TRAINING FARMERS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1986, 17 February 1914, Page 10

TRAINING FARMERS.

WHAT.THE UNITED STATES IS DOING.

FAR-REACHING EFFORTS,

The United' States, thegreotcst agricultural country in. the ■ world, lias until quite recently been indifferent to agriculture, which sounds paradoxical but is true. Perhaps it was that as familiar-' ity breeds contempt so tho bounty of Nature mado man reckless and wasteful. Whatever tho reason, the fact is that the American agriculturist has got less out- of the soil than tho farmer in any other part of the world, His yield of wheat, for instance, has aver* aged less than half of that of European countries. • Intensive- farming has been unknown. But- that was unnecessary. When the population of the-. United States was smaller than it is to-day there was always a great surplus of farm ' products for export, and as Europe must have American wheat and corn, and cattle the farmer gave himself no worry. Ho farmed on a large stale, and.lie trusted to tho richness of the soil to reward him with a large crop. When his expectations wcrurealised he sold what he raised at a profit and was well off, when too muchor too little rail!, too much heat or an unduly prolonged winter running into the late spring retarded the growth ol his corn or parched his wheat, he was hard up and had to mortgage his farm ,to tide him over the next- season. The American farmer was never as well off as he ought to havo been considering his exceptional advantages. Few American farmers had any attachment to the soil. ' Many of them were farmers in the 'United states because they ha;d- been failures as farmers in Europe. They had emigrated to America, they drifted to the West, they, took up farm lands, and they worked them in a half-hearted way, They were hampered by want of capital, ana they were without scientific knowledge -or long familiarity with the soil and its peculiarities. Tuey became imbued with the spirit of America, which is to trust to luck. When the small farmer was succeeded by the great landowner, whose acres were numbered j by the thousands, and whose hajids [•were counted by the hundreds, methods changed but not the results. American inventive genius evolved steam reaping machines, ploughs, and other agricultural machinery,' which th.c> worm now" uses because new conditions. made it necessary for steam to displace hand labour in the field as it had already done in tho factory. But while steam reaped it did not now sow. A machine could do the work that hitherto had required tho labour.of a hundred men, but it did not increase the yield by a single kerne,). The great wheat plains of the West were the pride of the Ame-ricaa and the envy and admiration . o| tho rest of the. world, but they were only- half efficient. In the aggregate the crop wias enormous, but it ought to have been twice as large.

Making Farming Mqre Sdlsntlno,

So long as.there was. a .surplus, it was foli.y to try. to'make the farmer' understand that he was losing nipney with e-Vory crop he gathered; for every, manufacturer knows that' when a plant produces less, than.- its■ capacity, the cost of tho produce is imfdetisely increased. With the growing increase of population, not alone in America, but throughout the'world, and-tire greater demand for farm products, the farmer found'.his surplus decreasing, and this ■added consumption, according to some economists, esnla'in-s the.increase ..of- all coniniodity. prices that has been worldwide during the last.few,,years Some alarmists have said ihat- tho world faces faniine, but even if that danger is, uot to be feared it is evident that an increase, in the yield of cereals would bo' greatly to the advantage of tho world: Realising the necessity, of making American f arrning more .scientific, the United States Department of Agriculture during tho last few years has spent a great deal of money to bring about tho desired reqult, and the country at largo is, according to Mr. A. Maurice Low, of the "Morning Post" staff,- almost impetuously trying to nigjko up for lost time and undo the waste of years. Under the influence of the Department of Agriculture nineteen States hotv require that teaching of agriculture shall bo part of the curriculum in the com' Won schools. In tlio two years eftdiiig March, 1912, the' number of institutions' giving courses in agriculture increased at the rate of more than ?<3 i month, aud whereas two years ago there,were only 863 institutions where agriculture was taught, now. there at' 2575, This retiuireme'nt of the States that agriculture shall be taught in the. schools has created a demand for teachers, and the demand is greater than the supply. To incet this normal schools are introducing courses in agriculture, and many, of the agricultural colleges are offering opportunities to teachers to equip themselves for their work, but with all tins there are" not enough teachers for t(io secondary schools and the special schools of.agriculture. The' Department of .Agriculture has made an investigation to discover how teachers already employed may acquire tho training to enable them to teach the-elementary phases of agriculture.

