212 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Hoc. 



A NKCKSSITY OF A BKTTKR PRKPARATION 



FOR FARM WORK. 



By Phof. G. C. Watson, Sfdfe CoUe<ie, Pa. 



Since the earliest time of which we have any written history of 

 Agriculture, attempts have been made to improve the conditions of 

 the husbandman through the improvement of the materials with 

 which he has to deal. It is probable that attempts were made to im- 

 prove the condition of the husbandman much earlier than any time of 

 which we have record. In the light of modern times these attempts 

 undoubted!}' would appear insignificant, but the mere fact that these 

 attempts were made at this early date, and ihat similar attempts 

 have been made continually until the present time, should teach us 

 that the efforts which we are now putting forth are only a continua- 

 tion of the great plan which our ancestors have followed for cen- 

 turies of time. We sometimes take much credit to ourselves for the 

 progress that we have made and oftentimes overestimate the results 

 which we obtain and underestimate the value of the work of others 

 who endeavored to make improvements throughout the earlier years 

 of agricultural advancement. Pioneer work is hard work and usually 

 is without commensurate results. Those who preceded us did much 

 to their credit which would have started us far in advance of our 

 actual beginning if we could have made the best use of all that had 

 been gained. In the past, actual progress has been slow and has been 

 marked by series of advances and retrogressions. Great gains have 

 been made only to be lost again. The fact that apparently unneces- 

 sary losses have occurred and are now occurring, through the lack 

 of a better knowledge of the materials with which the agriculturist 

 deals presented to the writer the theme for this paper. 



It is probably as true to-day as at any time in the past, that note- 

 worthy advances are being made along various lines of agricultural 

 work and that the advantages thus gained by the promoters or im- 

 provers are being rapidly dissipated by the uninformed who attempt 

 to take charge of the improvement but Avho do not have sufficient 

 knowledge to make the best of their opportunities. 



It is recognized that, for generations, the foremost manipulators 

 have erected worthy monuments for themselves in the shape of valu- 



