EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XIX, December, 1907. Xo. -4. 



The subject of the oral instruction of the farmer is commanding 

 increased attention. It is new only in the wider scope which is being 

 given it, and the more systematic form proposed. Already there is 

 a widespread belief that the average man on his farm must be reached 

 in some way if the work of the experiment stations and similar 

 agencies is to be made fully effective. This means the living teacher, 

 meeting him on his own ground and appealing to his practical sense 

 bv illustration and demonstration. It is a logical development of 

 the various efforts now being made for a more rational and pro- 

 gressive agriculture. 



A vast amount of investigation and experimentation in the differ- 

 ent branches of agriculture is now in progress in this countr3^ How- 

 ever technical some of it may appear to be in its abstract form, it is 

 all directed ultimately toward utilitarian ends. It is intended to aid 

 the practical farmer of to-day, as well as the prospective farmer or 

 specialist who is studying the theory and its application. One of its 

 most far-reaching objects is to leaven the whole mass of farmers, so 

 that agriculture as a whole shall become a really progressive in- 

 dustry, carried on by well-informed and progressive men. 



The accomplishment of this end is a peculiarly difficult task. The 

 experiment stations go on collecting data which are well-nigh unbe- 

 lievable as reflecting conditions of farm practice, and display much 

 ingenuity in presenting these facts in such way as to arouse those 

 laboring under them. They show, for example, that one-fourth of 

 the cows in a great dairy section are profitless and should be sold to 

 the butcher, that the average yield of great staple crops is only one- 

 third to one-half what it should be, that soils are steadily being worn 

 out by irrational and improvident methods, that farmers are paying 

 large sums for patented stock feeds which they might better mix 

 themselves, that the quality and value of fruit is greatly reduced by 

 faihire to spra}^, and a long list of other facts equally important to 

 the farmer from a business point of view. But it is only as these 

 things are brought home to the individual farmer that the teachings 



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