Training by Classes and Correspondanoei The Department finds that the. most popular, as well as the most, difficult', means of • giving this training- is" the., surfimer .course' afforded by a college or' normal Tho instruction, the, Do-, partniojit nptjis, is usually of a." high class, and, adequate equipment and ap'-i parajtus ■ for laboratory and 'field work, are available. _ 'There are..'also special' short. courses in ajaiculturo offered in some institutions during the. regular, .teraii usually in the sprisg. Afternoon, o\enin.g, ajid. Saturday classes ivf. a'jrn-. culture- dn'rißg the regular school year are. held si, Columbia University in' the' city-of New Y6fk.' But iregulat c-jasse? reach only a lipiited number of persons, as many can'afford neither the time nor thf-, money to give up., their regular, employment and tftke a spoeia.l course, and- to meet the requirements of the .persons correspondence-classes bavft been established. The- Department notes thflt while "the expense, incident to a, eOrrespondeijce course is usually smalt, this method has its disadvantages, as .there is considerable danger of the students getting incorrect ideas on the more complex questions wliirfi arise. There are at present, however, throughont the United States and its territories, about twenty-five State institutions and five private schools in which some regularly established correspondence work may be done along this: lino. Many of the courses in' the State institutions are free to residents of tho State, except for the cost of text hooks and postage. The highest fee charged by a State school is 6 dollars for one course." Tho University of Arizona, the Michigan Agricultural College, the New-Hamps'htro College, Cornell - University, -New York, and tho State University, College of Agriculture, of Ohio, ■ have reading classes instead of iCoi'resjKj.tide.u.'.e classes. These are intended rather for farmers arid their wives than for teaehers, although tlio latter are encouraged to enrol. To meet the demand for agricultural training the Department of Agriculture has prepared several reading courses, it announces, ■ "of- its own free publications for those who might desire an agricultural reading course, but who navo not the time to seek out their own material or might wish to avoid the expense, of purchasing the books. The lists of reading for this work have been compiled in view of the great increase in. demand . for agricultural training in t.btf past three years. Thev will, enable all' who

hare th© inclination and any spare time to follow out a thorough course, the publications being supplied for nothing by tho Department." There are eightcourses offered by the Department which cover thoroughly tho siibjeets treated, They are agronomy, animal husbandry, 'horticulture, forestry, agricultural engineering, agricultural technology, agri- : culture economics, agricultural education. Text Books and Other Publications, As a, sample of _ what these Courses contain, tits following is a list .of tho test books under the heading "Animal Husbandry": Bees. Birds: Some common birds; some common game : aquatic and rapacious birds in their relation to man; fifty common birds of fami and orchard; does it pay the farmer to protect birds? Cattle: Tho dairy herd; breeds of dairy cattle; tuberculosis. Hogs: Pig management; hog cholera. Sheep; liaising shcepfor mutton. Poultry: Standard varieties of chickens, diioks, and geese; turkeys; tho guinea fowl; poultry management. Feeds and feeding: Tho feeding of farm animals; sheep feeding; principles of horse feeding. Closely affiliated with, the correspondence classes for farmers is the information furnished their wives by the Department of Agriculture, In America the- dairy and raising of poultry aro usually tl» work of women, and. tho Dopartmenth'as issued a small library which applies particularly, to woman's work. I The- publications aro divided into _ a hundred special classes, 'there being sometimes as many as a dozen pamphlets relating to one subject, .One class of bulletins, for instance, deals . with dairying,, while others specially concern tatter,. obsess-, cream, and milk. Indicating tho thoroughness ; with wbjch the Department's work has ~ been done, among the bulletins on milk '• are the following: The care of milk and : its use in the home; ropy milk a'nd cream; bitter milk; clean milk; milk supply of cities; the covered milk-pail; i cost of market milk; lacto, a. new and : ■; healthful"frozen dairy, .product, .The care and. management of poultry is explained to. the farmer's wile under the following •-'titles': accountings poultry diseases and,, pest's; dtjeks and geese; eggs; poultry feeding., guinea , fowl; incubation; poultry market-teg f pheasants; squabs; turkeys. Hints on-how to prepare foods cpyer a wide range of' subjects, including apples, banana flour, bread, cereal breakfast foods, clams, coffee,' substitutes, and corn. There are twelve bulletins devote ed to canning and. pres.er'viug; while tho fireless cookor is;the- subject of a separate bulletin. Fruits and flowers each receive their merited 'share of gt- ' tentioii. Annual flowerings plants," directions for making -window, gardens, china asters, garden sweet peas, peonies, and rose slugs arc subjects treated in tho floriculture s«t; while the blueberry, grape, melons, . the' mulberry, the raspbery,, the rose-lie,--' and,, tho !' strawberry make up the If nit culture set of publications. .Vegetable culture mcludos bulletins on asparagus; .celery, cucumber, mushrooms, okra,' rhubarb', and tomato. .Trees, school '-garden's, roads, paint, and White washes, industrial alcohol,' and water are, samples of tho wide range of subjects of these publications which the Department sends free to ajiy-woman-asking-' for them. The Department believes.that tho ideal farmer must be caught young, so it encourages boy's to form '.-'corn dubs" to raiso corn and other.cereals, and the girls 'to' organise.canning arid poultry clubs, giving' them, assistance and; encouragement, and rewarding the mostSuccessful with prices, ■