annual report—Convention. 57 
combine those principles that be may apply them to every possi¬ 
ble exigency that may arise. 
So it is with the educated farmer. He is the man who has been 
taught those principles of science that bear upon his profession. 
He is to apply them to practice, and he must know them so thor¬ 
oughly, as to see how he can bring them to his aid. in every branch 
of farming. 
How can this instruction be given? The greatest practical dif¬ 
ficulty that has been met with, by all the industrial colleges of 
the country, has been the want of preparation, on the part of stu¬ 
dents, to receive the required instruction. There is no royal road, 
even to industrial knowledge. The student cannot leap from 
the common school into the depths of applied science. He must 
work his way there gradually. It is not a mere form of college 
routine that prescribes for the student freshman studies before 
the sophomore, or sophomore studies before the junior, etc. A 
student cannot reap the benefit of the higher and more intricate 
studies until he has laid a foundation for them by previous culture 
and training. 
The college course is simply the arrangement of studies in that 
sequence which will gradually strengthen the mind for the com¬ 
prehension of that which requires stronger mental power. The 
higher you would build a superstructure, the broader and deeper 
must be its foundation. It is precisely so in the education of 
men. If you would raise them to the comprehension of higher 
truth, you must first prepare them for its reception by previous 
training. A theological seminary cannot take a pupil from the 
common school, and in its three years’ course transform him into 
an eminent divine, nor can the medical school prepare such a man 
for practicing the healing art in so short a time. 
But the fault is not with the schools; it is with the man. He 
has not the power of comprehending the truths embraced in pro¬ 
fessional instruction in these departments, and hence fails to re¬ 
ceive the benefit he would otherwise gain. In the schools of sci¬ 
ence the same difficulty is experienced. To thoroughly under¬ 
stand the principles of science requires previous training on the 
part of the student. He must grow into habits of thought. He 
cannot leap into them. To be well versed in the sciences that 
