Horticultural and Agricultural Education in Florida 
Prof. P. H. Rolfs. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
Once in a while, we like to take a gen¬ 
eral survey; to get on the housetop, as it 
were, and look around over the country 
and see what is to be seen. We want to 
spend a few minutes this morning in this 
kind of general survey, then we will get 
down to details and study the details more 
closely than this paper deals with them. 
EDUCATION NECESSARY FOR A STABLE 
DEMOCRACY. 
Our present system of education had 
its origin in an aristocratic form of gov¬ 
ernment. It, therefore, partook much of 
the form of government under which it 
was fostered. In an aristocratic govern¬ 
ment it mattered not how many toiled in¬ 
cessantly, SO' long as the chosen few were 
privileged to follow the bent of their own 
inclinations to the fullest extent. Under 
such a form of government, a few ex¬ 
tremely talented individuals arose, espec¬ 
ially along those lines of study that did not 
displease the rulers. The great masses of 
humanity, however, were not thought 
worthy of attention. It was really con¬ 
sidered dangerous for them to obtain the 
rudiments of an education. The very 
foundations of a democracy rest on the 
assumption that each one of the electorate 
body has at least a reasonable understand¬ 
ing of those questions of government 
necessary to the fullest development of 
the individuals who make up the democ¬ 
racy. 
Our own government is only a limited 
democracy, and in some of the “machine- 
ridden” districts it is extremely limited. 
We are, in fact, to a large extent, govern¬ 
ed by an office-holding oligarchy, which 
differs from a monarchy only in that the 
electorate may at irregular intervals re¬ 
move the reigning oligarch, and replace 
him by another. These conditions will 
continue to exist as long as the electorate 
body remains incapable of knowing its 
needs and expressing them at the polls. 
Great holdings of property are not, to my 
mind, incompatible with a perfect democ¬ 
racy; nor are great variations in intellec¬ 
tual attainments antagonistic to a democ¬ 
racy. But it is impossible for a pure 
democracy to exist unsullied unless 
the majority of the electorate 
is capable of understanding and 
voting intelligently on both local 
and national questions. As long as we 
have an uneducated electorate, either one 
“boss” or another will rule; but, as the 
electorate becomes more educated, the 
boss retreats, and finally quits the field. 
Our own government has given us a 
striking illustration of how an almost 
perfect organization may be perverted to 
