PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURAX, EDUCATION. 363 



After an interval of several years the breeding classes for swine 

 were reestablished this year. Prizes were obtained by the Iowa 

 collee-e and the Ohio State and Purdue Universities. In the dressed- 

 swine contest the prize went to a Poland China, which dressed 87.42 

 per cent, the Iowa college winning third on a Duroc Jersey that 

 dressed 86.27 per cent. The Ohio State University had the only 

 exhibit of fat, large Yorkshires, and showed three barrows of the 

 curly coated Lincolnshire breed — the first brought to this country. 

 Two of these were slaughtered and dressed 77.8 and 77.11 per cent, 

 respectively. The Iowa Station showed a number of pens of swine 

 that had been used in experimental work which illustrated the effect 

 of feeding different rations. 



In the special classes for college and station stock, Kansas won 

 first on 2-year-olds, followed by Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio ; and also 

 first on yearlings, with Nebraska second, Iowa third, and Minnesota 

 fourth. On calves Missouri won first and third, with Kansas second, 

 and Iowa fourth; and the championship for a single animal and a 

 pen of five went to Kansas. 



One very important influence of the International has been in 

 connection with the agricultural colleges, especially of the central 

 West. These institutions have been conspicuous in the show ring and 

 on the list of judges. Their success in training and supplying expert 

 judges and in feeding animals for exhibition has revealed their prac- 

 tical character and the practical value of their courses. 



The International has been a common meeting ground for practical 

 stockmen and the alleged theorists of the agricultural colleges. It 

 has been a potent agency in popularizing the colleges and winning 

 the respect and confidence of practical men. At first practical breed- 

 ers and feeders were skeptical, and held that the professors of agi-i- 

 culture could theorize but were unable to put their theories into prac- 

 tice. It was time for the professor of agriculture to show what he 

 could do, and he has " made good." He has gone into the open 

 market, bought, bred, fed, and fitted for the show animals that have 

 not only won prizes but championships and grand championships 

 year after year. A leading stock paper, in speaking of the last 

 show, says : 



The agricultural college is fairly dominant in the meat-making sections. They 

 ])ractice what they preach. * * * Facing the achievements of the past few- 

 years in the International arena, no critic raises a note against the practical 

 ability of the college force in the breeding and feeding of meat-making animals. 

 This fact alone is worth all the International has cost, as it establishes on 

 impregnable foundations an agricultural education as expounded at the land- 

 grant colleges. 



That the educational value of the International is appreciated by 

 the colleges is attested by the attendance of both teachers and students 



