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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 656 



and the way in whicli the craftsmanship 

 may be most advantageously invoked and 

 applied by a master craftsman in every- 

 day employment. These agricultural 

 schools also support courses of instruction 

 in scientific agriculture which are of uni- 

 versity grade, and they maintain extensive 

 and well-manned departments of research 

 which have retuimed vincounted advantages 

 for the appropriations expended. 



The agricultural schools have thus 

 undertaken to cover a triple field : The field 

 of the master craftsman, the field of the 

 scientific or professional agriculturalist 

 and the field of agricultural research; and, 

 in the main, they are occupying each of the 

 fields well. This is in great contrast to the 

 situation of industrial education, in which 

 schools for master craftsmen — i. e., fore- 

 men's schools— are so few as to be almost 

 unknown. 



The lead of the agTicultural schools 

 arises partially from a lack of farsighted 

 altruism amongst the agricultural people, 

 who clamor for the expenditure of public 

 funds to advance agricultural education in 

 all its branches, and especially those 

 branches that come close home to the in- 

 dividual farmers and dairjnnen, but are 

 selfishly unwilling to see public funds ex- 

 pended in those lines which appear to im- 

 mediately aid the manufacturers, who, 

 allege the farmers, are able to help them- 

 selves. This line of argument springs 

 from the idea that the prosperity of the 

 country , rests upon its agricultural re- 

 sources; and any one who has lived, as I 

 have, for years amongst the people of the 

 fertile plains of the central west and 

 northwest can not help but be convinced 

 that this line of argument contains much 

 of truth. However, it is false in its 

 premises, because it fails to remember the 

 unassailable fact that the prosperity of the 

 agricultural interests and the concurrent 



contentment of the agricultural population 

 are dependent in this country to an ex- 

 tended degree on the intelligence and pros- 

 perity of the industrial population. The 

 interests of each— the agricultural and in- 

 dustrial populations of this country — are 

 so bound up together, that only by friendly 

 cooperation in most things, including the 

 educational interests, can the highest wel- 

 fare of either be conserved. It seems to me 

 that it is of almost as much interest to the 

 mechanic or mill foreman that the farmer 

 shall be taught how best to perform his 

 labor to bring forth the largest and best 

 matured crops as it is to the farmer him- 

 self. And conversely, it seems to me that 

 it is almost equally to the interest of the 

 farmer and of the industrial foreman that 

 the latter shall be afforded the best avail- 

 able training for the practise of his voca- 

 tion. 



Now, let us turn to consider the relative 

 importance of proper education. 



Upon the subject of education, not presuming 

 to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can 

 only say that I view it as the most important 

 subject which we as a people can be engaged in. 



AYliat Abraham Lincoln thus said in 

 1832 is even more applicable to the condi- 

 tions of our times. Only the education to 

 be found in the elementary common schools 

 was probably then in the mind of the 

 speaker, and the extended school educa- 

 tions of a vocational nature, and especially 

 of a professional nature, were apparently 

 not within the purview of his experience; 

 but these were not outside of his horizon, 

 for he would have an extension of that 

 education which leads to morality, sobriety, 

 enterprise and industry, as is shown by 

 another sentence from the same address : 



For my part, I desire to see the time when edu- 

 cation — and by its means morality, sobriety, enter- 

 prise and industry — shall become much more gen- 

 eral than at present, and should be gratified to 

 have it in my power to contribute something to 



