April, 1922. 



SCIENTIFIC AGEICULTURE. 



247 



: : EDITORIAL 



Ever siiu-o tliere have l)een agricultural 

 colleges in Canada there has been a 

 strange prejudice, in many farming com- 

 inunities, against thf" so-called "scientific 

 agriculturist." The same opinion has 

 been held, tlu)ngh perliaps not to so great 

 an extent., by agricultural manufacturers. 

 The resnlt has been that the demand for 

 agricultural graduates has been almost 

 entirely lim.ited to the various departments 

 (if agriculture and the agi'ieultnral colle- 

 ges. Comparatively few have entered the 

 commercial field or liave returned to the 

 farm. To relieve this sitaation, which af- 

 ter all is merely the result of an entire 

 [ misconception, an organization such as the 

 Canadian Society of Technical Agricultur- 

 ists sliould devote every possible effort. 

 Tlie ojiinion that agricultural graduates 

 are mere "swivel-cliair farmers" ouglit to 

 be removed and its removal ought to l)e a 

 simple matter. Ninety per cent of agri- 

 cultural graduates were raised on farms 

 and their practical knowledge and ex- 

 ])erience have been increased by their col- 

 lege training. By developing a greater 

 appreciation, on th^^ part of producers and 

 manufacturers, of the value of these men, 

 ;i new field will soon be opened for the 

 cullege graduate, and there are certain 

 signs which indicate that new employing 

 iigencies must be found for these men who 

 are being turned out annually l)y our 

 jricultural colleges. That is one excel- 

 iit work such a Society can perform for 

 The technical agriculturist. 



The C.S.T.A. sliould certainly protect 

 the profession, or any member of the pro- 

 fession, and, if necessary, should create 

 public opinion in some instances. Exam- 

 ples of obviously unfair and unpopular 

 ai)pointments or dismissals are <|uite com- 

 mon and it is surely the place of a na- 

 tional organization to register strong 

 ]n-((test. That is the sort of protection 

 which the profession needs and wliicli 

 tliis new Society should be in a position 

 to give. Tile trained and qualified 

 worker will take a keener interest in 

 a l)ody which takes a strong stand than 



in one which is luke-warm or neutral and 

 there is every reason why the profession 

 should expect such protection from the 

 C.S.T.A. since the maintenance of high 

 standards in the profession is one of 

 its mo.st important objects, set forth in 

 its ConstiiUtion. It sht)uld take a per- 

 sonal interest in every agricultural 

 graduate and professional Avorker. fol- 

 low their careers and help and protect 

 th^m whenever possibl'^. 



In the matter of agricultural research 

 the Society has a tremendous fietd foi- 

 useful service. There never was a time 

 when more perplexing problems offered 

 themselves for s<>lution. More and more 

 the value of research and the need fr)r 

 specially trained men are being felt and 

 appreciated. It is only neces.>,ary to 

 draAV attention to such a plant disease 

 as wheat rust and such an animal di- 

 sease as tuberculosis, to indicate the 

 field for advancement in pathology 

 alone. There are scores of such prob- 

 lems facing the industfy today. The 

 C.S.T.A. might advantageously select some 

 of the most important of these jiroblems 

 and assign them to qualified workers 

 Avho Avould keep in close touch with each 

 other so that th.ere would ]u»t be too 

 great overlapping or duplication of ef- 

 fort. The Society should aho consider 

 ways and means of encouraging the 

 young and ambitious B.f?.A. to take up 

 graduate study, so that the number of 

 available <iualiiied AAorkers may be in- 

 creased. This might mean the establish- 

 ment of scholarships, though not necessa- 

 rily so. 



The formulation and recommendation- 

 of agricultural policies; and perhaps 

 more particularly of educational policies; 

 is Aviihin the scope of the C.S.T.A. This 

 is a somcAvhat delicate task, because' 

 each of many agencies has someAvhat 

 fixed policies to AAdiich strict adherence 

 is considered necessary. But none of 

 these age.icies Avill deny that there is 

 great need for improvement. The mat- 

 ters of uniform cottrses at agricultural 



