the farmer and his calling, we enumerate the following: Agricultural
literature, farmers’ organizations,—including farmers’ clubs, farmers’
institutes, and the Grange,—agricultural experiment stations, and
agricultural colleges, all of which have contributed their share to the
intelligence and prosperity of the farmer, and all are products of the
last half of the century. To give an intelligent idea of the help which
these influences have brought to the farmer, it is necessary to treat
them to some extent in detail. First, agricultural literature. All that
is necessary to an understanding of the progress in this direction is
to get one of the very few so-called agricultural papers of fifty years
ago and compare it with those of to-day. Not only have they multiplied
a hundredfold, but while the former largely contained stilted
articles written by theorists, to-day every page is full of practical
instruction written by farmers, and often by specialists who have spent
years in improving some line of farming or stock breeding. Most of
our agricultural papers have a staff of paid contributors, nearly all
of whom have made a success in some branch of farming; and so anxious
are the publishers of these papers to give their readers all the help
possible, that they search out the men who are prospering on the
farm and engage their services as instructors for their readers. The
journals devoted to agriculture are numbered by hundreds, some of them
devoted to a single line,—such as sheep, poultry, or gardening,—and
others with well classified departments which give instruction on all
points. In addition to this, nearly all of the weeklies have a page of
agriculture, usually conducted by a farmer or some one with practical
knowledge of farm work. There are no secrets in agriculture, and every
farmer is ready to impart to all any valuable information he acquires.
Farmers appreciate the value of these helps and make large use of them,
and the circulation of these papers is enormous.
[Illustration: SUCCESS ANTI-CLOG WEEDER.]
By Farmers’ Clubs we mean those organizations of farmers, governed by
constitutions and by-laws, who meet at stated times for the discussion
of topics connected with the improvement of their calling. There are
no statistics available from which can be gathered the extent of
this movement, but Ohio reports fifty clubs and has formed a state
organization. In Michigan, where the clubs are organized on a different
basis, 30,000 members are reported; they have also formed a state
organization, which was attended by 200 delegates at the last meeting.
Indiana is but little, if any, behind these two States, and the club
idea is rapidly spreading through the Northern States. There are two
forms of these clubs, one of which limits the membership to twelve
families, and the meetings are all held at the homes of the members,
one each month. The advantages of this plan are several. First,
with the club thus limited, the horses can be stabled and cared for
during inclement weather of winter. Second, the wives need prepare
but one meal in the year for the club; while with the large club it
is necessary that each should contribute to a basket dinner for every
meeting, which often causes as much trouble as to prepare the meal for
the entire club once a year. Third, the attendance is sure to be more
regular in the small club, and one condition of membership is that
every member shall be present at each meeting unless providentially
detained. Fourth, with a club of this size every member can take part
in the discussion, and there will be less danger of a few “talkers”
monopolizing the time. Fifth, the social features in the small club
are very much better than in the large. Most of the clubs in Ohio and
Indiana are organized on this basis, while in Michigan it is probable
that most of the clubs have an unlimited membership. The objection is
sometimes urged that the small club seems selfish, but as any twelve or
even six families are at liberty to organize a club this objection is
not valid.
As many farmers who would like to organize may not be able to find a
form of constitution and by-laws, it seems proper to give one here.
_Preamble._
Recognizing the fact that farmers need an opportunity to
compare methods and to cultivate their social qualities, and
considering that “As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth
the countenance of his friend,” in order that we may be mutually
helpful to each other in matters relating to husbandry, home
comfort, and economy, we do form ourselves into an association
known as the —— Farmers’ Club [fill the blank with the name
you wish to use for your club], and adopt for our government the
following:—
_Constitution._
_Article 1._ The officers shall be President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer, and Librarian, who shall be elected
annually in November, and assume their duties in January of the
following year.
_Article 2._ The duties of these officers shall be such as
pertain to the offices in other organizations and are indicated
by the name of the office.
_Article 3._ The active members of this club shall be engaged in
agricultural pursuits, but honorary members may be elected by
unanimous vote. Honorary members are not obliged to attend all
the meetings, but will be welcomed to any.
_Article 4._ Application for membership must be submitted at the
meeting previous to their being balloted for, and members will
be admitted on receiving a two-thirds vote by ballot; but the
membership shall be limited to twelve families.
_Article 5._ Amendments may be made at any regular meeting by a
two-thirds vote of the active members.
