202 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 215. 



new, which has been freely distributed to 

 farmers in° every county of the Union. 

 Toothing like it has ever been seen before. 

 No country has ever before attempted so 

 systematic and thorough a distribution of 

 information to its agricultural population, 

 and no masses of farmers have ever so 

 eagerly sought for information as have our 

 own within the past few years ; and not 

 only has the free information furnished by 

 the stations and the Department been 

 eagerly sought for, but this period has also 

 been remarkable for the amount of accurate 

 information distributed to the farmers 

 through the agricultural press and other 

 newspapers and the number of good books 

 on farming which have been published. 

 Besides this, the agricultural societies, 

 granges, farmers' institutes, and other as- 

 sociations have been more active than ever 

 before in discussing the problems of agri- 

 culture and in securing the services of ex- 

 perts and successful practical men to lay 

 before them the fruits of science and expe- 

 rience for the more successful conduct of 

 the art of agriculture. Such an intellec- 

 tual awakening must have most important 

 results, and there is every indication that 

 it will go on increasing in volume and force 

 until it has thoroughly permeated the entire 

 agricultural population of the country. 



To secure the best results such a move- 

 ment needs the wisest leadership to guide 

 its aspirations in the best directions. For- 

 tunately the facilities for agricultural edu- 

 cation of a high order have been greatly 

 increased within a few years, and there is 

 to day a much larger number of well- 

 trained men who are competent to give the 

 farmers the information which they demand 

 than was the case tea years ago. What is 

 especially needed now is the more thorough 

 organization of the agencies for the diffu- 

 sion of information among the farmers. 

 Thus far the officers of our agricultural col- 

 leges and experiment stations have had to 



bear the heaviest portion of this burden, 

 and it is much to be wondered at that they 

 have so well discharged the great variety 

 of duties imposed upon them ; but the time 

 has come when there must be a specializa- 

 tion of work in this as in other directions if 

 we are to have the most efficient agencies 

 for the securing as well as for the dissemi- 

 nating of agricultural information. 



Everybody now admits that much may 

 be done to advance agriculture by scientific 

 investigations, but the absorbing character 

 of this work, if it is to be well done, is not 

 as yet thoroughly appreciated. The dis- 

 covery of new truth is the chief function of 

 our experiment stations, but the amount of 

 new truth which they will discover will be 

 very largely determined by the extent to 

 which the investigators are left to pursue 

 their investigations without interruption. 

 The same is true regarding the teacher in 

 our agricultural colleges. He must have 

 time to keep pace with the increasing vol- 

 ume of new information which is being 

 published, and be able to give his best ener- 

 gies to the planning of courses of study, 

 and come before his pupils with an active 

 mind, in order that he may not only im- 

 part knowledge to them, but may inspire 

 them with something of his own enthusiasm 

 regarding the subjects which he teaches. 

 The writer of popular bulletins and books 

 for farmers must not only have ample 

 knowledge, but he must have had time to 

 acquire the most complete sympathy with 

 his readers and a style of composition 

 which is confessedly the most difficult to 

 attain. The farmers' institute worker 

 should not only have wide familiarity with 

 the science and practice of agriculture, but 

 he should also have a ready wit and the 

 fine art of putting things in a clear light 

 and changing his point of view according to 

 his audience, which can only come through 

 natural aptitude combined with much ex- 

 perience in public asking. Many of our 



