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( BRIDGECACHET )

Arricultural (lue.ation in Florida.



In lpreentin,- tjIi. s address, I "wish to do


so T,.;- opening with a word of explanation and


closing with an apolopy..


o one in my hearing is as much responsi-


Tle for the present status of A-rirultiit:il


duc.Ftation in Florida as :yseflf. If therefore


i taingr is said 'that m~. appear-personal,


Twvish at the beginn.1g to-make i-t clear that

...,:. c I,
i.t is a fa, lt of wed-s and not of the i-


4 16h- -r 4A W-= C Im t-7 -37 -tv t -tC -y. This


whole discussion is meant to be entirel;' iin-


personal and is in no wise intended as a


"drive" at anyone.






As to the matter of teaching Agri-

culture, I wish to say that it is

as different from the other--college and

University courses as mathematics is

from languages, o.r as language is from

chemistry; or as chemistry is from

botany, .Mathematics has had several

centuries of growth to bring it down to

its present perfected form of education.

Language has had a somewhat similar op-

pcrtunity. Chemistry has had several

7 decades and follows more or less to a

-iven formula for its methods of teach-

Inr. But agriculture, the newest of the

sciences, if different from any of

-^pMth'ese, and ;et, these different depart-

ments sit in judgment on how it shall

ct4' a.--d f -') '.w L4
bE taught. We have been whi.t ling t n s/

aFricltur4
agricultural


' *






-4-


peg, which was more or less a round one in


the beginning, for two or three decades try-


ing to make it fit into the triangular hole.


And the more corners we whittle off the fur-


ther we get away from fitting the hole.


Our only hope lies in being wise enough to


discontinue to attempt the impossible.


Agricultural education as such in Florida


is practically not known and rather a rare


acquirement in any part of the United States.


The Florida Agricultural College was or-


ganized twenty two years ago (in 1884) and she


has not graduated twenty Agricultural students







-5-


in these two decades. A number of persons


have been given diplomas from the Agricultural


Course because this course required


less cramming in order to graduate, than would


have been required from another course avail-


able to the candidate. During my eight years


connection with the Agricultural College One-


real student graduated from this course. This


one example had the scientific spirit sufficien-


tly ablaze in him that the accessory catechism-


al deluge was not sufficient to drown it.


From time to time other students have appeared


whose preparation and inclinations were entire-

ly toward Agriculture. These all found stony






-6-


places, either in mathematics, latin, psychol-


ogy or what not, and one after another disap-


peared into the great unknown from whence they


come, and have not left the least ripple on


the placid expanse of agricultural ignorance.


How and then we point with pride to an illus-


trious graduate, who in spite of our malprac-


tice in educational quackery has had the con-


stitution to survive, but he has never beei


permitted to get close enough to real agricul-


ture to be contaminated,- he is'a doctor, a


chemist, or something of that kind.

The lack of students cannot be a valid






-7-


argument in this case. There are hundreds of


men in the State who are needing this kind of


an education and who are wanting it, but at


present are absolutely unable to obtain its


benefits. This is strikingly illustrated by


scores of people who attend the sporadic lec-


tures that are delivered from time to time in


a desultory manner by workers in the Experiment


Station. The speaker at a recent gathering of


this kind was kept on the floor 1 1/2 hours


before noon, two hours afternoon, and three


fourths of an hour after adjournment to dis-
cuss agriculture with those who had not yet







-8-


gotten enough. The sacred fire is ablaze and


they can't squelch it. Even by following the


plow for weeks and "cussing niggers" for a


change, still it wont drown. Talk about no


interest in Agriculture I Why the tiller of


the soil will lay aside his work and drive


miles for the opportunity to learn something


new.