_By-laws._
1. The club shall meet at the residence of one of the members on
the third Thursday of each month, at ten o’clock, invitations to
which shall be limited to the hostess of the day.
2. The club shall be called to order by the president, after an
hour spent in social intercourse, and the order of exercises
shall be as follows:—
_a._ Reading and approving minutes of last meeting.
_b._ Monthly record of current events.
_c._ Selections, recitations, essays.
_d._ Adjournment for dinner and social intercourse until two
o’clock.
_e._ Discussion; so conducted as to avoid all questions of
politics and theology.
_f._ Question drawer.
_g._ Miscellaneous business.
In order that the work of the club may be systematic and the
time fully occupied, a programme covering the entire year is
prepared and printed so as to be ready for distribution at the
December meeting of each year. That the reader may understand the
working of this plan, a few topics will be given, taken from the
programme of the club of which the writer is a member:—
January.
The club will meet at the home of Mr. ........
Thursday, the 19th.
Selection ....................... Mrs. ........
Paper ........................... Mr. .........
_Topic_: A review of the previous year.
Each member will give in writing a statement of profits and
losses for the year under the following heads:—
1. General crops grown and acreage and yield thereof.
2. What special crops have been raised.
3. Stock raised or handled.
4. What experiments have been made on the farm.
5. What losses of stock, or crops, and the cause thereof.
June.
The club will meet at the home of Mr. ........
Thursday, the 15th.
Selection ...................... Mrs. ........
Paper: “Hindrances to sheep raising and how to avoid them.”
Mr. .........
_Topic_: The Farmer’s Barn.
1. Relative size to farm.
2. Location and ground plan.
3. Arrangement of stabling, feeding, and water conveniences.
4. Plan for saving manure.
Either a gentleman or a lady is appointed to open each topic, after
which the subject is opened for question or discussion by any member
of the club. During one month of the summer, usually July or August, a
picnic takes the place of the regular meeting, at which a basket dinner
is served.
Farmers’ institutes are, in the best sense of the word, a farmers’
school, and while it is less than twenty years since their first
organization, nearly all of the States, at least in the North, are
conducting them to a greater or less extent. As Ohio claims the honor
of inaugurating this movement, and the writer is more familiar with the
plan of organization and the work of institutes in that State than any
other, some facts concerning them will be given. The first attempt to
teach the farmers by lecture courses was made late in the seventies at
the Ohio State Agricultural College, when a course of eighty lectures
on subjects connected with farm interests were given, all of them by
professors of the college. This first course occupied five weeks; and
as it was found that but a limited number of farmers could be induced
to leave their homes and care of their stock in the winter, and that
the attendance was only about forty, the next two years the course was
shortened in hopes that a larger attendance might result, but such was
not the case. Then some one suggested, “If the farmers will not come
to the lectures, why not take the lectures to the farmers?” and the
outcome of this suggestion has been a wonderful success; the State
holding three hundred institutes in the winter of 1897 and 1898, under
a law providing a fund for that purpose, and over a hundred independent
institutes in addition, by which is meant institutes in which the local
organization pays its own expenses and chooses its own lecturers and
subjects.
The work in most of our States is thoroughly organized, a fund provided
to meet the expenses of the work, placed in some States under the
charge of the Secretary of Agriculture, and in others in charge of a
superintendent of institutes. The farmers have met this effort for
their improvement with great enthusiasm, and the attendance is usually
limited by the size of the hall provided. All partisan and sectarian
questions are rigorously excluded from the discussions. A bulletin is
issued in the fall, which gives the names of a large corps of lecturers
and a list of subjects, and these are sent to the officers of the local
organizations, from which they can select such topics as they wish
discussed. Half of the time of each session is allotted to the state
lecturers, while local talent is expected to fill the other half. The
greatest possible freedom is allowed in asking questions and discussing
the work of the speakers, and no other educational influence which has
come to the farmer has equaled that offered by these meetings. At the
close of each year the best papers and discussions are printed in a
bulletin for free distribution among the farmers, and are given out
at the meeting the ensuing year, or are mailed from the office of the
Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture on application.
The Grange was organized at Washington, D. C., in 1807, but existed
only on paper until January, 1873, when the first meeting of the
National Grange convened at Georgetown, D. C., with delegates from ten
States. It was started as a secret society, with a ritual and degrees,
and seemed to catch the popular fancy among the farmers. At the meeting
of the National Grange in 1874, thirty-two States were represented.
