\

DEVELOPING THE .°
AMERICAN FARM BOY

AN ADDRESS

BY

FRED H. RANKIN,

Superintendent Agricultural College Extension, University of Illinois, Urbana,

BEFORE THE

NORTHERN ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,
AT HARVARD, DECEMBER 7, 1905.

ALSO

CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE,
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS,
URBANA.

re (38 Prag ?§A2

DEVELOPING THE AMERICAN FARM BOY

An address by Fred H. Rankin, Superintendent of Agricultural Col-
lege Extension, University of Illinois, at Urbana.

Delivered before the Northern Illinois Horticultural Society, at Har-
vard, December 7, 1905.

A time comes in every young boy’s life when he hears,
amid the first stirring of his soul, the questions: ‘‘What
next?” ‘‘Where is my place?” ‘“‘What can I do?”

These are likely to be lonely hours in the day-dawn of
young manhood; certainly no period is more important. He
feels himself in a world before he had anything to say about
it. He gets to thinking that the good places are all filled,
and he will have hard, if not impossible work to push him-
self into anything worth working at. It seems to him—as
has been occasionally expressed to me—that he is almost an
intruder, that no one wants him. If any young man here
this evening feels that way, I have a message for him, and
I wish your attention in a talk regarding the American
Farmer Boy,—what is in him and what surely awaits his
grasp just before him, if he has a hearty welcoming readi-
ness for a best future.

The most active period of all the world’s activities is now
waiting—as near as this busy world can wait about any-
thing—peering anxiously into and along the ranks of all
young men for those WHO KNOW HOW.

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LIVING IN A DIFFERENT AGE

We are living in an age different from that in which our
fathers and grandfathers lived and acted. The exacting de-
mands of business in commercial, professional and other lines
are different. This is an age in which the processes of labor
are first thought out before the work begins if the laborer
counts for much. And this being true it devolves upon the
farmer boys to fit themselves for the business of farming,
training themselves for it just as do their brothers who go
into the professions.

Do you remember that motto in the old copybook, ‘‘Work
is the engine which draws the car of success’? Now, while
this is a very good motto yet in this age it can be improved
upon for hard work alone will not always bring success.
Let me draw a word picture for you: Suppose that we have
standing upon the railroad track a huge ear which we will
call “‘success.” In front of the car stands a powerful loco-
motive which we will call “‘work.” Is the picture complete?
Is the train ready to move? Yes, it can, but only to wreck
and disaster without the skilled engineer in the cab of that
engine, his hand upon the lever, his eye looking ahead, his
brain alert for emergencies. Over him let us print in big
letters the word “‘thought.” Now we have the corrected
motto which reads, ““Thought is the skilled engineer who
directs the engine, work, which draws the car success.”

In short it is well directed thinking labor that pays.
Young man, this is an age when all kinds of successful busi-
ness must be thought out before being worked out, and that
means the active exercise of the head as well as the hands
of anyone engaged thus. The world is full of fairly good
workers; excellent workers are scarce. It is not enough for
a young man to say he will “‘try to do his best” but he must
do the work given him to do, and do it thoroughly and com-
pletely. Itis not a question of trying to do the best, but of
actually doing the best. In short, to you young men going
out into the world’s work, it is a case of ‘‘Fish, cut bait, or
get ashore.”

3

A welltrained mind is fundamental to success. A mind
trained to concentrated study, to careful analysis of the sub-
ject in hand and to be content with nothing short of the com-
plete mastery of it is the best equipment for business life a
young man can possess.

It is vigorous thought which counts. The mind must be
trained to exactitude. You must seize and grasp with all
your might the thing you are undertaking and do it with
vigor and enthusiasm if you wish your work to bear the stamp
of superiority when completed.

The average young man needs to think less of his clothes
and cigarettes and amusements and to fix his attention more
upon the development of his thinking powers rather than
let his brain rust and be idle. Itis of vastly greater moment
to develop the creases in the gray matter of the brain than
it is to have a perfectly creased pair of trousers.

CHARACTER REVEALED BY THOROUGHNESS OF WORK

Remember that doing the work well is all that is neces-
sary to make the humblest occupation honorable. It matters
little whether you raise corn or apples, peg shoes or write
books, doing it thoroughly well should be your true ambition.
Such an ideal is a sure character builder. Nothing reveals
character so much as the way in which you as boy or man do
your work. A botched job shows the poor workman, while
a good piece of work gives an impress for strength and mas-
terfulness, advancing the worker towards better positions.

