No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 81 



financial stand-point. Many of them work hard during 

 their college life, and get through with hardly fifty dollars 

 to their name and possibly several hundred dollars in debt. 

 The question that comes to them is, What am I to do? 

 Some of them have an opportunity to go back to the farm 

 and work out their salvation there, and they do it. We 

 have many notable illustrations of what young men can do 

 in making a success of agriculture. Others have no farm to 

 go to and they have no capital at their disposal ; and you, 

 my friend, would not advise these young men as a rule to 

 attempt to pay their debts and get a little money ahead by 

 going on to a farm. Agriculture involves capital, and with- 

 out capital it is a pretty rough row to hoe. If they have 

 no means, they must do whatever they can. Many have 

 said if they only had the money they would gladly go back 

 to the farm. It seems to me that we ought to look at this 

 in the right spirit, and attempt to get a clear understanding 

 of the matter. I believe in agricultural education. I do 

 not believe that we are going to get a large number of men 

 from the farms of Massachusetts who are going to our agri- 

 cultural college and go back to the farm, because of the 

 financial conditions and because there are so many other 

 opportunities that present themselves ; and yet I believe 

 that there are young men who will go back on to the farms, 

 if they have courage, and make a success of it. 



A man said to me a little while ago: "I would pay five 

 cents a quart for milk willingly if I could get the right kind of 

 milk. I cannot get hold of it." I asked him what he wanted. 

 He said, "I want milk that comes from animals that are well 

 taken care of, from animals that are kept clean ; I want milk 

 that has no odor to it, that I can put into bottles and put on 

 the market for eight cents a quart. I find a great deal of 

 difficulty in getting it." There are opportunities for men 

 to-day to do something along the lines of agriculture, if they 

 would only be equal to the occasion. We are specializing 

 more and more. We are talking more about poultry raising 

 and more about dairying than we ever have done before, and 

 I believe the men who have the opportunity to go to our 

 college and prepare themselves for this line of work will make 

 a success of the work. But I do not believe that we are 