Probably no other organization has made so rapid a growth as this.
A large element, however, of the membership was attracted to it by
the rallying cry of “Down with the middleman!” and had little or no
conception of its educational possibilities. Little country stores
with very small capital, and managed by men with no business training,
sprang up at every cross-road, which, contrary to the expectation of
their founders, did not save money, but resulted in some valuable
business education for which a good tuition fee was paid. The reaction
which set in made it seem for a time as though the entire order would
disintegrate; but fortunately there were wise leaders who had caught
the true idea, that the organization must be kept on an educational
basis to save it from extinction, and through their efforts it has
become a power for good in most localities, and has been of great
service to the farmers. County, state, and national societies have been
organized, and no other large bodies of farmers can so quickly and
thoroughly coöperate in measures pertaining to the interests of the
farmer as those belonging to this order.
[Illustration: ASPINWALL POTATO PLANTER.]
Another educational force of immense value to the farmers is found in
the experiment stations, which are established in every State of the
Union. This work was started by an act of Congress, approved March 2,
1887, and known as the “Hatch Act.” By this act the sum of $15,000 per
annum was appropriated for each State in the Union, to be specially
provided by Congress in the appropriations from year to year. In
addition to this sum, most of the States have made large appropriations
for the purchase of suitable grounds and the erection of buildings, and
to cover the expense of printing the reports and pamphlets which are
sent out free to the farmers who apply for them.
To go a little farther, the questions requiring investigation by the
agricultural experiment stations may be divided into three principal
groups, according as they are related to the soil, to the growth of
crops and vegetation, or to domestic animals and their products.
I. The soil is studied—
(1) In its varieties, as found in different parts of the farm and of
the State.
(2) In its physical properties, as affected by tillage, drainage,
irrigation, etc.
(3) In its chemical properties, as related to the maintenance of
fertility by the use of fertilizers and otherwise.
II. In vegetation and crop production some of the objects of study
are:—
(1) Varieties, including the selection and dissemination of new sorts;
the elimination of synonyms; the comparison of strains of varieties;
the production of improved varieties, etc., etc.
(2) Vegetable pathology, including studies of rusts, smuts, blights,
rots, mildews, etc.
(3) Control of injurious insects.
(4) Forestry, embracing the culture of forest trees for wind-breaks,
for timber, for nuts and incidental products.
III. In the study of animals some of the problems are:—
(1) Breeds and their comparative values for different purposes.
(2) Foods and feeding, for growth, for meat, for milk and wool.
(3) The diseases of animals, especially those of contagious, epizootic,
or parasitic nature.
The stations have done most valuable work along these different
lines, and have contributed in a large measure to the introduction of
improved varieties of cereals, forage crops, and fruits. In the case of
wheat especially, there can be no doubt that the work of the stations
has been a factor of great importance in producing large yields, by
stimulating the farmers to a more careful comparison of varieties and
of methods of culture.
A plan of purchasing and testing most of the so-called new varieties
of fruits and grains has been followed by some of the stations, thus
enabling the farmers and fruit growers to judge whether such varieties
are likely to be superior to sorts already cultivated. It has been
part of the work of the stations to expose fraudulent sales of fruit,
stock, and fertilizers. Much other work has been and is being done,
but the instances given show the value of the investigations made. As
has already been stated under another heading, the officers of the
experiment stations take an active part in the work of the institutes,
and by the frequent issuing of bulletins and their annual reports
convey valuable information to the farmer in every department of
his work. In many States they have established reading courses for
the study of Nature, which are conducted similarly to those in the
Chautauqua courses.
In the same connection the work of the Bureau of Animal Industry
should be noticed. Possibly no other organization of the government is
doing so much to save farmers from loss through disease of stock and
educating them to the same extent as this. The organization is made up
of men of the highest scientific training, whose lives are devoted to
the study of diseases of domestic animals and whose work extends to
the testing of remedies, the inspection of meats, the study of foreign
markets, and everything that pertains to the interest of the stock
growers. No disease can break out in the herds of live stock in any
part of the country without this bureau being at once notified of it,
and trained officials are sent to study all the circumstances connected
with it and to prevent, if possible, such disease from becoming
epidemic. Some years ago, when contagious pleuro-pneumonia had secured
a foothold in this country, the Bureau of Animal Industry set to work
to stamp it out. The Old World was paralyzed by the enormity of the
undertaking. Veterinarians in England and Continental Europe laughed at
us and considered us fit subjects for lunatic asylums. “Hadn’t _they_
always had it? It cost them millions of dollars annually in cattle, yet
they had been unable to stamp it out, and most assuredly we could not
do what European veterinarians could not.” They forgot that we were
Yankees. It cost us many good hard dollars that were represented by
large figures; but we stamped it out, and it has now been years since
“Uncle Sam” officially declared the country free from it.
