No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL.TURE. 395 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, PART 2. 



Bt E. S. Batard, Editor, National Stockvian and Farmer, Pittsburg, Pa. 



It is a hard job for a man whose hair is burdened with hay seeds 

 to tell you anything about this subject after such students of and 

 experts in agricultural education have discussed it. \\Tiat I shall 

 say has especial bearing on the problem before us here in Pennsyl 

 vania, and I shall discuss only a part of that problem, for we have 

 many branches of agricultural education — our Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, our institutes, organizations, exhibits, papers, and our Experi- 

 ment Station and College. None of these should or would interfere 

 with each other were all developed to the limit of their possibilities. 



It has been said that the chief need of agricultural education in 

 this State is men and money. That statement, while broadly true, 

 needs certain qualifications. A million of money and a hundred 

 professors more mean little to our educational advancement if the 

 people are not brought into contact with the educating influence. 

 And this I believe to be the greatest problem before those who are 

 studying agricultural education in Pennsylvania to-day. 



It is a hard proposition, too, because the people can not ba 

 reached and interested without some outlay oi money; and it is 

 hard to get the money without having the people to back approp- 

 priation bills. We can not expect to do it all at once, but let us 

 assume, as we have a right to assume, in view of what has been 

 done, that the people are sufficiently interested to supply funds to 

 begin the campaign. On what lines shall we proceed to secure the 

 backing necessary for the development of agricultural education? 

 Or tn other words, how can we open avenues, and what avenues 

 can we open, between the public and agricultural education that 

 will lead to higher development of agriculture in this State? T 

 propose to consider briefly a few things, some of them tried and 

 tested, and others not. 



APPEALS TO CONSUMERS. 



In the first place, we must remember that in Pennsylvania a 

 large proportion of the people are consumers, and they must be 

 interested as consumers. They are not interested as producers and 

 the arguments that appeal to producers are lost on them. Thus 

 their influence is not secured by our present methods of seeking 

 support for agricultural education and it never will be secured by 

 such methods. They must be reached by arguments that touch 

 them as consumers. I fully believe that a campaign carried on 

 through the daily press would secure for our agricultural educa- 

 tional institutions the support of many consumers. Pennsylvania 

 has the best and highest markets in the world, and nobody knowa 

 how high they are as well as the consumer does or how inferior 

 the quality of the shipped-in produce. He should be told the ad- 



