39 



ment stations should take the lead in making those things known and in bring- 

 ing the Government to a realization of that condition. Surely this impoverished 

 soil has some place in the national economy. There is some way of turning it to 

 good account.' The law of diminished returns as set forth in our standard 

 works of political economy makes it entirely clear that the scale of wages is 

 determined by the land cultivated without proht. or. to put it in another way, the 

 land cultivated at the highest rate of expenditure. In my judgment the per- 

 manently proliTal)le condition of farm land is considerably menaced by the area 

 of impoverished soil in the country. So far as my observation goes, but little 

 iittention has been given to this condition as influencing the general conditions 

 of rural life. I am persuaded, however, that it not only tends to keep down 

 fann wages, but that it harbors an inferior population and from nearly every 

 point of view threatens the most imiM3rtant conditions of rural life. 



I recognize, however, that not all of this impoverished soil is hopelessly so. 

 This leads me to say that intelligent operation (jf the farm is necessary for any 

 margin of profit. This intelligent operation and management is impossible with- 

 out education. Some farmers have learned the lesson of profitable farming 

 after an experience of twenty-five years. That experience was valuable, but a 

 very expensive education. The purpose now is to give to the young farmer, 

 while in bis teens, an education that will enrich him with the experience of other 

 men gained after a long period of years. In (jther words, he is asked to invest 

 very nuich less money in his education than he will pay for his experience. At 

 the' same time his era of profit will begin at 25 instead of at 50. The movement 

 for agricultural education is still in its infancy. We are still in the apoiogetic 

 stage. We need a i)ropaganda accompanied by a demonstration that shall con- 

 vince men that intelligence properly applied will produce results on the farm just 

 as certainly as elsewhere. 



As bearing upon this question of profits I recognize that there are other ele- 

 ments. The question of markets, their availability, the long or short haul, good 

 roads, methods of transportation, and similar elements often enter into the ques- 

 tion of the profit of agriculture. The tendency up to date has been to lay the 

 entire burden of all these things upon the local conununity. It may be that it 

 shall always remain so. This may add to the expense of local production while 

 not making it clear that some obscure places are in any better condition. 



The above-named particulars are sufficient to arouse our thought as to the 

 seriousness of the condition that confronts a growing civilization. If conditions 

 were not serious there would lie no necessity for much ado about the importance 

 of agricultural educa.tiou or the necessity of go\erument aid in such matters. 

 IMie seriousness is not a new phase of the condition. The only thing new is that 

 the recognition of this condition is more general than heretofore. The awaken- 

 ing among us of our convictions upon this subject, accompanied by a general 

 desire to make such improvement in conditions as shall largely justify our 

 efforts, is a most encouraging feature. This is justification for a stronger appeal 

 that I can riot make to the representatives of the great cause of technical and 

 industrial education. Let me bring renewed emphasis, therefore, upon one or 

 two things as we move along. 



III. I refer to the well-recognized problems of connecting education with farm- 

 ing. All here agree that we have passed the time for unintelligent farming. 

 Indeed, it would have been better if we had never reached that time. The fact 

 remains, however, that a large portion of the agricultural work of the country 

 has been a blind trust in the moon, or in Providence, or in luck. The multitudes, 

 however, have long belie^■ed that the farmer's boy needed an education if he 

 l!roi)osed to be a lawyer or a minister. We appeal for an eiiually abiding con- 

 ^ iction that the l)oy who is to be a farmer nuist have an education. The one 

 idea seemed to be that the only way to learn to do a thing was l)y doing it in an 

 unintelligent and expensive way. The modern idea is that we shall learn to do 

 things by doing them under competent supervision and in a most .economic way. 

 The agricultural college therefore is an expensive thing in itself, because it 

 centralizes all the expensiveness of ignorance under an organization that pro- 

 poses to remove ignorance and supplant it with intelligence and skill. The 

 fall.-icy that unintelligent men can do farm work needs to be entirely removetl. 

 'I'he truth is that it recpiires less intelligence to dig a ditch for a sewer in the 

 city than to prepare for a tile drain on the farm. In the one case there is an 

 assf)ciation with other laborers, the foreman, and a large amount of concen- 

 trated supervision. In the other case there is no such association, but a demand 

 for intelligence that can sujiervise itself. Even the ordinary oi>erations of the 

 farm require men who are equal to their own emergencies and who can assume 



