36 AGRICULTURE AND RURAL-LIFE DAY. 



checked, exterminated; farming methods have been improved; new 

 varieties of plants and animals have been introduced; and rural 

 economies and cooperation have been inaugurated as the result of 

 their work. At the lowest calculation, the agricultural experiment 

 stations have increased farm products fully 10 per cent annually 

 and farm values have increased correspondingly. 



STEPHEN M. BABCOCK (1843- ). 



Largely because of his researches as agricultural chief and chemist 

 at the University of Wisconsin, that State is among the foremost in 

 agricultural wealth. The institution with which he was associated 

 has become a model of service to a wiiole Commonwealth. 



The Babcock tester for butter fat in milk has revolutionized dairy- 

 ing. A separate account with each cow becomes possible and neces- 

 sary. AATien the unprofitable cow is discovered a whole chain of 

 inquiries is started. Better feeding may be needed, or gentler treat- 

 ment, or new dairy methods; and many times it is found that the 

 only remedy is a new cow of better breed. The beauty of it all 

 is that a child can make the test, and thus the =chool and farm may 

 coojDerate. 



DAVID DICKSON (1809-1885). 



Known as " tne first millionaire farmer of the South," he de- 

 A'eloped many improvements in the agricultural practice of that 

 section in addition to perfecting a number of farm implements. 

 Starting at the age of 35 w^ith $25,000, which he had made in busi- 

 ness, he bought 266 acres of land in Georgia, and by the application 

 of business principles he increased the productivity of the soil many- 

 fold. He devised the method of breaking the land deep and culti- 

 vating shallow, using the so-called Dickson formula as a fertilizer. 

 He practiced seed selection and developed the first prolific variety of 

 cotton, known as " Dickson's cluster." He was also inventor of the 

 " Dickson sweep," a plow adapted for sandy soil, which at the same 

 time lessened the number of furrows necessary in cultivating a crop. 

 Mr. Dickson wrote "David Dickson's System of Farming," a work 

 which has done much to improve agricultural methods. 



HAPPY THE MAN. 



Happy the man whose wish and care 



A few paternal acres bound. 

 Content to breathe his native air 

 In his own ground : 



