March, 1921. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



131 



rived as a coiisciou.s factor in world progress and world 

 welfare. 1 consider that ao immense accomplisliment in 

 agi'ieultiire. In the work that is carried on, the Can- 

 adian farmer uses the products of the cities and the 

 output of Canadian commerce and industry. That 

 being so, the chance that our cities will reach the con- 

 dition of European cities is a very remote one. And 

 that being true, I would call the attention of our legis- 

 lators and of our leading men in the cities to the fact, 

 pointing out the exceeding importance that ever.vthing 

 possible and reasonable and practicalile be done in Can- 

 ada to foster the interests of agriculture. 



Tlie antagonism between town and country interests 

 must be obliterated and forgotten, ami town and countr\' 

 must work together towards the making of complete 

 Canadian citizenship. That should be the ultimate con- 

 dition of our bod\- politic. Any movement or any line 

 of thought, political, economical or social, which tends 

 to nuiintain a cleavage between tlie interests of town 

 and country, should be discouraged. It should be the 

 aim of the Alunuii of this college, knowing what the 

 college is trying to accomplish and looking towards the 

 i-edemption of our farmers from the .sordidness and iso- 

 lation of their occupation, to act as mediatoi-s between 

 the jarring and clashing interests in this country. 



I mean by sordidness the lack, where it exists, of any 

 intellectual interest or occupation associated with farm- 

 ing, and if a college and its Alumni cannot appreciate 

 and cannot promulgate that result of agricultural edu- 

 cation, tlien it seems to me that the college must sign- 

 ally fail. That is one of the problems of the agricultural 

 college which must be solved largely througli its alumni, 

 to point out that agr-iculture is an occupation i-equiring 

 a high degree of trained intelligence which must l)e aj)- 

 plied if agriculture is to be successful. And where it is 



apjjlied agriculture is no longer sordid. 



Granted that agriculture can be redeemed, in a mea- 

 sure at least, from these two disabilities, what then re- 

 mains? My experience in agriculture is that those dis- 

 abilities of sordidness and isolation removed, agriculture 

 remains an interesting and desiral)le occupation. It 

 presents to a degree which few occupations present, the 

 qualities of freedom, both intellectual and physical, of 

 variety and of continual interest. It is a common su- 

 perstition that the work of agriculture is monotonous. I 

 never found it so. Agriculture in the variety of its 

 occu|)ation is as far removed as one can imagine from 

 monotony. 



There are some disabilities iidiei-ent in agriculture 

 and one is its relative unj3r()fital)leness. But that, in 

 my opinion, is one of its redeeming features, in that it 

 remains as a pursuit of choice, to which men are 

 drawn not by the love of lucre but by the higher de- 

 sires and aspirations. There is one other disability, 

 namely the large element of chance that interferes in 

 the pursuit of agriculture, the great number of uncon- 

 trollable factors with which the farmer has to meet. 

 While that is a disability it is also an opporunity for 

 the exercise of trained intelligence. 



When the.se disabilities are removed there remain 

 freedom, interest, variety and — will you allow me to 

 add — honor and dignity. 



I liave tried to set forth something tliat might be call- 

 ed a body of principles and in so far as you can agree 

 with me, think what a force tiiis meeting and sindlai- 

 meetings will mean in your various pursuits, the mould- 

 ing of right and true opinions with respect to the ins- 

 titution that you represent and pai-ticularly tlie mould- 

 ing and directing of opinions with respect to the great 

 and honorable ))ursuit of agriculture. 



Concerning the C. S. T. A. and Its Branches 



BY THE GENERAL-SECRETARY. 



During the months of April and May, plans will be 

 completed for the holding of the first Annual Conven- 

 tion in Winnipeg. Nominations are now being re- 

 ceived by the General Secretary, for the positions of 

 President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-Pi-esident 

 and Honorary Secretary-Treasurer. An election will 

 be carried on in April by mail ballot, when every 

 member will have an opportunity to indicate his 

 choice for each of the four positions named above. 

 The nine provincial executive committees will each 

 name, before May 15th, one representative to hold 

 office for one year. The complete new Dominion Ex- 

 ecutive Committee, with thirteen members, will hold 

 its first business meeting at the close of the Conven- 

 tion. 



It has been decided to hohl tlic Convention on June 

 l.")th. Kith and 17th, and every mcmhcr sJiouUl make a 

 special efj'ovt to be in Winitipey al that time. Official 

 delegates, in the proportion of one to every twenty 

 members, will be sent by each local branch and will 

 be given full voting privileges at the Convention. 

 Other members in attcndajice, will, it is hoped be pre- 

 pared to take part in the discussions upon the many 



important matters coming up for consideration. 



Between now and the time of the Convention the 

 General Secretary will keep in the closest possible 

 touch with the Dominion Executive, the local and 

 provincial committees and the individual member.s. 

 partly through these columns and partly by direct 

 corresijondence. Every effort will be made to give 

 advance ptd)Iicity to the date and place of the Con- 

 vention, in order to ensure as large an attendance as 

 possible; similar publicity will sub.sequently be given 

 to the addresses, dLscu.ssions, resolutions and i-eports, 

 presented during the meetings. 



A tentative programme is now being drawn up for 

 the consideration and final approval of the Dom- 

 inion Executive. The General Secretary will move his 

 head(|uarters to Winnipeg at least two weeks in ad- 

 vance of the meetings, in order to give personal at- 

 tention to many local details. A special Convention 

 number of "Scientific Agriculture" will be published 

 at the end of June. 



Members of the C.S.T.A. are earnestly recjuested to 

 submit to the General Secretai-y. especially (lurinir the 

 month of April, any suggestions that will be helpful 



