104 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



March, 1921. 



Four 11-year Agriculturists other Non-Agri- 



I)eriods. Farmers. than Farmers. cuUurists. 



1874^1884 50 5 45 



1885—1895 58 16 26 



1896—1906 57 30 13 



1907—1917 50 42 8 



The percentage on the land is fairly constant, 

 varying not more than 4 per cent, in any one period 

 from the general average of 54 per cent. It is in- 

 teresting to note that the increase in ])ercentage of 

 those_ following agricultural work other than farm- 

 ing corresponds closely with the decrease in per- 

 centage of those following non-agricultural pursuits. 



Five ex-students, who were recently farmers, now 

 fill the important positions of Premier, Minister of 

 Agriculture, Provincial Secretary, Minister of Edu- 

 cation and Minister of Public Works of the Ontario 

 Government. Numbered amongst the graduates of 

 tlu' Ontario Agricultural College there are seven 

 Commissioners and Deputy Ministers of Agriculture, 

 eleven Presidents of Universities and Agricultural 

 Colleges, twenty-one Agriciiltural Journalists, fifty 

 Agricultural Representatives, in addition to a com- 

 paratively large number of other graduates who are 

 associated in various ways with the Provincial and 

 and Dominion Governments of Canada. 



It is of interest to learn that in a survey made of 

 the Alumni of Yale University in Connecticut it was 

 found that only 2 per cent, of the graduates of that 

 institution were in any way engaged in agricultural 

 work. 



The ex-stndents of the Ontario Agcii-uKural College 

 have already formed three Alumni Associations, one 

 for Eastern, one for Central and one for Western 

 Ontario. As this goes to pres.s, a meeting of the ex- 

 students of the regular course is being planned in 

 order to complete the organization work for a Pro- 

 vincial O.A.C. Alunuii Association. It is expected 

 that with the formation of this strong oi'ganization 

 an agency will be inaugurated which will be capable 

 of rendering inestimable service to the agriculturists 

 of the Province. 



The Institution from the beginning has been in 

 reality an Agricultural Expei'iment Station as well 

 as a College. From an act outlining the original 

 work of the Ontario Agricultural College, I make 

 the following quotation : 



"Experiments with the different varieties of eerealsi 

 grasses, and roots; of trees, plants, shrubs, flowers, 

 and fruits ; with different modes of cultivation ; 

 with different manures; with the breeding, raising, 

 and fattening of animals; With the products of the 

 dairy ; and with whatsoever else ma.v he of prac- 

 tical benefit; in adding to the knowledge of the facts, 

 principles, and laws of the science and art of agri- 

 culture, horticulture, and arboriculture, under the 

 climatic conditions of this Province, shall be carried 

 out on the experimental farm ; and the modes of 

 procedure and results published from time to time." 



In 1876 Profei5sor Wm. Brown, Superintendent of 

 the Farm, reported as follows: — "Shortly after my 

 a|>|)oiiitniiMit here we took up the subject of experi- 

 ments in all forms — the feeding aud breeding of 

 animals as well as the cultivation of croi)s under a 

 variety of conditions." Experiments and investiga- 

 tions which have been carried on extensively have, 



therefore, formed a very important part of the 

 WDi'k of the Institution throughout its entire history. 

 Our well equipped laboratories, well stocked scien- 

 tific library, and specially arranged museums have 

 proven serviceable for both College and station 

 workers. Both the field and livestock experiments 

 have not only furnished important information for 

 the farmers of the Province but have also supplied 

 excellent material for illustration purposes for the 

 students of both the short and long courses. The 

 students, therefore, have received much advantage 

 from observation of the experiments and from per- 

 sonal contact with the investigators themselves. Ad- 

 vanced students are frequently employed as a.ssist- 

 ants in some of the agricultural work. It has been 

 clearly demonstrated that both the Agricultural Col- 

 lege and Experiment Station have been mutually 

 helpful to each other. 



In 1879 the ex-students, students, and officers of 

 the Ontario Agricultural College formed an organi- 

 zation known as the Ontario Agricultural and Ex- 

 perimental Union, the second article of the consti- 

 tution reading as follows: — 



"The object of this Association shall be to form 

 a bond of union amongst the officers and students, 

 past and present, of the Ontario Agricultural Col- 

 lege and Experimental Farm ; to promote their in- 

 tercourse with the view of mutual information ; to 

 discuss subjects bearing on the wide field of agri- 

 culture, with its allied sciences and arts; to conduct 

 experiments in this field in union as far as possible, 

 or by individual efforts ; to secure the co-operation 

 of the agriculturists of the Province in this work, 

 and to meet at least once annually to hear pa])ers 

 and addresses deliveretl by competent partie.'i, and 

 to report upon the labors of the past year." 



The co-operative experimental work has been con- 

 ducted by committees appointed by the Organiza- 

 tion with duties outliiu^d as follows: — • 



"It shall be the duty of each Experimental Com- 

 mittee to decide upon its own course of experiments 

 for each year; to purchase and distribute the ma- 

 terial to be used by experimenters, and to receive 

 and compile the reports, and submit them to the 

 annual meeting." 



During the first seven years of this Organization 

 but little was accomplished. In 1886, however, a 

 definite line of co-opei-ative experimental work was 

 started with twelve fai'mers who undertook the ex- 

 perimental work that year, and from that time the 

 mimber of experimenters has been steadily and sub- 

 stantially increasing until it reached over five tlio\i- 

 sand in one single year just previous to the war. In 

 the present year, there are eight distinct committees 

 actively engaged in the co-operative work, including 

 agriculture, agricultural botany, forestry, agricul- 

 tural chemistry, apiculture, farm literatiire, agri- 

 cultural physics, and agricultural bacterioogy. The 

 co-operative, exiierimental work in agriculture has 

 now been conducted for thirty-five years, during 

 which time there have been 97.296 distinct tests 

 made throughout Ontario. Each of these experi- 

 ments consisted of from two to ten plots. The fol- 

 loM-ing figures show the average yearly number of 

 Ontario farmers actually engaged in the work in 

 each of three periods of from eleven to thirteen 

 years : 



