TH3 IRRIGATION AGE. 



299 



part of the mission of Hampton Institute 

 is to teach the young negro that it is just 

 as fine a thing to be a good farmer as it is 

 to be president of the United States." 

 This is what is needed in our schools and 

 educational institutions all over the 

 country just this practical education 

 which is carried on at Hampton. Our 

 school children and young people, white 

 as well as black, should be taught that the 

 truly valuable education is that which will 

 enable them to go out into the world, well 

 prepared to earn their own livelihood by 

 some good trade, not that smattering of 

 book learning which unfits them for work 

 because they have learned to dispise it. 

 While we do not wish to appear unappre- 

 ciative of higher education, we do believe 

 that in many cases " a little knowledge is 

 a dangerous thing," and any reform in our 

 educational system which will make it 

 more practical and give the students an 

 opportunity to 'learn by doing," as at 

 Hampton, will tend to make them more 

 contented and satisfied with honest occu- 

 pations and do away with much of the 

 unrest which sends them from the country 

 to the city in their desire to escape from 

 the " drudgery " of farm life. 



One of the recent bulletins 

 fnlt?t e ates. issued by the United States 



Department of Agriculture 

 gives the history and status of farmers' 

 institutes in the United States and Cana- 

 da. It was prepared by Prof. L. H. Bailey 

 of Cornell University, and issued by the 

 Department in response to a general de- 

 mand for more information regarding the 

 various means which have been adopted 

 to bring agricultural education directly to 

 the farmer. 



The bulletin begins with a general his- 

 torical survey which traces the origin of 

 the farmers' institute back to 1869 or 1870, 

 when, as an outgrowth of previous farm- 

 ers' societies of various kinds, the institute 

 was formed on the same general lines as 

 at present. Iowa was probably the first 

 state to hold such meetings, an account of 

 one being published in 1871. Prof. Bailey 



then gives statistics of the states and 

 provinces, from which we learn that, with 

 three exceptions, every state and province 

 holds farmers' institutes. The institutes 

 are promulgated and administered in a 

 variety of ways ; in some states and pro- 

 vinces the institutes are more or less under 

 governmental control, in some they ai-e 

 under the auspices of the agricultural 

 college or experiment station. The gov- 

 ernmental control is of four general kinds 

 in charge of a state department of agri- 

 culture, in charge of an independent state 

 officer, in charge of county organizations, 

 in charge of rural societies which receive 

 state or provincial bounties. Statistics 

 which are given from the states in which 

 the institutes have been most successfully 

 condccted, show an attendance which 

 proves how valuable these institutes are, 

 and that the farmers are aware of and ap- 

 preciative of the opportunities offered 

 them. The largest average attendance is 

 in Ohio, where 250 institutes are held an- 

 nually, with an aggregate attendance of 

 90,000; New York has over 300 institutes 

 yearly with a total attendance of about 

 75,000; California holds about 80 insti- 

 tutes annually, attended by 16,000, while 

 in Wisconsin there are 120 institutes held 

 annually with an average attendance of 

 over 50,000 persons. Prof Bailey esti- 

 mates the annual expenditures for insti- 

 tute work in 1899 to have been about 

 $170,000, which is more than twice as 

 much as that expended in 1891. During 

 1899 about 2000 institutes were held in 

 the United States, which were attended by 

 over half a million farmers. 



Forestry 



and 



Irrigation 



There are two interests 

 which should be closely 

 united, since each depends 

 upon the other for its complete success, 

 and these are forestry and irrigation. 

 Trees cannot grow without moisture; 

 therefore to have trees in the arid por- 

 tions of the West we must have irrigation 

 in order to supply this necessary moisture. 

 On the other hand, it has been demon- 

 strated beyond a doubt that to destroy the 