The fact that one young man may male a complete fail-
ure of his school work or business while another may take up
the same work or business and make a success of it, plainly
indicates that there is something in the man or the way a
man gets at and pushes things, as well as in the institution and
the method. In fact, almost everything rests with the man.
This is my reason for urging you young mento bend every
energy in acquiring the right kind of ideals for your start in
life. The ability to do hard work, tothink clearly and add
to your manhood by honesty of purpose and integrity of work,

4

will secure the confidence of all who have to do with youand
you will not only win success, but what is more, royally de-
serve it.

Edison was once asked to define genius. He replied,
‘Two percent is genius and ninety-eight percent is hard
work.” Again he was asked if he did not think that genius
was inspiration. He replied, ‘“No, genius is not inspiration;
it is perspiration.”

YOUTH COMES BUT ONCE

It is my aim in speaking these earnest words to you, to
more thoroughly awaken the young men to the fact that youth
comes but once, and the pathway of lifeis only trodden once,
therefore it is all-important before taking up the chief work
of life to be fitted for it the best you can. Now, is not the
farm boy worth educating just as much as is the boy who
lives in town? I speak of the farm boy who will go back to
the farm, for in the large majority of cases these boys will
remain upon the farm both by reason of environment and
chvice. The time is nearat hand when the infiux from the
country to the cities will stop and turn back to the country,
and we are in this country coming rapidly to that condition
which prevails in Kurope where the true aristocracy resides
on the farms.

I do not advocate that every boy who was born and
reared upon a farm should remain there regardless of likes
and adaptability, any more than that the boy who was born
near a corner drug store should become a druggist. I be-
heve that sofar as possible every young person should fol-
low the lead of his inclination and adaptability. We believe
in encouraging the young men who expect to farm to be good
farmers and to fit themselves for the business of farming just
as would their brothers who take up the professions. Thus
is being developed aclass of men true and tolerant and use-
ful in the home and potential in public affairs. Let us not
forget to quicken the aspirations of these young people by
endeavoring tocarry the thought of culture and higher educa-

5

tion into the farm homes, thus giving them a glimpse of the
greater things that contribute most effectually and directly to
agricultural prosperity. Itis not necessary for a man to live
like a hog in order to successfully raise a hog, and I believe
that we are going to realize this more and more.

THE COUNTRY SCHOOL ANDITS RELATION TO THE FARM BOY

I take it that you will all agree with me in the general
statement that boys on the farm should be educated, but the
speaker takes the ground that the country schools, which
are often the farmers’ preparatory and finishing schools,
should consider more fully the environment and probable
future life of the pupils, and while these young people are in
leading strings, so to speak, there should be some recogni-
tion of the life which they are to follow. The district schools
recruit the academies; the colleges recruit the universi-
ties, and they in turn have been recruiting every profes-
sion under the sun except farming. Out of these train-
ing schools should come back to the farms a constant
stream of healthy life especially instructed for agricultural
interests.

The majority of workers in this state are engaged in ag-
riculture; the environment of their children is rural. But,
the dominant question is not expansion in acres or national
possessions, but rather expansion of brain, skill and judg-
ment of these farm boys. Am I asking too much when I
plead for the co-operation of the rural school teachers that
their instruction be based somewhat in harmony with the
calling which the majority of their pupils must eventually
engage in and thus make their influence at least correlative
with the work of the Agricultural College of our state.

All about our school buildings are objects of intense in-
terest tothe average human being but in many cases I fear
that the average country school teacher of today is as indif-
ferent to these objects as though the school were in a great
city. Why cannot these boys be instructed along lnes
which will enable them to devote some time to the intelligent

6

observation of the natural objects about them? <A growing
corn plant, the root development of a clover plant are ob-
jects of keenest interest to children whether living in the
city or the country.

There are at least a few scientific terms which should be
as familiar to the farmer boy as the multiplication table is;
they are such as the elements which go to make up food
ration—protein, carbohydrates; or the essential elements of
soil fertility—nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, ete. These
terms are neither harder to understand nor use than “‘minu-
end,” ‘‘subtrahend,” ‘‘greatest common divisor,” ‘‘aliquot
parts,” ‘“conjunctive adverb,” etc., words which are rarely
used outside of the school room, yet are daily drilled into the
children as though vital to their existence.