To enter the University the student has


been compelled to pass a course of studies in


the high school that have no bearing on Agri-


culture but has had those studies that fit him

for a clerkship or other kind of office in






-9-


some commercial establishment and bh taking a


few months additional training in a commercial


course he is put in line for advancement in


some commercial establishment or in a railway


service. This is in itself all right so far


as the individual is concerned, but radically


wrong from the standpoint of the State or so-


ciety as a whole. The State though or high


schools and higher education is gradually lead-


ing her people away from Agriculture,- the


source of supply for maintenance of her whole


population.

The young countryman or country lady who






-10-


has just graduated from a city high school in


Florida is less fit to take up the complicated


questions surrounding a farm home than he or


she was previous to the training in the high


school. He or she must therefore take up- a


line of work for which the high school has been


more or less a preparation.


Our Agricultural educators are as a rule


brought from the farm, not because there is


any virtue in being born on a farm, but because


the early training and education of the city


boy gave him no starting point. There was


no possible chance for himjA there are thou-







-11-



sands of youngrmen and women to-day denied the


possibility of making a living by farming, the


vocation for which they are best adopted by


temperament and physical conditions. The man


who is a misfit either in agriculture or any


where else is deserving of our most sincere


sympathy. But how about ourselves, we who


are not only responsible for the manufacture


of these misfits but are actually in the bus-


inees ourselves.


I have pointed out to you that there is


no chance for the average boy from the high
'77*. T /"

school to get a start, to find a hangent,


on the road to an agricultural education and


IT,






-12-



the country boy is denied one1,because he has


not been to high school and unfitted himself


for Agriculture.

After such a course of F9"^n a %ts it


any wonder that we find no students, and only

a very few ^ t' in the school of Agri-


culture. The trouble with our University is


that the average man has to go through about


a six ye--rs course*of preparatory study before


he -is permitted to even get to the catechismal


course of agriculture, -thri. i' graciously per-


F-tted tu adorn the pages of our catalogue.

nL- T4esoes -gbt to it ..what- .wea'tner beat-


e n-s- s T E LOnl here e~ndh er'e re--







-13-


have constructed. There is a fine roof; a


handsome spire and on the pinnacle a beautiful

weather vane. Here we have hundreds of people


wanting an agricultural education,-the brick


and mortal, lyfliEg all about (and by the way


I have.met some bricks). And we stand idly


by, tacitly saying, "We have joined the plum-


bers union A.dn are not permitted to put on


anything but the water spouting."






-14-


Our course of study in Agriculture pre-


supposes that the candidate has unlimited


time to prepare for entrance. -6r couFse


of ot-ud-,is not strong enough to prepare a


youngman for professional work and too weak


to prepare a man for practical work. In the


Freshman year, three hours, mostly theoreti-


cal work; in the Sophomore year, three hours


more; in the first term of Junior year the


student is actually permitted to see the Pro-


fessor of Agriculture three times a week and


if he, the Professor, is especially handsome,


and the student has all his brass buttons







-15-


(in math., history etc.) on and his gilt


lace properly sewed, otherwise he had better


not elect to see the Professor of Agricul-


ture, but better elect to see the Professor


in whose classes he has failed to receive a


benediction in former terms. In the Senior


year the student may actually become acquain-


ted with agriculture. You will, however,


notice that every effort has been made be-


fore this glorious time to side track the can-


didate into every conceivable switch, and


only those with bullheaded determination and


intellectual brilliancy can ever attain to

,., '. . """ "*- . Sf "' ^






-16-


this blissful estate. Is Agriculture such


a rare gem that only the select of the elite


should be permitted to look upon it ? No!


Our course is upside downf. It is designed


for the rarest of the classes instead of eery


--ae f the masses.


There is absolutely no training termed


agriculture in the country schools. In our


high schools it is even worse, the training


is all away from agriculture, In the Univer-


sity we set up a course in agriculture that


giv i td the most exceptional 4.


cases. Here we have an edifice, a tremen-


dously fine lot of material for superstruct-




w


-17-



ure, but no foundation material proper, but


have constructed a fine roof, spire, with


.lightning rod and gilded weather vane. No


wonder at all that the structure goes to the


ground everytime the least cyclonic disturbance


is felt in the legislative atmosphere.


