42 Thtkd Annttal Report 



PRACTICAL PLANT BREEDING. 



BY TROF. F. W. RANK. 



The subject we have heard discussed to-night, I am sure, 

 has been very impressive to all of us. As I was listening to Mr. 

 Terry I went back to the time when I was a student in college. 

 He was at that time at the height of his potato industry ; he was 

 engaged by the Ohio State University to give three lectures on 

 potato growing. A few weeks ago at a meeting in New Hamp- 

 shire we had such men as Mr. Agee of Ohio and Professor Rice 

 of Cornell University, and for some reason or other I was on 

 the program to follow them. After listening to them I wondered 

 what there was left for me to say. Mr. Agee had the same 

 subject as Mr. Terry here to-day, — that of soil fertility. He 

 handled the subject along the same lines as we have heard here, 

 only under different conditions. After listening to these men 

 a man can see what definitcness of purpose means ; what he can 

 do along certain definite lines, and there are so many opportunities 

 open for us if we go for them in the right manner, zmth definitc- 

 ness of purpose. The question is of meeting conditions. Un- 

 doubtedly Mr. Terry worked under different conditions than we 

 may have here or in some other sections ; nevertheless, the same 

 general conditions exist and we are to and can solve the problems 

 just where we are placed. We have remarkable markets and a 

 great deal of produce comes from elsewhere. 



After leaving the high school I took up bookkeeping. I 

 made up my mind shortly 'that being housed up was too rigid 

 for me ; that I was not built on that scale ; I had rather get out 

 in the open life instead of staying indoors. I went to college and 

 chose the agricultural course. We need strong men in agricul- 

 ture. The thing that New England needs, — what Vermont needs, 

 is strong men in the various counties and communities ; men 

 who know their business along breeding lines and who know 

 how to handle it. Every man who goes out from our agricul- 

 tural colleges into the different communities will be of as much 

 value to the people as the preacher; he stands for the uplifting, 

 the salvation of the people ; he is valuable. Do you suppose the 

 men who are living alongside Terry are living in the same old 

 ruts as before they knew him? The results are, that we have 



