FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 585 



agricultural press is a spleudid medium for the exchange of ideas and is 

 not to be ignored by either novice or expert. It keeps the important 

 points fresh in the minds of the reader, and although not all it contains 

 will be of practical benefit to every reader he can easily find what is 

 suited to his condition. 



Closely related to the press are the bulletins issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and by the various experiment stations. They may 

 be had free of charge and cover a great variety of subjects pertaining 

 to agriculture. They are prepared by experts and no more reliable in- 

 formation is to be found than is given in them. 



Farmers' institutes are grand things. Here the farmer sees and talks 

 with those who have had experience in their lines and are competent 

 to impart information. This is sometimes better than learning from a 

 book and it also cultivates a fellow-feeling. Usually the men who ought 

 to attend are not there, but if his neighbor is present the influence will 

 spread and many will be indirectly benefited. 



Best of all is a thorough course in an agricultural institution of rep- 

 utable standing. In this a broad foundation is laid and a more thor- 

 ough knowledge of the principles may be gained. Besides, the student 

 comes in contact with men whose influence will tend to cultivate a love 

 for the farm and for farm work. In the past few years the college or 

 Middle West have inaugurated "Short Courses" which have been at- 

 tended by many farmers with profit. They go home filled with enthusi- 

 asm for better methods, and, their indifferent neighbor is unconsciousl;? 

 and often drawn into the current of progress. No young man needs to 

 hesitate about preparing for a life of farming. His occupation will be 

 permanent. Railroads and steamships may give way to aerial naviga- 

 tions; the ingenuity of the inventor may reduce manufacturing to a very 

 simple matter, but in spite of the chemist's fondest dreams the tiller of 

 the soil will find ready market for his products as long as the human 

 race hungers and man is chilled by Arctic frosts or scorched by torrid 

 suns. 



Many farmers say, "Give me the practical man," and by this he usu- 

 ally means one who has succeeded without apparent training other than 

 that furnished by natural judgment. Now, what is there about education 

 that tends to make one impractical? There are educated failures on every 

 hand. How much greater failures would they have been without educa- 

 tion? And who knows how much the world has lost because so-called 

 practical men were not able to combine intelligent direction with good 

 judgment? 



In contests at our grain and stock exhibitions the trained mind in- 

 variably wins. At the last International Stock Show the Agricultural 

 College of Nebraska took the prize on the champion steer. This animal 

 was very much of a grade, but the exhibitors had confidence in their 

 training and won on what the ordinary breeder would have passed by 

 and taken a pure type instead. This fact will also answer the arguments 

 of those who claim that these institutions have more money to spend 