To sum up my preface then,- There are


hundreds of people in the State of Florida


that would make sacrifices to learn something


in Agriculture and we have, I believe three


students.


A man gets.sick; he knows he is sicks


He knows he is very ill. Everybody can see

it. No one has to remind him of it. No






-18-


one needs to tell him so. Our school of Ag-


riculture is sick; "bad" sick. Everybody


that knows us knows it is so and if our friends


even dare to ask us they always say, "I hope


he is convalescing," Oh yest we reply it is


only a case of general and prolonged derange-


ment organs.


The remedy.


1. Inaugurate a short course in Agricul-


ture,- say a six weeks course.


2. Inaugurate a longer course,- say a*


six months course.

3. Inaugurate a long course, say a two







-19-


years course.


4. Inaugurate a course of Farmers Insti-


tutes.


5. Inaugurate course of home reading.


The short course in Agriculture of about


six weeks duration should be brim full of


lively lectures on practical farm topics. The


idea should not be that of cramming into the


lecture dry threadbear facts that have been


palmed off on a suffering agricultural public


for two or three decades, but lively up-to-


date illustrated lectures right to the farmers


needs. Dont tell them what Levasier said, or

Pasteur discovered, Tell the audience what






-20-


pear blight is how the can best combat or


eradicate it. Tell them what the Texas fev-


er is and how to handle it. Tell them how to


construct a silo and how to fill it. It makes


not the slightest difference to these men


whether the disease producing organ belongs to


the Schizophyta, or the Carpophyta or the Pro-


tozoa or Metazoa. These are the flimsiest


gilt lace of value only to the professional


man. What difference does it make to the


practical ee-t brder whether oxidace, per-


oxidace or catalace or any other kind of enzy-


me or no enzyme at all is produced in the








-21-


ferrientation of silage. What the practical


man wants to know is how to produce and keep


silage.


For entrance to the short course no


questions should be asked, no fees exacted;


and no restrictions whatever. The whole


underlying idea being that to get the stu-


dent to think along regular lines and.to get


an enthusiasm for something better to come.


In the longer course the entrance should


be restricted to persons over eighteen years


old with practically no other entrance require-

Lents.









-22-




The course should be by lectures almost


entirely, over a somewhat wider range of study


but permitting only such lectures to occur as


deal directly with some valuable, practical


problem.





2 5







Theoretically, Agricultural Education

in Florida may be said to have had as its

starting point at the establishment of the

Agricultural College. It is scarcely nec-

essary for me to mention here that the pas-

sage of- the Land Grant Act of 1861 is the

basis upon wVhich was esto..blished all of our

Agricultural Colleges. This Act appropriated

a certain number of acres, I believe thirty

thousandunoccupied national lands for each

representative in congress. The Act provides

for the establishment of colleges in which

the leading features shall be, Agriculture,

itechanic Arts, and Military Science and tac-



It appears t'at in those early days the'

states were much more modest about t.he matter

of accepting Federal aid for state enter- 4

prises than now, since very few Agricultural

colleges were established until at least a




2 //

decade latter. Florida took matters rather

leisurely and made no very definite effort

until about the beginning of the eighties.

The first definite move was made by erect-

ing a ten or twelve room coquino house on

the shores of the Indian River, at Eak/Galle.

The institution was never formally opened at

that place from the fact that the building

was not completed within the tleT the

legislative act, A subsequent Legislature

put the institution up at auction again;

Lake City being the highest bidder, received

it at a kind of 0. H. sale.

In 1888 the Hatch Act was passed, cre-

ating the Experiment Station with an annual

fund of $15,000.00, Following close upon

this was passed the I.:orril Act, which now

yields each state 25,000.00 (Where separate

institutions are maintained for negroes, the

funds are divided pro rata).

The first building erected at Lake

City was Chapel Hall; twenty-two years ago.

