280 BOARD OF AGEICULTUfeii. 



The first expression has come to us within a few days in the person of 

 a young lady from another county who proposes to enter the agricultural 

 course at Purdue this coming September. We would lil^e to have several 

 others to enter that course this fall. Do you know of anything better for 

 a young lady than what Mrs. Meredith has suggested this evening? Isn't 

 it a good thing for the country to have young ladies trained in that re- 

 spect? Do you know what is being done in the State of Washington, in 

 the State of Michigan, in the State of Ohio, in the State of Illinois, in 

 the State of Kansas, in the State of Iowa, in South Dakota and away 

 up as far away as Washington, and in other places, in the line of such 

 education in connection with agricultural colleges? Do you know that 

 your own State is away behind, is away at the rear of the procession in 

 that respect? Some ladies would say, what is the matter with your Pur- 

 due? The facilities are equal there. Purdue has been struggling along 

 pitifully during years gone by. There has been a demand for expenditure 

 of two dollars for every dollar of money, when we have only one dollar to 

 expend; consequently when the boys, the farmer boys who have come 

 there demanding this and the other, giving emphasis to that demand by 

 their presence, we have been compelled to do this and that and the other 

 in the line that they desired done; we have done the best we could for 

 them, and said, "If you will come, we will see that your wants are sup- 

 plied, as best we can." I believe with all my heart and soul in this kind 

 of education, and I heartily thank Mrs. Meredith for those words. It 

 must come sometime in the future; when, I don't know, but I do believe 

 that we shall solve in a large measure the problem of education for the 

 boy and girl of the farm who expect to spend their lives on the farm. If 

 the girl is trained so that the home is an ideal place for him, the home 

 will be happy and both will be contented. If the girl is looking elsewhere, 

 the boy will look elsewhere, too. People will tell you there are not many 

 who can get this kind of an education at college; but do you know that 

 there are thousands of young women in Indiana at college taking other 

 kinds of training, training not in this line at all, because this kind of 

 training is not being given. Do you believe the women of Indiana ought 

 to have it in Indiana as well as in Michigan? They have over one hundred 

 in Michigan, and have only been at work about three years. What does 

 that mean? What will be the future of our farm homes if our daughters 

 are looking elsewhere and our sons are looking elsewhere? What are 

 our future homes in Indiana? It is a question I feel too strongly upon 

 to speak as I would like to in this spontaneous way. Don't go home with 

 the impression that we are fishing for some inkling of a demand in this 

 line. We propose to take this one girl, even though there are no others 

 who come there for that purpose, and do what we can for her, in the 

 hope that she may inspire other girls to come and do likewise. It is a 

 good thing. 



