128 



fanuors woro novor sroater tlinn they are to-day. The power to aid stored xip 

 ill the hiud-frraiit institutions was never better adapted to meet country needs 

 than it is to-day. The harriers that once divided science from practice are 

 ahnost complete'ly hi-oken down. The sates of agricultui-e. once barred Ity 

 prejudice aj,'ainst'collef;e training, are now wide open. 



What more can the land-jj;i-ant college wish? An "open door - is all that the 

 gospi^l message has ever asked. " Free entry " is all that legitimate conmierce 

 seeks. " Opportunity " is fh(> only advantage that a capable man desires. 



Api)lying the ti-utli that ()iii)ortunity carries with it corresjionding responsi- 

 bility, the land-i,'rant college's stand in the midst of the American peo])le respon- 

 sible for tlH'ir agricultural salvation. They were created for their deliverance; 

 they were endowed foi- this : they ought to be officered and eepiipped and admin- 

 istered for this end. 



However nuich they may have done in the past or may in the future do for 

 the aid and elevation of men in their several pursuits and professions in life, 

 they have signally failed of the main purpose of their creation if they have 

 neglected to do for farming i(eoi»le not all that farming people need but all that 

 modern knowledge in agi-icnltural science has made it |)ossible for them to do. 



What shall they do for farmers? From the "oiien door" of op])i)rtunity there 

 lie in plain view "three great fields, for whose cultivaticm the land-grant college 

 was designed. 



FIELD I. THE COLLEGE CLASS ROOM. 



(a) The fniir-iicar cokisc. — For the education of young men and young 

 women for teachers of agriculture, for scientific investigators in agricultural 

 subjects, and for experts to take charge of agricultural enterprises requiring 

 special skill and thorough scientific training — a course the equal in culture value 

 and discipline of the mental powers of any other course. 



(b) The short courses. — These for students whose circumstances prevent their 

 remaining in college for the full foiu'-year term, and yet who can leave home 

 for portions of one, two, or three years to engage in agricultural study along 

 s])ecial lines. 



(c) Post(/rit(lii(ttc courses. — These for advanced study and to qualify for agri- 

 cultural experimentation and research. 



FIELD II. COLLEGE EXTENSION WORK. 



This embraces — 



(a) The correspondence school of agriculture. 



(b) The farmers" institute. 



(c) The movable school of agriculture. 



(d) The practice farm. 



The obligation of the land-grant college is not restricted to the comparatively 

 few who come to its class rooms, who live within its walls. The gre:it mass 

 of agricultural i)eople live outside. Oi' what value is an "open door" to a man 

 an hundred miles away chained to his work unless out of that door there come 

 to him messengers of lu'lp? 



The command to these institutions is to " teach." They have fixed location, 

 but their commission to give instruction is not bounded by classroom walls. 

 They were founded to " i)romote the liberal and practical education of the 

 industrial classes." Where are these classes? For the most i)art out at work. 



In the past the land-grant colleges have come to the assistance of farmers 

 by fitting their sons in their class rooms for teaching and for pursuing agri- 

 culture as a calling, and by ecjuipiiing them as investigatm-s and exjiert scientists 

 for service in the agricultural experiment stations iind in the National Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The "open door" to-day looks out ui)on a nuich wider 

 field. It extends this obligation to giving aid to the fai-mer himself. The 

 colleges have recognized this obligation. They have equipped and are con- 

 ducting corres])ondence schools and I'eading courses in agriculture, and the.v are 

 sending out six'cialists to give instruction in the institutes. 



The corrcspoDilcucc school. — The correspondence school and the reading course 

 in agricultiu'e have benefited many who otherwise would have had little oi)por- 

 tunity for self-improvement. They have iirei)ared a literature si»ecially adapted 

 for the farmers' use, and tin-ougli the selected studies which they have pre- 

 scribed thousands have been brought to a lu-tter understanding of the possibili- 

 ties of agriculture and have been fitted for its pursuit to an extent far beyond 