The first faculty was a unique one from our

present point of view. If I remember cor-







rectly, it was composed of five members.

Some of these with the students ft-n=i- a-

found dormitory room in the floor of Chapel

Hall.

After securinF the faculty, a very

serious question arose that threatened the

institution with dire calamity. It was dis-

covered that somebody had to teach agricul-

ture. Somebody had to take the "job". Final-

ly the Beard of Trustees, in their infinite

wisdom, allotted the task to the professor

of Creek, 'ho was by training and practice a

civil engineer. Hence, I think that I am

quite rifht in saying that the first faculty

of the Flcrida Asricultura.Lj College was u-

nique in that she had a civil engineer as

Proffessor of Greek and A~Cricultrie.

The Hall for Mechanic Arts was no less

unique. Its main equipment consisted in

foot-power fret-saws, with which the children

sawed up cigar boxes and similar lumber into

picture frames, comb trays and a'sn s use-

ful articles for adornin.r the h+9se r---






When th.e Morril Fund became available,

the President of the College and the Presi-

dent of the Board of Trustees vied with

each other in making valuablee purchases for

the institution and in creating additional

departments. As a result, the institution

found itself in the delightful position of

having a six-thousand dollar defiBit at the

end of the year. The Board, however, were

masters of financiering. The first step was

to discharge the President. The next step

was to combine the Experiment Station with

the Agricultural College. So, by discharg-

ing five of the professors, and exercising

other rigid economics, ccnniderable reduction

was made in the deficit by the end of the

next fiscal year. The next step in the way

of financering was to discharge both President

and Director and combining the office in one

head. This likewise did away with the un-

pleasant kicking from the Director that his

money was being spent for college purposes.

The form of economics was not exactly

pleasing to the Legislature, which took a





"and in th- matterby in tn discharing the

Board of Trustees; the new Board served from

1893 to 1899. The Board being appointed by

the governor without.reference to the Legis-

Ic-.ture, the governor, Eloxam, disnl.harged the

whole bod;, T o in 1899, with

a single exception, Mr. F. E. Farris, ihd

Board continued unt$l the present Board was

appointed. Ve have therefore, had the fol-

Icwing catecfismpin the manarin.g Boards--'93,

'99 and 1905, or in twenty-two ;'ears,

Each time the whole faculty was technically

discharged. A11 of those, who like the

speaker, '.ere unable to find a job elsewhere,

were generously given their for-me& positions.

TTeny other amusingr circumstances occur with

these catec isms, amusin.rg in the retrospect

and abstract. The pendulum of prosperity for

the institutions, like that of civilization,

R.-inEsP back and forth; it is never at rest,

and may; it never ccme to a dead hale. Some-

times it seems that decades of progress are

lost, but by each return the progress is ac-

celerated and borne higher. Or poPsibly, I






had better liken it to the formation of tne

axis of a continent which is lifted a lit-

tle higher from eon to eon, though during

the interval a Pubsidence may have occurred.








THE EXPERII.NET STATIOTT


The Experiment Station, its privileges

and limitations, are so generally misunder-

stood, even by those who are called upon

to a-ninister the trust, that~ who see

but the outside manifestations are certainly..

excusable for misunderstanlinE.

Eroadly stating it, the Experiment

Station is an institution for the"Increase

of learning and the diffusion of Aricultural

Knowledge". The fund is a present from the

general government to each state and ter-

ritory. At first, no practical limitations

were thrown about the fund, but the states

were allowed their own way of spending it.

