t IO THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [334 



ing and may remain the whole season. To secure a dairy- 

 certificate the student must have had two seasons' actual 

 practice in a factory, one of which must follow his work 

 at the dairy school. A two-week's farmer's course, limited 

 to persons who are at least 25 years of age; a housekeep- 

 ers' conference; a week's special course for cheese-factory 

 and creamery operators and managers ; a summer dairy 

 course (10 days) for beginners or those with little prac- 

 tical knowledge of creamery or dairy work, and summer 

 courses in agriculture, agricultural education, and home 

 economics are also offered." 1 



MACHINERY FOR THE POPULARIZATION OF SCIENCE 



The greatest difficulty that agricultural education has to 

 deal with is the general introduction of newly-discovered 

 truths among the people. Many important principles have 

 been discovered, that, if put into practice, would very ma- 

 terially increase the productivity of the land and result in 

 improving the general welfare of all classes of our popula- 

 tion. Among such principles may be mentioned the restor- 

 ation and maintenance of the fertility of the soil and the 

 increase of the yield of the dairy cow through elimination 

 and breeding. In spite of the fact that agricultural colleges 

 and other institutions have stood ready for years to scatter 

 this knowledge broadcast, the majority of farmers move 

 along in the rut that was followed by their fathers or grand- 

 fathers. The influence of the college does not reach every 

 nook and corner of the state, and those people w T hom it does 

 reach are frequently not actually engaged in tilling the soil. 

 This fact was of course early recognized by the land-grant 

 colleges, and efforts have been made to establish institutions 

 that would bring the agricultural message to the farmer. 



1 Bulletin 253, Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, p. 90. 



