174 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



as fresh and strong as before, so he hoed 

 out the weeds with confidence of getting a 

 good crop. When he dug up those beets 

 and took them to the sugar factory that 

 Fall they were found to contain more sac- 

 cherine than any others that were offered, 

 and on investigation at the experiment 

 station it was decided that their superiority 

 was due to the storm. Pacific Tree and 

 Vine. 



A GRADUATE. 



"There is one college in this country, 

 and only one." said William Kobinson, 

 buyer for a North Carolina house, "where 

 butter is made and sent out duly certified 

 the same as a graduate. The State Nor- 

 mal and Industrial College located at 

 Greensboro in our State is fortunate in 

 having a large and fertile farm attached to 

 it. This farm is now used for dairy pur- 

 poses, it being stocked with a fine herd of 

 Jersey cows. The girl students are re- 

 quired to milk these cows and convert the 

 milk into butter. The girls as a rule take 

 a great deal of interest in this novel branch 

 of their studies, and it is not an unpleasing 

 sight to see forty or fifty pretty milkmaids 

 going out in a body to milk the cows. The 

 girls have reached a high state of perfec- 

 tion in the science of butter making, and 

 the butter is much sought after by the fas- 

 tidious in Greensboro and vicinity. Every 

 pound bears the college stamp and so ex- 

 cellent is the quality that the demand has 

 got beyond the capacity of the dairy farm 

 to meet it." N. Y. Commercial. 



THE NEGRO AS AN ^AGRICULTURIST' 



Every aspiring colored man who may 

 have the opportunity and inclination to 

 read Booker T. Washington's article on 

 "The Opportunities of the Negro," in the 

 Atlantic Monthly for November, will 

 fipish his persual of that admirable dis- 

 sertion on the race question with a more 

 exalted hope for the future of his people. 

 It may perhaps be claimed that Mr. 

 Washington's optimism is too pronounced, 

 and that his passionate devotion to the 

 upbuilding of his race impels him to tak 

 a too roseate view of its progress toward 

 intellectual and industrial advancement. 

 Nevertheless, the fact remains that this 

 gifted educator is profoundly in earnest 

 and thoroughly practical in his arguments 

 and conclusions. In the article in ques- 

 tion he makes the notable observation 

 that the negro acquired a knowledge of 

 agriculture "during slavery, and hence in 

 a large measure he is in possession of 

 this industry in the South today." 

 Being in this advantageous position the 

 colored man, Mr. Washington declares, 

 "can buy land in the South, as a rule, 

 wherever the white man can buy it, and at 

 very low prices," and he urges that 

 philanthropy be directed toward aiding 

 the negro to acquire an education in farm- 

 ing, dairying, stock raising and horti- 

 culture. He sees in this mode of 

 practical instruction a most effective 

 means by which a solution of the perplex- 

 ing race problem may be reached; and 

 certainly no one can gainsay the sound- 

 ness of his belief in this respect. 