Gross, and even base misuse of the funds oc-

curred, with no sign of abatement, so that

from time to time Congress has been9obliged

to pass amendatory acts, which in the hands

of an ill-advised Secretary of Agriculture

might prove very onerous or even base. The

trouble, however, has been with the states






in failin:-. to use the funds for

purposes. Our own state has b;. no means been

fair at all times. As I indicated before,

the Station was used, fifteen years ago,

to wipe out the college debt. Or even a

more flagrant case, which occurred earlier:--

It was found that no college funds were a-

vs-.ilable for building a boiler-house for

the Mechanic Arts hall. ."Well, I'll let you

imagine the rest",


The Experlment Station income is made

up :of two funds; the Hatch fund amounting

to $15,000.00 annually. This may: be used for

general equipment, administration, and for

publications, but primarily it is intended

for investigations. Two decades ago, our

ideas as to what const~ituiied investigation

were rather crude. Even now, +he difference

b-etween\ demonstration and \ research is

rather ill-defined in the minds of men who

have served a considerable time in Experi-

ment Station work. To state it briefly and

tersely, I may say,--A demonstration shows






that certain effects follow certain causes.

Let me make some concrete illustrations.

We have shown that ar:plying acid phosphate to

pineapples is damaging; we know that avhen
a
more than certain amount of C, S. M. is fed

to milch cows the butter produced is

greasy; we know that a large amount cf or-

ganic ammonia w"ill produce rough, thick-

skinned citrus fruits. To apply acid phos-

l:hute; to feed C. S. T.,; to apply organic

ammonia, are all demonstrations. ITow to make
must
research problems out of, these, we/:oonduct

experiments which have for their object the

answering' of the question, Why does acid

phosphate injure pineapples? Why does a

large amount of C. S. M. produce lardiness

in butter? Why does organic ammonia produce

course citrus fruits? Let me cite another

illustration. For scores of years it has

been known that lime, when added to soil

righ in all plantifoods, sometimes produced

good effects, Later research taught that

other substances produced similar effects,

Finally research into the demonstrativI






phenomena revealed the fact that acid soils

were made more productive, while alkaline

or neutral soils were not affected by the

addition of lime. I think I have now made

myself i.:nderstood as to +he difference

between 'demonstration' and 'research'

A t the last session of Congress the

A dams Act was passed. This appropriated

$5,000,00 for research work. The amount is

increased by 12,000,00 annually until the

total sum under the act shall reach ,15,000.00

annually. This sum restricted to research

is at once the most magnificent gift of any

nation .:r any time that has been made to

__ scientific research in Agriculture. It is

to Agriculture what the Smithsonian 7ift is

to science. Under this fund we are not re-

quired to publish half-digested demonstration ,

nor to pad up paragraph of demonstration

into a quarterly bulletin. The man who

undertakes a project under this fund finds

ample time to work out profound truths. He

will not be heralded by glaring head-lines

in theau-a dailies or weeklies, but






like the Frest Paul Jones, he will probably

have tc lie in an unhorored and unmarked

grave for a hund-ed years, and then have

a battleship to brinr his body for inter-

ment in a conspicuous resting place,

To those who have been singed by the

"sacred fire" of research, this is an ideal

condition for 'vL--a daily bread.

It is far from tie place fb the slothful; on

the one hand his work will be constantly

under fire from those who have had superior

advantage, and on the other hand results

will be called for constantly by those

who have had no training.

To Fum up the whole matter then; begin-

. nin, at the top. The Adams fund provides ,-

for the maintenance of research, the highest

t.:p of scientific work. The Hatch fund per-

mits a small amount of demonstrative work;

so-callec co-operative experiments. The

University provides means for training

young men in the rudiments of scientific

work, and here the matter ends. The high

schools unfit the pupils for agriculture;






the.county schools fail to provide any train-

ing tZoard agriculture. Consequently, we

have a wide gap in our e'-stne of education,

extendinnr fr-om the parent who is actively

hattlimg with the world to support the

4 > to the younp man on the threshold
7---T
of the battles of life, ready to enter the

