130 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



nature. The power to produce is in the earth ; the power to 

 increase that production is in man." 



To aid men to get out of the rut followed by others, and to 

 enhance the power to increase production, is the mission of the 

 agricultural colleges and experiment stations of the present day. 

 Just how this may best be accomplished is the problem which 

 confronts thoughtful educators at the present time. In the 

 opinion of those who give the matter careful attention, it is not 

 the cramming of the mind with an array of facts which will be 

 most beneficial. It is the appreciation of cause and effect ; the 

 growth of mental power ; the ability to discriminate. There is 

 a loud call for "practical"' instruction from all sides. But the 

 most practical instruction is that which makes an all round man. 

 This is an age of specialists, but the specialist must have some- 

 thing on which to build. 



The teaching of the practical only, is narrowing in its tenden- 

 cies. It makes men of one idea, — incapable of talking intelli- 

 gently on other subjects. The power of acquiring knowledge 

 is of infinitely more value than a mere medley of isolated facts. 

 It is for this reason that the full college course is superior to a 

 short cut to horticultural knowledge or, indeed, to any other 

 short course of instruction. 



The first question which confronts every thoughtful teacher 

 of horticulture is: \Miat shall be the scope of the instruction? 

 Shall the course be restricted to the so-called practical problems 

 attending the propagation of fruits, flowers and vegetables, or 

 shall it be made to include the wider field of landscape garden- 

 ing, plant breeding, and the application of the laws of vegetable 

 physiology? Shall we study the art of raising plants, or shall 

 we consider the principles on which the art is founded? 



Without hesitation it may be said that a course in horticulture 

 which is restricted to the mechanical operation of the propaga- 

 tion and culture of plants is incomplete and unsatisfactory. The 

 student should know something of the origin, habits, and rela- 

 tionships of plants, also of the causes of variation, and the effects 

 likely to be produced by the operations he may perform. In 

 other words, he should know something about plants and the 

 conditions affecting their improvement, as well as something 

 about their cultivation, handling and marketing. For this rea- 



