268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the best-balanced ration, or the hundred other matters of 

 vital interest. It means that 750 farmers have had questions 

 to ask concerning fertilizers and fertilizer materials. It means 

 that 316 intelligent men engaged in the practice of agriculture 

 have wanted information respecting rotation of crops, millets 

 and soya beans, or the effects of potash on the growth of corn. 

 It means that 304 fruit growers have come and asked what 

 were the best varieties of fruits, how to cultivate them and 

 how to prevent disease," — and various other matters that 

 may be found in said report. This, too, in one department 

 alone. It may be seen, therefore, that the work outside of 

 the college and its broad acres is large, varied and benefi- 

 cent. And, while this work is being carried forward in the 

 line of public benefit and general advancement, a grander 

 work, perhaps, is being done within the college bounds in 

 developing men who will go out into the world to leaven its 

 interests, and especially its farming interests, with new ideas 

 and new methods. 



Humboldt has well said, "Earth holds up to her maker no 

 fruit like the finished man." 



The value of agricultural college work cannot be measured 

 by the graduates who follow farming alone, as a profession. 

 The school training will also develop the bent of natural 

 talent and taste. If the student has the making of a leader 

 in any walk of life, he will drift in due season into his 

 proper channel ; and these leaders are often found to start 

 from simple, humble homes. In referring to agricultural 

 colleges, the late Phineas Stedman in a written article said : 

 ' ' I consider that no cause is better calculated to promote the 

 welfare and future progress of agricultural practice than a 

 general diffusion of a knowledge of the sciences connected 

 with agriculture. Our endeavor should be, and the tendency 

 of the institution is, to impart to the tiller of the soil that 

 knowledge which has hitherto been possessed only by the 

 scientist." 



Ah, but some one says, these, the finished men, or the 

 leaders in thought and enterprise, do not come from rural 

 conditions and farmers' homes. Let us consider. 



Buckle, the noted English writer, tells us that " the char- 

 acteristics of men are fashioned and shaped largely by the 



