STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 39 



EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE SOCIETY. 



Meetings for mutual interchange of ideas and experiences are 

 most effectual educators. This society early conceived the idea 

 of employing this means of carrying on its work. Right here 

 may I digress for a moment and consider the bearing of educa- 

 tion upon the advancement of horticultural interests ? 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 a 

 foundation on which to build. 



There is an element of uncertainty in all agricultural work. The 

 skilled mechanic may select his material and, applying the princi- 

 ples he has learned, can construct a machine that shall be prac- 

 tically complete and in accordance with his plans and expecta- 

 tions. No farmer or fruit-grower can, however, predict with 

 certainty the outcome of his labors. Nature and Providence 

 have much to do with the processes, and we can only assist the 

 one and submit to the other — we can control neither. 



No agricultural college can turn out a farmer who can raise 

 exactly 29 bushels and 35 pounds of wheat per acre year after 

 year. But this does not signify that a young man is not better 

 ■equipped for his life work because of the training he may obtain 

 at an agricultural college. In other words, a thorough study of 

 the laws of nature, as applied to agriculture, will reduce the 

 uncertainties to a minimum, and will raise the possibilities of 

 production to the maximum. The college brings to bear all of 

 the sciences related to the subject — chemistry, geology, botany, 

 physiology, entomology, etc., and gives to the young man who 

 has these resources, provided he has the additional and very 

 -essential quality of sound common-sense, distinct advantage 

 over the man who derives bis information solely from the school 

 of experience. In the words of one of the leaders in agricultural 

 -education : "The range of practical knowledge is so great that 

 it is unwise to leave its acquirement to the uncertain chances 

 of the chance farmer with chance information. The industry is 

 so great that it is entitled to bring to its aid all that science can 



