No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 251 



THE WORK OF THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It has become the great agricultural university of America, of 

 the world, carrying its investigations into every land, and directing 

 its attention to every subject that promises to assist agricultural 

 people to a better understanding of their profession, and is bringing 

 from all lands plants, animals and methods, with the view of testing 

 their qualities and adaptation to the soil, climate and other condi- 

 tions of the United States. 



Soils, plants, animals, climate, foods, roads, fertilizers, insects 

 fungus diseases, educational problems, nutrition studies, irrigation, 

 forestry, statistics and the editing and publishing of the results are 

 some of the more general lines of investigation which the Depart- 

 ment has in hand. All of these are subdivided in almost infinite 

 detail, and are worked out in the laboratory and in the field with 

 the most intelligent and painstaking care until the truth has been 

 discovered, upon which the results are published and distributed 

 freely to the world. 



No agricultural people outside of this country are so highly fa- 

 vored, educationally, by their Government as the farmers of the 

 United States. Colleges that are foremost in the land, Experiment 

 Stations not equalled in the world, a National Department of Agri- 

 culture such as has just been described, comprise a system of educa- 

 tion in agriculture of which any people may be proud. 



AGRICULTURAL LITERATURE. 



It has been found, however, that notwithstanding the vast amount 

 of valuable literature which these institutions are yearly securing 

 and sending out, and the efforts of the public press to disseminate 

 the truths which the colleges, the stations and the Department have 

 discovered, that the average farmer, not to speak of those who 

 are below the average, fails to avail himself of the advantages which 

 these publications present. In short, it has been found that farmers 

 as a class do not read except the family Bible, the weekly markets, 

 and, in times of great exictement, an occasional speech by the 

 political representative of the particular party to which they them- 

 selves belong. They become physically tired after the exertion of 

 the day, and "early to bed and early to rise" leaves little time for 

 else but the labor of the farm. 



The realization of this fact has come only within the past few 

 years. The problem, therefore, at once arose how shall this knowl- 

 edge that these institutions have gained at so much cost of both 

 money, time and diligent research, be brought to the attention of the 

 men who do not read, and yet who need the very teaching which 

 this information givei. 