Another work which this bureau undertook was the regulation of vessels
in which cattle were exported, and they reduced the losses so as to
save from two to three million dollars annually in the insurance
of export cattle. The greatest possible care is taken to disinfect
vessels in which cattle have been shipped, and strict regulations are
established regulating the size of stalls, ventilation, the number of
cattle to be carried on any single vessel, and every point which has a
bearing on the health and comfort of the animals.
It was not until after the Civil War that such a thing as an
agricultural college was known in this country, but through the action
of Congress very liberal appropriations were made, which in most
States were supplemented by the action of the State Legislatures,
and an agricultural college was started in every State of the Union.
In the beginning there was much criticism, and without doubt many
mistakes were made by those to whom the work was assigned; but now
that a generation has passed, the farmers have come to understand
better the objects of these schools, and scientific men have been
trained to do the work; and these men have gone out into other
departments, such as those already described, and have made possible
the splendid achievements which have already been hinted at in what
has been written. The teachers and officials of these colleges have
been exceedingly friendly to everything that could help the farmers,
and are in close touch with them; aiding in the work of local, state,
and national organizations, and, in most States, carrying on the work
of the experiment stations through their professors and graduates; and
in many of them courses of lectures by practical farmers have been
established. Without question they are becoming more and more helpful
as the years go by, and their power for good is constantly increasing.
A SUMMING UP.
What has agriculture gained, or rather along what lines, in the
century’s progress? A brief summary would seem a fitting close of this
chapter:—
(1) The marvelous advance in methods and means of transportation, and
the consequent opening of the markets of the world.
(2) The knowledge of the chemical constituents of the soil and its
management in the line of maintaining fertility.
(3) The appliances to lighten labor and shorten processes in the
production and harvesting of crops.
(4) Increased knowledge of plants, as to their growth and cultivation,
their feeding qualities, and the combination of these qualities in
feeding our domestic animals, by which we are able to reduce the
cost of production through the early maturity of the animals and the
maintaining of vigorous health.
(5) Increased knowledge of the value and power of organization and of
agricultural literature in helping to a practical education for the
duties of the farm.
(6) In an increase of home comforts and a higher ideal of living,
and an appreciation of the fact that the work of the farm should be
subservient to the life on the farm, as “The life is more than meat,
and the body than raiment.”
(7) In no other country on the globe are there so many tillers of the
soil who own their homes, and, as a consequence, there is no country
where there is so much of patriotism. When Matthew Arnold visited
the United States, nothing that he saw delighted him more than the
beautiful farms, with their comfortable dwellings and outbuildings and
the evidences of high cultivation and fertility. But one thing puzzled
him, and that was the absence of tenant houses, and he asked, “Where
do the men live who cultivate these farms?” When told that in most
cases the farmers were their own tenants, he could scarcely express his
astonishment.
Prince Kropotkin, of Russia, who has traveled in this country and paid
particular attention to the condition of agriculture, says in his
summing up: “American agriculture offers an imposing sight; not in the
wheat fields of the far West, which will soon become a thing of the
past, but by the development of rational agriculture and of the forces
which promote it. Read the description of an agricultural exhibition in
a small town in Iowa, with 70,000 farmers camping with their families
in tents during the fair week, studying, learning, buying and selling,
and enjoying life. You see a national fête, and you feel that you deal
with a nation in which agriculture is held in respect. Or read the
publications of the scores of experiment stations, whose reports are
published by thousands and scattered broadcast over the country, and
are read by the farmers and discussed at countless farmers’ meetings,
and you will feel that American agriculture is a real force, imbued
with life, which no longer fears mammoth farms, and needs not, like a
child, cry for protection.”
The future of agriculture in this country seems safe, and no class of
men can look the future in the face with more of confidence than those
who till the soil.
PROGRESS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
BY WALTER LORING WEBB, C.E.,
_Assistant Prof. of Civil Engineering, University of Pennsylvania_.
I. AN INTRODUCTORY VIEW.