3£ 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
tion of the state ; which, if it cannot decide to constitute commis¬ 
sions for eaeh separate department of investigation that might 
be named, can at least extend its fostering care to all such 
agencies as exist for the very purpose of extending our knowl¬ 
edge in these and kindred matters. 
THE BETTER EDUCATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES. 
Everything heretofore said in the discussion of our indus¬ 
trial needs leads to this general conclusion, that the industrial 
classes of the people must be better educated. The farmer 
must not always grope in darkness, ignorant of even the ele¬ 
mentary principles involved in the production of his crops, 
the breeding and rearing of his domestic animals, the shaping 
his plans to meet the exigencies of the times. The miner must 
not always rest his hopes of success on inferences drawn from 
traditional notions and theories. The mechanic must not be 
left to plan and construct in accordance with usage, though it 
be in the most flagrant violation of principles long known and 
established. They sadly need the teachings of science. Soci¬ 
ety every moment suffers the penalty of their ignorance. Op¬ 
portunities for instruction must be buth abundant and cheap— 
so abundant and so free that poverty will be no hindrance. 
More than this, when the facilities are made ready, society 
must adopt the principle of going into the by-ways and hedges 
and compelling them to come in. 
The state will not prove its wisdom by holding its hand of 
help closed against the agencies that already exist for this no¬ 
ble purpose, nor in refusing its encouragement to new ones 
promising efficiency. Certainly it cannot consistently neglect 
the only school it has in all its borders for special instruction 
in those practical arts whose prosperity lies at the very founda¬ 
tion of the public welfare. 
The university college of science and the arts has been 
reared on a foundation furnished by the general government, 
supplemented by a gift of $40,000 in bonds by Dane county. 
The congressional gift, though not in all respects an equal 
