EDUCATION FOR THE FARMER 85 



courage organization if for no other reason than 

 for the splendid educational advantages that 

 flow from it. 



However, our chief interest is, perhaps, in 

 those institutions that are formed purposely and 

 especially for agricultural education and which 

 are usually supported out of public funds. 

 There are three great fields of endeavor in which 

 these institutions are working. The first step 

 is to know — to know the truth. So in agricul- 

 ture we must know.^ Know what ? Know how 

 nature works. So the man of science studies the 

 soil and finds out what plant-food it contains, 

 how the water acts in it, what heat and air do, 

 and the inter-relation of all these elements. He 

 studies the plant and its habits and tries to dis- 

 cover how it grows and how it can be improved 

 for man's use. He studies the animal and en- 

 deavors to learn what are the best foods for it 

 and what laws govern its adaptation to human 

 food. He studies climate and tries to find out 

 what plants and animals are most appropriate 

 to different locations. He studies injurious in- 

 sects and diseases and devises remedies for 

 them. He discovers, experiments. So we have 

 research as the first term in agricultural 

 education. The institutions of research are our 



