Special Trains in Agricultural Work: 42;] 



lington perhaps lead, lu the distribution of seed the K. C, C. & S. and 

 the Frisco excel ; while in point of enthusiasm and attendance the Frisco 

 and AVabash are first. On these two trips the crowds were simply too 

 large to handle. Neither words nor photographs can half do justice to 

 the Missouri Agricultural spirit that is rampant in the State today. 

 Following almost every stop was a request that we return soon with an 

 institute for one or two days. We now have requests for lectures in all 

 of the months of the year, excepting May and June. ' ' 



Speaking of the good accomplished through the agricultural trains, 

 Dean F. B. Mumford of the College of Agriculture said: "Five men 

 from the College, in thirteen days time, gave instruction to 93,800 peo- 

 ple from the special trains on the Frisco, Burlington and Wabash Rail- 

 roads. On these trips 98 stops were made and 512 lectures on agri- 

 cultural subjects were made by men from the College of Agriculture. 

 This simple statement of facts carries no adequate idea of the far-reach- 

 ing influence of this project on the agricultural practices of Missouri, 

 In the year 1910 a special train on the Frisco Railroad was followed by 

 the awarding of 45 Frisco scholarships in the counties through which 

 that' road runs, and resulted in increasing the attendance in the two- 

 vear winter course from 38 in 1909-10 to 139 in 1910-11. The cor- 

 respondence of men in the College of Agriculture was more than doubled. 

 The number of bulletins published and distributed was more than quad- 

 rupled. These are tangible facts and can be justly regarded as directly 

 traceable to the special train trips. It is the function of the men in the 

 College of Agriculture not only to give efficient instruction to students, 

 but to convince the farmers that special training in agriculture will be as 

 efficient in bringing success to the coming generations of farmers as such 

 training has been for lawyers, physicians and engineers. That the Col- 

 lege of Agriculture is succeeding received ocular demonstration in the 

 multitudes of people who thronged the stations, platforms and audience 

 cars on the special train trips. The success of the special trains on the 

 Frisco, Burlington and Wabash in 1911 has established a new record. 

 So far as I have been able to discover there is no record of any special 

 train in the United States that has succeeded in drawing so many people. 

 This is a matter of great gratification to those in charge of this enter- 

 prise." 



It may well be said that the railroad officials who made possible the 

 "college on wheels" have rendered a distinct and lasting service to the 

 State. 