University. 0 -f r Oc p y^) *

It is our duty as educators to see that

this vacancy; this vacuumlbe filled, unless

we take that unworthy stand which makes our

actions say that "the University exists

solely to fosi, Dept. A or Dept. B". Do

mot misunderstand me to sa;; that any man

should permit his department to hold a second

...pllce in his own estimation; I have no

patience .ith the hronic grumbler, ITo patience

.'.ith the 'calamity howler'. If I am dis-

satisfied with m. lot it is my duty as a man,

both to myself and to the institution, to open

the way for better, a mcrie woithy, and a

young man with hope, ambition, and life be-

fcre him.




| A










AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IF FLORIDA,


4&L~ 4 G^^ ^ Cc-at 2- A- 2 -

I have taken this subject for my paper tonight because


it is one in which every one of us is primarially interested. Take


away the educational feature from any department, and we have left


no excuse for its maintenance. What is true of each of the several


parts, must necessarily be true of the whole; i.e., of our University.


Naturally there is some difference of opinion as to how, or what ought


to b--- ught. That every man should think most highly of his


particular portion of the work is natural and highly commendable. As


soon as he discovers work more important., it is his duty to himself and


to his environment to retire from his present work and allow some one


else to carry it forward.


It is not an infrequent occurrence in so large an institution


as we have here for the work in other departments to be incorrectly


understood. As an illustration, we have had theagricultural side


referred to is parasitic.. I believe we were likened to the cow-bird, or

'- .' ."* .,:






9



--ei-





cuckoo. Let us see how nearlyAthis simile may be. WE receive from


the Federal Government directly or indirectly for instructional


purposes nearly $20,000.00. This is for the College of Agriculture


and Mechanic Arts, including instruction in Military Science and


Tactics. The general studies, or what some scholarPschoose to call


"cultural studies", are permitted as a sort of accessory; but the


intents and purposes of the congressional acts were to strengthen and


maintain schools in Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and Military


Science and Tactics. Suppose that our legislature at its next session


should decide that it would be better to maintain the college for


Agriculture and Mechanic Arts as a separate institution; where would


the University be?

In a paper before this Club more than a year ago, the speaker


presented some notes on Agricultural Education in Florida. At that time


attention was called to the fact that a Civil Engineer, by training;


anda Professor of Greek, by profession, had thrust upon teanek V

the onerous duties of teaching agriculture. Even with such inauspicious







--3--


beginning, some good resulted.

As an introduction to the paper of the evening let me read

t% =-4. t 11 pi, ragraphj of the paper read about a year agos

"To sum up the whole matter then, beginning at the

tops--The Adams Fund provides funds for the maintenance

of research, the highest type of scientific work. The

Hatch fund permits of a small amount of demonstrative work;

so-called cooperative experiments. The University provides

means for training young men in the rudiments of

scientific work, and here the matter ends. The high

schools unfit the pupils for agriculture; the county

schools fail to provide any training toward agriculture.

Consequently, we have a wide gap in our system of

education, extending from the parent who is actively bat-

tling with the world to support the family, to the young man

on the threshold of the tattles of life, ready to enter the

University, (A gap of nearly twenty years).

"It is our duty as educators to see that this vacancy,

this vacuum, be filled; mi. we -bk unT T wo stand



Foam-A -Ahs ttiC














IN CONCLUSION


I wish to state that our University is approaching nearer to fulfilling


its misFion in the State of Florida than ever heretofore. I believe


that every man is aiming by honest work to make his department the


strongest in the institution; and that there exists no such unworthy


feeling as jealousy toward any department. The country and the city


high schools are the source of our strength. By means of the


farmers' institutes and the lecture bureau we are able to reach


hundreds of our patrons not heretofore served.


Speaking the Farmers' Institutes, I wish to say that


the attendance has been greater than was my most sanguine expectations


of last July, The average attendance up to the first of February was


seventy-five and a fraction. As an illustration of the way in which


our work is appreciated I may cite my experience at Candler on the


12 inst. It became necessary for me to visit some peach orchards


affected with a peculiar disease. At 5 o'clock it was announced that


a lecture would be given on peach diseases, and at 8 o'clock sixty
/ -


people were in attendance.















