8 Report of the President. 



presenting in detail the immediate and pressing needs of these Colleges 

 with a forecast of the buildings required within the next ten years as 

 indicated by the present rate of growth. From that plan as printed and 

 presented to the Legislature I quote the following paragraphs as per- 

 tinent to this report : 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 



"Agriculture has never attracted or needed so much attention as now. 

 The United States has been considered the granary of the world, and 

 since the colonial period agricultural products have been among our most 

 extensive and valuable exports. Conditions are now rapidly changing. 

 Nearly all of the available government western lands have been brought 

 under cultivation. They have increased in value till they have exceeded 

 those of the East. 



" Our total production is greater than ever, but with the increase in 

 consumption agricultural exports have decreased, and our annual con- 

 sumption is approaching our production. With most of our readily avail- 

 able lands under cultivation and our population increasing at the rate of 

 one and one-half millions a year, we are facing new and grave problems. 



" The solution is to increase the production by tilling new areas, and 

 especially by increasing production on the unit area. This is conditioned 

 on knowledge of facts and the ability to use them. All experience in 

 agriculture points to practical education as the solution of the problem. 

 For many years New York was the foremost agricultural State, but it 

 has gradually fallen to fourth place. It is, however, beginning to move 

 forward again. Its best agricultural lands are rising in value, and its 

 poorer and waste lands must be utilized and brought into production. To 

 develop the agriculture of the State the land must be worked by trained 

 farmers. Limited supply, greater demand and better prices for farm 

 products, and the reawakened appreciation of the importance of agri- 

 culture have greatly increased the interest which is everywhere exhibited. 



" In this forward movement, the State College of Agriculture and the 

 State Veterinary College are the institutions about which in the main the 

 agricultural interests of the State naturally center. The State depends 

 upon them to direct and shape the policy of general agricultural and 

 veterinary education, to furnish the needed training for country life to 

 the young men and women, and to spread the knowledge of improved 

 agricultural methods broadcast among the farmers. The influence of 

 these Colleges in improving the agriculture of the State has been great. 

 The demands on them in the future will be vastly greater, and if they 

 are to maintain their standards of efficiency and service they must be 

 liberally supported, and their facilities increased. 



