10 Aug., 1918.] Agriculture in America. 463 



AGRICULTURE IN AMERICA. 



Letter from Mr. A. E, V. Richardson, M.A., B.Sc, Agricultural 

 Superintendent to the Director of Aj^riculture. 



[Like the letter published in the Journal of Agriculture for July, 

 this one, too, is unofficial, but as its contents will be interesting to 

 readers, I am taking the liberty of publishing it. — ^S.S.C] 



iSince I last wrote you I have visited the University of Illinois and 

 the Agricultural Experiment Station, Urbana, 111. ; the State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Columbus, Ohio ; the State University, Ohio ; the 

 Carnegie Foundations at Pittsburgh, and the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington. Eive whole days were spent in travelling. 



The University of Illinois and the State University of Ohio have 

 associated with them two of the leading Colleges of Agriculture in 

 America. Indeed, with the possible exception of Cornell University, 

 they are probably the best Agricultural Colleges in Worth America. 



Each of them has a remarkably strong agricultural faculty, and a 

 body of over 1,000 students, taking a four-year course for the degree of 

 agricultural science. Both of these institutions enjoy a remarkable 

 degree of confidence, and the short courses held in winter time for 

 farmers are crowded with students. Last year at Ohio over 4,000 

 farmers attended the college during the " round up," i.e., a school of 

 ooie week's duration, held in February, 



Curiously enough, at Ohio, the Federal Experiment Station is 

 separated from the State University. It is located at Wooster, several 

 hundred miles away. Only one other college (l^ew York State) has 

 the experiment station se^Darated from the college. 



Both these colleges are in the rich corn belt, where the average hold- 

 ing is from 150 to 160 acres. Twenty years ago there were seventeen 

 students in the whole of the agricultural courses at Illinois. Last year 

 there were 1,230 undergraduate students, and 75 graduate students in 

 residence. Similar growth has been observed at Ohio, 



Whilst at Ohio I investigated the working of a typical 'State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture of the United States. The work is entirely 

 inspectional and regulatory. The educational and investigational work 

 are carried on by the College and Experiment Station. The Depart- 

 ment manages the State Fair at Columbus, and maintains six adminis- 

 trative and regulatory bureaux — 



1. Live Stoch Inspection. — Control of animal diseases, distribu- 



tion of serum, and veterinary inspection of stallions. 



2. Horticultural Bmreau. — ^For control of disease in nurseries, 



orchards and apiaries. 



3. Bureau of Feeds and Fertilizers. — 'Control of Artificial 



Fertilizer Act, stock foods, and Fungicides Act. 



4. Bureau of Markets. — ^Which promotes the establishment of 



co-operative societies within the State. 



5. Dairy Bureau. — The control and inspection of creameries 



and cheese factories. Most of the milk inspection work is 

 carried out by city ordinances. 



6. Fish and Game Bureau. — An important bureau, because Ohio 



borders on the Great Lakes, and has a good river system. 