I do not advocate that our schools should teach practical
farming or very much agriculture, but they can teach many
things about crops, soils, animals, foodstuffs, trees, etc.,
which will help to make more practical farmers and will help
to make all who live in the country have a keen appreciation
of rural life and its opportunities. To lead up to this work:
I believe that it is possible for a teacher to interest the boys
in legumes and plants which are more fascinating than any
novel can be. The following suggestions are offered: Get
the boys to carefully dig up some clover roots and show
them the tubercles or nodules wherein the bacteria are at
work; explain how the roots of these legumes are little labo-
ratories, as it were, and how countless bacteria can entrap
the nitrogen from the air and make it available as an ele-
ment of fertility to the growing crop. Explain how four-
fifths of the air we breathe is pure nitrogen; and how sus-
pended over every square inch of the earth there are about
12 pounds of nitrogen, worth from 14 to 15 cents per pound;
and how over every acre of land there are 388,000 tons of
this the most costly element of soil fertility, worth over $11,
000,000.

Then take up the wonderful possibilities of the corn plant
and explain how from it are manufactured over seventy dis-
tinct commercial products; how the very rubber boots that

7

he wears through the mud were largely made from the corn
plant; the syrup he eats on his cakes, and the taffy he gives
his best girl,—-all of these things are largely produced from
this cereal. In this way his interest may be aroused. All
these things may be taught in the school room, thus inter-
esting the boys in the commercial side of crop production.

EDUCATION FOR VOCATION

The object of all this is to teach these boys observation;
to teach them to think more concerning the work which they
are doing, and to impress upon them that they may be edu-
cated for their hfe work. Inspire the boys with the thought
that above all things they must get an education; an educa-
tion for practical use and vocation rather than for culture’s
sake alone. Encourage them to get a portion of that educa-
tion in the College of Agriculture, even if they cannot do
better than take the Two Weeks’ Course in Agriculture which
every year is offered to the farmers and the farmers’ sons.
They will thus have inspiration to study books and bulletins
and literature bearing upon their business. No young man
who expects to farm can afford to miss the opportunities af-
forded by the Illinois College of Agriculture. Any boy who
is 16 years of age and can readand speak the English lan-
guage may take up work in this college. He may begin at
any time of the year, but of course itis more advantageous
to start in at the beginning of the semester or half semester
periods.

There are more than eighty different courses offered in
this institution. The latch-string of the College of Agri-
culture hangs out to every boy and girl. Through the
scholarships offered by the Farmers’ Institutes the tuition is
free. To every young man comes this personal question,
“Will you embrace the opportunity to go forward to a higher,
nobler, and better farming?” Look into this opportunity to
educate yourself directly in your business and not away from
it. There issmaller sphere forthe uneducated man in each
succeeding decade, and a diminishing possibility of success

8

for the man who does not read and think. I have only dis-
couragement to suggest to those who pass that way. The
reading and thinking man is in the saddle. The thinking
manis guiding our Nation’s destinies. Only that which is
alive can impart life.

With the changing conditions we are fast coming to see
that these farmer boys should be made more capable to suc-
cessfully meet the demands of their calling. Hundreds of
young farmers are educating themselves in their business
in the same sense as would be considered necessary were they
to become successful doctors, lawyers, bankers, or manufac-
turers. This is the most cheering outlook of the young
century.

GIVE THE BOYS A SQUARE DEAL

Now, are you older people and parents living up to your
privileges? You hear someone say, “I never attended an
agricultural college, and what was good enough for me is
zood enough for my boys.” Now, is that giving the boys a
‘square deal”? You certainly want your boys to advance
and improve. In your day perhaps there were no agricul-
tural colleges to speak of; they have been largely developed
in recent years. Therefore I plead with you to look into the
matter and do not neglect to give your boys the opportunity
to get the information ina practical way which will be of in-
calculable value to them in after life.

