EDITORIAL. 405 



demonstrations on tuberculous cattle have been held, which have 

 increased t4ie demand for tuberculin tests in "Wisconsin, for example, 

 from a few thousand a year up to over fort}^ thousand last year. 



In addition to these extension features, large numbers of popular 

 addresses have been given every year to bodies of farmers, educational 

 exhibits held at various places, many articles prepared for the press, 

 and information bulletins distributed freely. 



If the farmers have not been reached it is not because there has not 

 been an earnest and energetic efl'ort made to reach them. The interest, 

 ingenuity, and earnest endeavor in that direction are worthy of high 

 praise and ai:)preciation, and the success which has actualW been met 

 with is far beyond that apparentlj^ realized by the casual observer. 

 Whether or not it is true that " no calling has been so subsidized by 

 the Government through education as agriculture," it is a fact that 

 no similar amount of funds or body of workers has resulted in bring- 

 ing about such profound changes in the practice of any art, the 

 mental attitude of those engaged in it, and the standing of any in- 

 dustry or branch of human activity. It may be true of these efforts, 

 as a recent article states, that the " total outcome is not so great as one 

 might expect." but in judging of this the conditions under which this 

 work has been performed should be clearly borne in mind and the 

 present status of agricultural practice, of agricultural literature, and 

 of agricultural teaching should be compared Avith that prevailing 

 fifty years ago. 



The agricultural colleges can not fairly be held responsible for the 

 backward condition of agricultural practices which their teachings 

 have deprecated, have shown the means of remedying, and have 

 attempted to correct. To point to the fact that these colleges have 

 " not 3^et been able to check the waste of the resources of the soil " 

 is equivalent to saying that the theological schools and the church 

 have not been able to eliminate crime, the engineering schools have 

 not resulted in utilizing the latent power of the waterfalls of the 

 countr}' or prevented the immense waste of food and fertility through 

 the SA^stems of sewer and refuse disposal of cities, or that the old- 

 style literary colleges have not checked the demand for inferior and 

 sensational literature. 



By far the greatest achievement of the agricultural colleges and 

 experiment stations has been the impressing on multitudes of prac- 

 tical men the results of experimental inquiry in such way that these 

 results have been widely applied in practice, and in some lines have 

 revolutionized agricultural industries throughout the country. It is 

 altogether probable that many farmers who are the most sparing 

 in their appreciation of the college services are doing many things 

 differently on their own farms from what they would have done if 

 the bulletins of the stations had not been issued. Farmers very often 