I believe that it is within our power, and that it is our


duty to .keep the educational system of the State in its present unit

form.

The following statements summarize my reasons for believing


that agriculture should be taught in our present school system; and


that we should not attempt to have it taught in a separate system;

(and by agriculture, I mean agriculture, not nature study, not elementary

botany, not elementary chemistry, but plain, simple agriculture)

(1) Separate systems may have the initial advantage, but

can never be as good finally.

(2) Separate systems tend toward,segregation; our peace

and prosperity depend on homogeneity.

(Z) "To educate children of different classes separately is

to prevent that natural flow of individuals from one profession

Into another which is in every way desirable both from the public

and the private standpoint."

(4) "Secondary schools devoted solely to agriculture would

of necessity cover so much territory as to require the students

to board and move away from home".

(5) //Agriculture not only needs contact with other interests,

but they need contact with agriculture."





*f






(6) To establish a separate system would necessarily
MAIu-dw- AIP;M"
injure the present system, and thereby reduce aB effective-
ness.
(7) It is not necessary to establish a separate system in
order that agriculture shall be taught well.
(8) The demand that agriculture be taught in our
public schools is but a manifestation of the general
educational advancement.






lt-. iI -(? C 2 /

,' : *-" "--" .





S. .. IN COTTCLTUFIO

T wish to F:tute that our Univerrlit; is a. reaching nearer to fulfilling

itr mrsrion in tM. ,tate of Florida than ever heretofore. I belic.ve


thAt cvery man lis aimrinr- 'Iy honest .ork to muI= his dc :artme nt tha

est._on.-st, in the Inrtitut-.on; L-Td tLhUt th6re evirts no such un or thy


fCulllnn as jealou.s to -ard or1.: dei urtm-nt. The country and the city


hip.h nc- ools are t' -StouuCei-O of our strength. Ry .n ans of the

furm r:' ir stitu tes and :t' lecture bureau we .r able to reach


hundi'rds or ou r -.ptrons not heretM'fore E arved.


..kinr for' tie :Farm rs' Institutes, I --irh to say that

the a ttenldrJtr'c has s-teen grreater tlaLn was my most rLznrupine i:q -=ctations

of iust .Tuly. The average attendance up to the first of February was

sevcLty,-five Land a fraction.l. A's n illuftrution of the w"ay in which


our ;ork is uspei EcLciated I may cite my dxperience at'Cundler on the

12 irst. It became necessary for me to vielt somt peach orchards


affected ,aith a ie.uliar lis'use. At: 8 o'clock it was announced t-hat


a lecture would be given on peach di cases, and at 8 o'clock ixyty


people were In attendance,
























SfollJo iir tateent' summarize rLmy a LEP. for nL ein


alat C- r ...- hcu ld be tort ifn ot t T ;ec nt ~ ctool system; and


that we should rot attnmct to t vrU it taurht in ,a cr acte aErtem;


(and by ar-ir'ulture, I mo-n ALI71CUl'Jut, not nature Ltlidy, not climantary


hot.any, n c. tr lmentry c._istr.f, but ~:lin, simple .1 r .i.lur.).


(1) i arte cytems ;rr:; have- the initial advuntape, but

can nevJ r be as F-cod fin al :.

(L) Fura t systems tu cl +.c Nard sLr rration; uurn peace

c4l d e;vkFE:rit:y demand on homoke0nei ty.

(cs!) "To educate children eT diffrcut riluses sEajrt.ely is
to prevent that nat ur fl w tf individuals from cd t, it ofs oun

idto anop their iiuch ition :ver; ofw the State ibth itf rom thie punt li

t andt .th private stcndpo i nt.

(4) r~ onda ry E cho ol ot d c. l ol,. t ~ric il ture ao eldnta
of neressitl cover so mut T.;,,. tor requirsme ithe stud e nts .

to board and move avu from hone".

