COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES 383- 



One of the most effectual means of combating these foreigners is the 

 introduction of insects which prey upon them. A notable example comes 

 from California, The cottony-cushion scale introduced from Australia 

 was at one time the most serious insect enemy of the Golden State. An 

 Australian lady-bug which feeds upon the scale was introduced into 

 California, and in a short time had so nearly exterminated the pest that 

 specimens were difiScult to obtain. Another branch of science which- 

 shoul "I not be passed by is meteorology. In ex^ieriment station work it is 

 often of as much importance to know the conditions of weather as the 

 kinds of soil. This can be determined only by careful meteorological 

 observations. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed," and it is often of 

 great benefit to the farmer to know what changes in the weather are likelv 

 to occur in the immediate future. Many of the predictions of storms and 

 frosts the farmer can make for himself with tolerable accuracy by the 

 aid of a few simple and inexpensive instruments and the tables which a 

 scientific study of meteorology has furnished. 



These, then, are the sciences which, working hand in hand, have con- 

 tributed most to the advancement of agriculture, to its elevation from 

 the position of a mere process for wresting the means of subsistence 

 from the soil to the dignity of a science. The science of agriculture aims 

 to answer the practical questions which arise in connection with farm 

 operations, to place agriculture on a rational scientific basis. It aims to 

 tell not only how but why a certain course is pursued. Science does not 

 confine itself to the solution of problems which already confront the 

 farmer, but attempts to anticipate his needs. It endeavors not only to 

 save him from being mastered by the forces with which he has to deal, 

 but to enable him to rise above them, and to become himself master of 

 the situation. It brings to his notice new and promising plants and 

 renders valuable aid in the development of new industries. The beet- 

 sugar business now being developed in this country is a good example. 



There are two principal ways in which science reaches the farmer — 

 through the agricultural college and through the experiment station. 

 Both of these agencies are doing a great deal for agriculture. Each has 

 its own line of work, yet each is in some measure indebted to the other. 

 The college gives scientific training and teaches established truths. It 

 is the source to which the experiment station must look for its workers. 

 The experiment station is at once the discoverer and the disseminator of 

 new truths. 



We have thus seen how science is an advantage to agriculture. But 

 it is more than an advantage. The growing demands made on the soil 

 simultaneously with the decrease in productive power, together with the 

 spread of weeds, of injurious insects, and of diseases of animals and 

 plants, have so increased the difficulties of production as to make science 

 a necessity to the highest success in agriculture. He who would drive 

 his business instead of being driven by it must understand that business. 

 The farmer is no exception to this rule. He must be alert and ready to 

 grasp any new idea which will help him in his work. This does not mean 

 that he should be ready to accept every new theory which is advanced. 

 Caution is needed in farming as much as in any other line of business. 

 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good," in agriculture as in 

 religion. But when a new principle has been thoroughly tested and its 

 merits established it is only wisdom to accept it. He who clings to the 



