16 



THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



areas, and the "highway engineer" designs and con- 

 structs the country roads and highways which form the 

 arteries of commerce from the farms. 



The three latter classes of engineers need to have, 

 besides the technical training in engineering, very accu- 

 rate and specific knowledge of agricultural subjects. 

 They must know the physical conditions of the soil and 

 the requirements of plant and animal life on the farm 



Prof. C. J. Zintheo, 

 Formerly U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



in order to successfully solve the problems of their pro- 

 fession. To this class of engineers should be added two 

 other vocations, namely, the men who design, experi- 

 ment with, and construct the agricultural implements, 

 and those who prepare plans for the farm buildings. 

 The problems which these men have to solve are all 

 agricultural by the aid of engineering training. In 

 view of these thoughts we are perhaps justified in re- 

 garding the men engaged in such work as "agricultural 

 engineers." 



Up to the present time the profession of agricul- 

 tural engineering and the teaching on the subject in 

 our colleges has not been officially recognized as such. 

 In Europe, however, the profession of agricultural en- 

 gineering has long been established, and there it has the 

 same standing as the other engineering professions. 



The agricultural colleges of Sweden have complete 

 courses for the training of agricultural engineers, and 

 have also experimental laboratories for the testing of 

 farm implements. This work has been inaugurated 

 there since 1860, and it has been learned that the ex- 

 periments conducted are of great value to farmers in 

 choosing their machines, and also of benefit to imple- 

 ment manufacturers, in that they point out defects in 

 construction and weak points in the design of their 

 machines. To show how the implement manufacturers 

 of Sweden appreciate the value of the agricultural 

 engineer and his work, it is only necessary to state that 

 in 1896 the Separator Dairy Machinery Company pre- 

 sented the Department of Agriculture with 100,000 



crowns, of which 10,000 crowns are being spent annu- 

 ally for farm machinery investigations. 



In Denmark agricultural engineering is a recog- 

 nized profession in connection with the agricultural 

 colleges, where farm implement experiments have been 

 conducted since 1872. 



In Belgium courses of instruction in agricultural 

 engineering are maintained at all of the leading agri- 

 cultural institution of the country, and considerable 

 attention is given to the investigations along the lines 

 pertaining thereto. 



In France the profession is well established and 

 recognized. The Bureau of Hydraulic Agriculture is 

 one of the leading bureaus of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment of France. Some very valuable work has been 

 done in drainage, land terracing, and irrigation, and 

 more recently in the development of farm motors to 

 take the -place of horses in the cultivation of the soil. 

 In order to provide a link between the agricultural 

 engineer and the farmer, the French Government in- 

 stituted its machine testing station near Paris, which 

 is probably the most thoroughly equipped in the world 

 for the scientific study of the principles of construction 

 and efficiency of operation of farm implements and 

 machinery. The study of agriculture in France has 

 been so systematized and the whole country so mapped 

 out that the possibilities and requirements of every dis- 

 trict can be readily ascertained whenever there is a 

 question of introducing improvements. 



The agricultural colleges of the Netherlands are 

 giving instruction in agricultural engineering, and the 

 Minister of Commerce and Industry has organized a 

 department where agricultural engineers aro given facili- 

 ties for having their mechanism officially tested at the 

 Agricultural Academy of Wangeningen. 



The agricultural high school at Berlin has a well 

 developed and efficient department of farm machinery, 

 and in the different provinces of Germany, at the agri- 

 cultural colleges, are offered courses in agricultural 

 engineering. These colleges are also provided with 

 implement experiment stations to which manufacturers 

 can send their machines and have them tested for ac- 

 curacy of work, strength and durability. 



Much has been accomplished in Germany in recent 

 years in encouraging the invention and manufacture of 

 motors, lamps and cooking apparatus which utilize 

 denaturized alcohol. Through this means the somewhat 

 depressed agricultural conditions of the country have 

 been revived, as new and profitable sources for utilizing 

 the raw materials of the farm have been found. Exten- 

 sive experiments have also been conducted with electric 

 motive power for farm purposes, steam plows and culti- 

 vators, and various kinds of dairy machinery and equip- 

 ments used for the manufacture of alcohol from farm 

 products. 



The agricultural engineers of Great Britain are 

 making great developments especially in their colonies, 

 for which they design and construct new machinery. 

 In India the British government has expended $125,- 

 000,000 on its colossal irrigation enterprises, which have 

 in the last ten years resulted in placing 800,000 persons 

 on part of its once arid and abandoned lands. In Egypt 

 the English agricultural engineers have constructed the 

 dykes, excavated the canals, built the waste-gates, or 

 regulators for leveling the water, and by this means 

 have been able to save the fertile lands of the valley 



