industry may be made
o provide adequately throughout the
on1ing generations for the food and
lothing OF great nation From the
standpoint of human existence, agri-
.ulture and the industries based upon
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