AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION 



A. PLEA FOR CUBA 



B y J. T. CRAWLEY 



Director de la Estación Central Agronómica 



I had occasion sorae time ago to cali the attention of the 

 Provisional Goverment to the imperative necessity of protect- 

 ing Cuba against the importation of insect pests and plant 

 diseases, and expressing the belief that a few thousandsspent 

 in preventive measures now might be the means of saving 

 millions to the Island of Cuba in the future. 



The fact, in view of the experience of other civilized and 

 wide-awake countries, that the people of Cuba had not long 

 since demanded of the Government this protection that they 

 se greatly need was a matter of surprise. I propose in this 

 article to strike deeper, and if posible discover the reasons 

 why in matters so fundamental to the welfare of the whole 

 Island the people have been so apathetic. 



One of the first things that impresses a stranger coming 

 from the more intelligent of the American communities is 

 the lack of education in matters pertaining to agriculture, and 

 facilities for learning and applying the great fund of infor- 

 mation that is being gathered together byalmost all civilized 

 countries. Cuba is preeminently an agricultural country; 

 her past has been made possible only by her matchless na- 

 tural resources, and her future, whatever that may be, will 

 be inextricably woven with the history of her progress in 

 tilling thesoil and gathering the harvests. Thisseems trite, 



