112 STATE POMOLOGICAIv SOCIETY. 



students who come there for instruction, and I will briefly men- 

 tion some of the things that we are now doing to help the 

 farmers of the State. I will not say anything of the Experiment 

 Station. Dr. Woods has already mentioned that work, and you 

 all know of the worth of it. I am simply speaking for the 

 College of Agriculture now. We have, of course, our four year 

 course in agriculture, in which we are teaching scientific agri- 

 culture. There never was a time when there was the call there 

 is today for trained men in these lines, and I would not agree 

 with Mr. Hixon in the four years' course that w^e meet the boys 

 half way, but we must keep that course up to the standard in 

 the medical courses, law, and all other professions. Now I 

 would agree with Mr. Hixon that we should meet the boy half 

 way in other courses ; and to meet the boy half way, the boy 

 who is not fitted for a college education, or university education 

 and a graded four years' course, we have a two years' course 

 to which any boy can come who has had even a common school 

 education and we will give him a good practical education that 

 will make a better farmer out of him. So much for what we 

 are giving at the University. 



Now our extension work, carrying the work all over the State. 

 We have recently established a department just for the benefit 

 of farmers, beginning January 7th next, which covers the gen- 

 eral lines of fruit growing and general farm products, and dairy- 

 ing and animal breeding and feeding. Following that course 

 we shall have our second annual farmers' week. The first one 

 was held last March and we were much gratified to know that 

 116 men and women representing fourteen counties in the State, 

 came at that time. They asked us to give another one next 

 March, and the 7th of next ]\Iarch we will have another farmers' 

 week, and we hope the number will be trebled, or four or five 

 times as large. We are making preparations to keep every one 

 who comes if we have to go to Bangor for accommodations. 

 Besides that there is a poultry course. In the extension work 

 last summer we tried another experiment. We oflfered to send 

 men who carry apparatus with them all over this State, right to 

 the farmers, to give demonstrations. The fertilizer question, 

 the question of testing milk, the question of pruning and graft- 

 ing, the question of spraying, are important enough so that they 



