FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



carried on, supplied just the element required for 

 the linking up of practice with science. 



These new departures meant, of course, a con- 

 siderable addition to my work and responsibilities 

 and a good deal of travelling by road and rail, 

 but the immeasurable advantage such a policy 

 conferred upon agriculture and upon the country 

 at large, by encouraging increase of production 

 and improvement of methods, was sufficient to 

 stir one's enthusiasm in regard to it. The dis- 

 tances separating the various schools and experi- 

 ment stations necessitated frequent travelling, 

 for each locality had to be visited for the arrange- 

 ment of preliminaries and during the progress 

 of operations. So I traversed some thousands 

 of miles in railway carriages and road vehicles, 

 in company with the late Mr. George Gibbons, 

 my brother-missioner, of whom I shall speak later 

 on, and stood with him ,on innumerable platforms 

 pointing out with all the oratorical force of which 

 we were capable the advantages country-folk 

 could derive by availing themselves of the educa- 

 tional facilities the Society offered. It was rather 

 uphill work at first until those whom we desired 

 to benefit realized the disinterestedness of our 

 aims ; then lukewarmness was succeeded by 

 whole-hearted appreciation, and the cause made 

 rapid headway. In connection with the dairy 

 schools, the first difficulty we encountered was 

 due to the reluctance of the farmers' wives to 

 allow their daughters to churn and carry out 

 other operations necessary in the making of 

 butter in the glare of publicity. They thought 

 it was infra dig. for " our Susie " to be seen 



126 



