263 



OUR AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE IN THE LIGHT OF 

 OUR NEEDS. 



By Jacob Kotinsky. 



Before proceeding I must explain that in the discussion to fol- 

 low I have particular reference to the course in a.i^riculture. While 

 I have an opinion as to the aims of the Mechanic Arts courses, it 

 is not that of the confidently competent judge, l)eing out of my 

 line of activity, — nor is this the place. But as a graduate in agri- 

 culture from one of our State colleges (New Jersey) and as a 

 3 years' resident of this Territory who has made a conscientious 

 study of the needs of these islands in this respect, I feel in a posi- 

 tion and obligated to voice my sentiment in the matter^ In this 

 sentiment I know I am supported by at least one member of th'.> 

 present Board of Regents, and probably also by many other fel- 

 low-citizens. 



OUR PRESENT PRESSING NEED. 



It is no longer disputed that the agricultural element of a com- 

 munity is its most valuable asset. It is the element that makes 

 for civic virtue and prosperity. The greater the number of intel- 

 ligent, enlightened individuals constituting a community, the 

 richer, the more intelligent is that community. And the average 

 farmer in the United States of today is an intelligent man. He 

 is a man versed in many of the sciences pertaining to his voca- 

 tion, and is an intelligent citizen besides. Farming today is no 

 longer mere manual labor. The farmer now is a practitioner of 

 the natural sciences and a business man. The educational work 

 of the U. S. Department of Agricultural and the State experi- 

 ment stations and agricultural colleges during the past generation 

 was not in vain. Close inquiry will reveal that the mainspring of 

 wealth of the United States during the past decade have been 

 and still are the bumper crops produced by the farmers year after 

 year with increasing celerity. 



Our climate, our vast areas of unsettled, productive lands, the 

 nature and quantity of crops this land is capable of yielding under 

 proper management, and the vast market at our very door cry to 

 high heaven for settlers, for cultivators, for farmers. But thus 

 far the cry was vain. Our large and profitable sugar industry is 

 merely an indication of what could be accomplished here in agri- 