S() A.ricultura notms onla neds e ont it .with oi er a te, rcts

hut they need contact with C- ricul ture,















(6) To establish a separate system would necessarily

injure the preFent system, and thereby reduce its own effrotlve-

ness.

(7) It Is nrt necescsar;,- to estcalish a Pe) .ate s,'tem in

o:-dur thut airlicul'ura thull he tauurht ;ell.

(6) The demand that uarr'leulture be taught in cur'

publlr schools 'r hut a maniftGEtution of t4hc (r-nral

educLutonll advancement.









Is Florida prepared for the next great step?

In the foregoing Essay I have shown clearly that wealth

must precede development in education. This wealth must be dis-

tributed among the common people, A few individuals in a community

may be exceedingly rich and yet their presence may not be condu-

cive to a general uplift of the masses. Indeed we have cases

where the presence of an extremely wealthy man in a community has

been disastrous to the upbuilding 6f a democratic spirit., It is

very easy to go to Mr. Dollars and ask him to donate ten thousand

or fifty thousand dollars for a college building or for a library,

but nearly every time he makes a generous donation democracy gets

a hard rap and oligarchy a boost, Everybody in a democracy should

take a just and patriotic pride in pro:,loting all public enter-

prizes. Mr. Dollars -hould give his just share and so should the

laborers also from street sweeper up. Let us then as Educators

look to the common people to whose ranks we belong and whose

servants we are, for the upbuiling and promotion of our public

school system. The occasional rich man has plenty of admirers

and followers, sd he will not miss you or I,if we should be absent.

Let us examine the statistics, They present to us a hopeful and

inspiring condition regarding the progress of our rural ropulatoin.

In 1898 the acreage in farm crops was 882.00, In 1905 we had ,

acres in crops or a gain of /l7n eight years. If these figures

create a hope in our breasts the following table will create an

inspiration,

1898 value of farm products 17,906,000

1899 18,525,000

1900 23,673,000

1901.: N 27,094,000








t 1902 value of farm products 31,036,000

190 30,904,000

1904 34,516,000

1905 40,131,000

10 increase in-i avihe .n eight years,

From the table we see that Florida farms have increased

ABg in their productions in eight years proceeding 1906, The

census of 1910 is likely to show an increase of l in our farm

crops for this decade. This increase in productiveness of our

farms is a result of a gradual and steady betterment of nearly

every crop, This increased valuation is not due to a large im-

migrationsince the acreage has increased only 20f, but to the

improvement in the existing farms. ~ 906-w-s-a-trifle less--than

%j ) These figures then mean that the farmer of 1906 was getting

at least 100i more for every acre he was cultivating than he did

in 1898. This is most encouraging to us as Educators for it means

that the vast increasment in productiveness of 29 millions of

dollars is rather evenly distributed among,44% of our population

living in the rural districts, In 1898 tte. million dollars fur-

nished a living gOd a little more t=saBMe. The 40 million in

1905 gave a handsome surplus to a considerable number,, In the last

decade we have seen greater improvement in public buildings, in

good roads and in the conveniences about the home than in any

previous one,

The terrible freezes of ,94 and 95 together with that

1899 destroyed eighty million dollars worth of property, with an

ami-it productive value of about eight million dollars. The burden

of'this loss fell on our rural population and must forever remain








as a scar on the face of our progress. While we have now greatly em

exceeded the productivene.,s of that time we are still far behind

what we would have been had this unprecedented loss not befallen

use

The school system we now have has served us well and

faithfully and is well perfect for out past condition but it

must grow and develop into more perfect onej one that will meet

the requirements of our needs and sentiments as they develop.

In past ages the rules instituted wars and laid heavy tribute of

lives and property on the people* That was undae an arst cracy

or a monarchy, In a democracy wealth and education is needed to

build up spiritual and moral well being. Beings without intelli-

gence and have to toil seven days in a week for a mere existence

cannot worship God as a human being ought. The mere accumulation

of wealth without intellectual development is certain to bring about

a spiritual poverty.