328 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



June, 1922 



A Course to Train Specialists in Agronomy' 



By D. W. ROBERTSON, 

 Colorado Agricultural College, Agronomy Dept. Fort Collins, Colorado 



In the last few years there has been 

 a movement to standardize work in the 

 colleges of the United States and Canada. 

 Up to the present, much work has been 

 done along this line and many suggestions 

 have been offered. 



In presenting this subject, I will endeav- 

 or to present the outline of a course suit- 

 able for specialists in the various branches 

 of Agronomy. 



In order to do this subject justice, one 

 should be familiar with the limitations 

 of farming in the different sections of the 

 United States and Canada. Climatic 

 limitations of crops should be considered 

 and the continent would have to be div- 

 ided into areas of climatic limitation, and 

 emphasis laid on the type of farming suit- 

 able to these areas by colleges situated 

 in them. In general, Canada could be 

 divided into two areas where a general 

 type of farming can be followed :(1) The 

 prairie region, where large tracts of land 

 are farmed by one man and where dry 

 farming methods may be used; and (2) 

 Eastern Canada and the Pacific Coast, 

 where moisture is plentiful in most places 

 and smaller areas are farmed intensively. 



The aim of Agronomy courses for such 

 an area should be to give a fundamental 

 training in the junior years. This would 

 enable the student to specialize at any 

 institution in his final year, provided he 

 had gained his re(|uired credits up to that 

 time. He would tluis be able to fit him- 

 seli for whatever type of farming or re- 

 search he hoped to follow. 



Before entering upon the outline of a 

 course to train specialists in Agronomy, 

 I should like to justify such a course. 

 Specialized training is becoming more in 

 demand in all phases of Avork. The early 

 naturalists — DarAvin, Agassiz, and many 

 others — knew all that was to be known in 

 their day. They were geologists, zoologists 

 and botanists. Today in the field of botany 

 we have speciali.sts in several linos — plant 

 physiologists, cytologists, taxonomists, 

 pathologists, ecologists. etc. In agricul- 



* Paper read before the "Western Can- 

 adian Society of Agronomy, Winnipeg, 

 December, 1921. 



ture we have similar specialization. The 

 early agriculturists were botanists, cereal- 

 ists, agrostologists, animal husbandrymen, 

 etc. Today we have agronomists who 

 still deal with several phases of crop pro- 

 duction. However, in soils which is in- 

 cluded in Agronomy, Ave have many spe- 

 cialists — chemists, bacteriologists, soil 

 surA^eyors and physicists. Many other 

 branches of Agronomy could be broken 

 up into specialized fields, but I will not 

 take time to outline them. In extension 

 work, in AA^hich a Avorker at one time had 

 to be a Jack of all trades, we are now 

 finding specialists Avho aid the agricultural 

 agents in organizing their work. In many 

 colleges you will find extension specialists 

 in practically all the different lines of 

 agriculture. 



Requirements. 

 The first difficulty is to decide Avhat 

 are the requirements for a degree student 

 in agriculture. "We will all agree that 

 the entrance requirement should be equal 

 to those required for the B. A. degree. 

 As to the practical requirements, I think 

 one year on a farm should be required 

 before graduation. In looking over the 

 calendar of the College of Agriculture of 

 the University of Saskatchewan, I find 

 that a student is required to have one 

 year on the farm from seeding to harvest, 

 Avliich Avould fulfil the requirement for 

 an Agronomy student. In Colorado sim- 

 ilar experience is required. 



Experimental Training 

 Tliis i.s an important matter to consider 

 in some institutions. "Where the term is 

 too short to alloAv the student to do some 

 practical experimental Avork. a summer 

 session should be re<juired before gradua- 

 tion. This Avould alloAv the student to 

 become familiar Avitli experimental meth- 

 ods. 



Courses in Agronomy. 

 In outlining such courses an attempt 

 has been made to give a brief description 

 Avhich Avill allow the construction of cour- 

 ses suitable to different conditions, 

 but Avhich Avill include all the fundamental 

 ]ioints. In order to do this, I have first 

 divided Agronomy into three main groups 

 — Crops, Soils and Plant Breeding. 



