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The Rural New-Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
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"iitv ■ ■ 
VoL. LXXVI. 
NE4V YORK, APRIL *21, 1917. 
No. 4426. 
An Original Agricultural School 
Commencement 
Instruction in the Farmer’s Language 
AM .sending herewith a program of the com¬ 
mencement exercises of onr agricultural school, 
whicli occurred on March 28th. 
I am also sending a photograph showing how one 
of the graduates illustrated his part on the pro¬ 
gram. His subject was ‘‘The Farmer and His 
Wheat Market.” As the photograph shows, he had 
large jdacards representing the local elevator, the 
railwaj', the chamber of commerce, the terminal 
elevator, the mill, the wholesaler and the retailer. 
These were placed along the front of the stage, and 
as the .speaker reached the proper place in his talk, 
a classmate, dressed in Avorking clothes and repre¬ 
senting the farmer, came upon the scene with a 
hundred pounds of wheat in a sack. He Avas told 
that he Avould be obliged to leave two ponnds at 
the local elevator, six pounds Avith the railroad for 
hauling the hundred pounds 200 miles, one pound 
with the chamber of commerce for . selling the 
grinding it into flour; then the Avholesaler had to 
huA’e eight pounds for selling the flour to the re¬ 
tailer. and the retailer must be given 11 pounds 
for selling and delivering it to the customer. The 
farmer shook his head decidedly at every stop, and 
e.specially Avhen he aa'us obliged to giA’e up six 
pounds to the railroad and eight ponnds and 11 
pounds respectively to the Avhole.saler and retailer, 
and finally walked off sorroAvfully Avith the remain¬ 
ing dl i^ounds of AA'heat. It Avas a A'ery cleA'er, 
graphic Ava.v of fixing in the minds of the audience 
the process of marketing the Avheat crop, .and the 
number of middlemen Avho manage to take toll 
from it. 
Other numbers on the program Avere equally in¬ 
teresting and Avere Avell illustrated in a practical 
Avay. While Victor Christgan talked on the sub¬ 
ject: ‘‘Opportunity Economically Con.sidered,” three 
of his classmates dressed as pioneers laid claim to 
an island of tanbark AA'hicli had been placed on the 
stage, and each built a fence around his claim, thus 
fencing in all the land on the island. As they Avere 
completing their fences a fourth young pioneer, who 
much like the ordinary high .school commencement. 
Nothing was said about Avhat lies over the Alps. 
Minnesota. j. m. ukkw. 
K. N.-Y.—Why should 7iot e\’ery function of agri- 
cultunil education be made original, and AA'orked 
out in .some characteristic Avay? AVhy should we 
go on trying to imitate the univer.sities and cla.ssical 
institutions in our methods of instruction? Why 
.should farmers alwa.A's follow the path laid out for 
them by other interests? We have long believed 
that much of the information poured out so fively 
for farmers fails to interest them because it is not 
pre.sented in their own language or in their own 
thought. No one can imagine an oration or an es- 
.say on the marketing question Avhich could appeal 
to a farmer as the little ‘•play” described by Mr. 
Drew must have done. We Avould like to .see that 
pai)er on ‘-(’ulture at ’I’he Dishpan" worked out with 
the best possible effect of the moving picture to 
show the thought in Whittier’s poem: 
‘‘SoniotiiiH's her narrow kitchen walls 
Faded awa.v into marble halls!” 
The fashionable people, Avho are merely slaves to 
Where the Farmer’s Wheat Went. Fig. 216 
Avheat, one pound wtih the terminal eleA'ator for 
handling the crop, scA-en pounds with the mill for 
ORDER OF EXERCISES 
MUiSIC 
S. A. U. M. Orchestra 
INVOCATION 
Rev. Albert J. Northrup 
MUSIC 
S. A. U. M. Orchestra 
A Demonstration in Thrift Leoxoua C. ToaoERSOX 
The Farmer and 
MUiSIC 
His AVheat Market 
Joseph 
M. Morley 
S. A. r. M. Orchestra 
Opportunity Economically Considered 
VicTop. Chri.stgat; 
Judging the Dairy Cow Elaiek N. Hansen 
MUSIC 
S. A. U. il. Orchestra 
Culture at the Dish I’an Oi.ia'e Cunningham 
A Parliamentary Law Demonstration 
Arthur E. Christgau 
ADDRESS AND CONFERRING OF 
CERTIFICATES 
George E. Vincent 
President of the University of Minnesota 
BENEDICTION 
said he Avas a graduate of a school of agriculture 
and could make a good living on 10 acres of land, 
appeared and found that there Avas no free land 
left, and ahso found that he could buy no land from 
the others Avithout paying a big price for it. Their 
only claim to the land Avas the fact that they had 
got there first. 
At the conclusion of the land discussion, the 
fences Avere quickl.v gathered uj) and carried out 
and a fine young Jersey cow Avas led in on the 
island of tanbark. and Elmer Hansen, AA”ith a long 
linen duster over his graduation suit, showed ho\A’ 
dairy coavs Avere judged. 
Leonora Torgei’son gave a ‘‘Demonstration in 
Thrift” by shoAving hoAv the liouseAvife could make 
breakfast food from Avheat at a small fraction of 
the cost of the jirejiared foods on the mai'ket: and 
Olive Cunningham shoAved Avhat fun it is to Avash 
dishes if one onl.v goes at it in the right aahi.v. 
“A Parliamentary I.aAV Demonstration” Avas a 
mock session of a farmers’ club in Avhich a dozen 
boys of the class took iiart, led by their class presi¬ 
dent. Taken altogether, the program was not very 
form, might laugh at such things! Let them laugh I 
M’hy should Ave care? Some yeai’s ago at a com¬ 
mencement at an agricultural college Ave found the 
time taken up by a debate betAveen students on this 
question: “Resoh'ed—that Shakespeare aatis a bet¬ 
ter exponent of freedom than Milton!” That Avas in 
a State Avhere, at the time, farming aatis languish¬ 
ing and farmers Avere virtually shiA’e.s. It Avas an 
attempt to ape the “university,” but under the cir¬ 
cumstances it seemed one of the most jiatlietic 
things Ave ever saAv. 
The City-raised College Student 
[On page 524 wo asked in good faith, for the ex¬ 
perience of practical farmers Avith city bova Avho are 
attending agricultural college. We Avant' the truth 
Avithout prejudice or special favor. The first feAv let¬ 
ters are negative as regards city boys as hired men. 
The first letter to reach us folloAvs.' It is from a Avell- 
knoAvn Noav England farmer.] 
OU ask an important question in your editorial 
Avhen .vou ask if a cit3’-raised agricultural col¬ 
lege boy makes a satisfactory hired man. For a 
good manj’ j'ears I haA’e used them during their 
