VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 41 



SOME OF THE NEWER IDEAS IN AGRICULTURE. 



By Joseph L. Hills. 



The agriculture of to-day is in many respects notably dif- 

 ferent from that of former generations. This truism is of 

 course applicable to nearly all lines of human endeavor. The 

 farmer of to day who conducts his operations as did his ances- 

 tors is almost as far behind in the race for success as he who 

 would run an old fashioned stage-coach in competition with a 

 good railroad line. To be a successful farmer one must study 

 the newer methods of agriculture whether he will or not. 



It is quite impossible for me in the space of a few pages, 

 to give any full treatment of modern agriculture. It may not 

 be impossible forme, however, to throw out a few disjointed 

 hints concerning some of the newer ideas which have come 

 into vogue in agricultural operations through our better knowl- 

 edge of the underlying principles of the art. 



SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE. 



I think that we may properly say that one of the most im- 

 portant advances in agriculture of late years lies in the fact 

 that farmers have begun to appreciate that there is something 

 to book- farming. Go back twenty- five years and you will find 

 but few believing that there was anything to be learned from 

 books, from teachers, from science or from college education 

 in farming lines. There are all too many to-day who sneer at 

 what they are ready to term theory ; but those who are nearest 

 up-to date, who are most advanced, who are most successful, 

 most studious, most thoughtful, always admit that they do not 

 know it all, that there is something they can learn from others. 

 This marked change of opinion has been wrought not by a single 

 agency but by several which have served to uplift the farming 

 community. The agricultural press, farmers' clubs of divers 

 classes, the agricultural colleges, the experiment stations, 

 farmers' institutes and the like have all done an important part 

 in this general movement. All of these agencies serve to 

 bring to the individual the experience, the knowledge and the 

 ideas of many. Thus far most of these have been concerned 

 simply in what might be termed an instructional effort. It is 

 the duty of one of them, however, not so much to instruct as 

 to inquire, not so much to tell what is already known as to find 

 out that which is not known. This duty devolves upon the 

 experiment station. 