How many of you farmers tale the time to take your sons
out to the orchard and explain to them carefully and pains-
takingly the details of pruning, budding, and grafting; how
to prepare and apply a spray mixture; the setting out of
orchards and small fruits? How many of youstockmen take
your boys with you when you go to buy a carload of cattle,
or a breeding animal, and explain to them all those various
points which you as practical and successful stockmen know
that these animals must have if they are to return profit to
you? You know these points; probably you have learned
them from the hard knocks of experience, but you are not

9

trained to tell about them. Youcannot impart such infor-
mation to others, even to yourown sons, as well as can the
man who has been trained to do so. The man who was edu-
cated ina special line and has had practical experience in that
line—and perhaps he has had as much experience as your-
self no matter how well you may be posted—yes, that manis
more capable to impart such knowledge; that is his business;
he has been brought up and trained to do that very thing.
You have that kind of men at the College of Agriculture to-
day. For instance, in Horticulture, you know that there are
no better posted men both theoretically and practically, than
Professors Blair, Lloyd, and Crandall, Dr. Burrill and Dr.
Forbes; these men are experts in their respective lines.

I refer to the men connected with the Department of Hor-
ticulture because you are familiar with them, but you may be
assured that in the Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy
Husbandry departments there are men who are just as worthy
of your confidence,—such men as Dean Davenport, Dr. Hop-
kins, Professors Mumford and Fraser, and many others whom
ITcouldname. Youcan send your son here to the Agricultural
College and if he can remain but a few weeks he will get an
inspiration from his association and contact with these men.
I confidently claim that in six months’ time the boy, if he is
of the right sort, can get more practical information along
given lines— horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying, etc.,
than he could get in as many years at home, learning by the
hard knocks of experience.

WHAT IT IS TO STUDY AGRICULTURE IN A COLLEGE

We try to inculcate in these boys a thirst for informa-
tion, all the time keeping their feet upon the ground, as it
were, and to teach them the true dignity of labor, which is
the dominant thought of the College of Agriculture. About
half of a boy’s time is devoted to practically carrying out the
theories he gets in the class room. For instance, he studies
principles or theories of stock judging, and then goes into
the stock judging room and looks over the specimens of dif-

10

ferent breeds which he has been studying about, and under
the direction of an expert applies the knowledge thus gained.

If a boy has a special interest in some phase of horticul-
ture, for instance, fruit growing, he is not only taught the
theories of the subject from a botanical standpoint and those
things which pertain to scientific horticulture, but he is
taken into the laboratory or out to the field in the busy sea-
son where he is engaged in budding, grafting, pruning the
trees, or studying the effect of spraying upon insects and
fungous diseases. He learns to judge fruit and to identify
the different varieties, thus creating an interest in garden-
ing and orchards.

He is taught how to grow and take care of small fruits
and vegetables; how to prune grape vines; how to select a
site for an orchard; how to prune and graft trees after they
are planted,—with the why and wherefore of all this so far
as known.

He is also given enough practice in treatment of neg-
lected fruit trees to understand the work of renovating the
home orchard when he leaves the University. He is taught
ornamental landscape gardening with special reference to
beautifying the home surroundings.

A LIVING BUT SILENT WITNESS

Again students are taught not only concerning the ef-
fects of injudicious cropping and how these broad and fertile
prairies of ours will become depleted if not properly handled,
but they are shown many object lessons as well. There
stands one field upon which nothing but corn has been grown
continuously for 29 years. Last year the yield on this ground
was about 19 bushels to the acre. In another plot, the same
kind of soil, where corn and oats had been rotated for the
same length of time, the yield was 44 bushels of corn to the
acre. On the third piece of ground where rotation of corn,
oats and clover was practiced, the yield was 59 bushels of
corn to the acre. And still another plot, which had been
handled according to the best known methods, produced 96
bushels to the acre.

11

Now do not make the mistake that one farmer did who
visited the College of Agriculture last year and ridiculed
that poor field of corn. He said if the farmers of the state
raised corn like that they would have to quit the business.
You will understand of course that that field of poor corn
stood there as a living but silent witness of the effect of con-
stant or injudicious cropping. That is the way these great
fertile prairies of ours would look after they had been farmed
for generations by men who did not read and think.

Every day in the year is full of interest at the College
of Agriculture. Every month is a principal one to the stu-
dents there. Hundreds of experiments are constantly in prog-
ress and in all stages of completion. There are many ex-
periments under way of which you will probably see but little.
They are designed for use a quarter of a century from now.
The student or visitor cannot fail to get some hints or facts
which will be suggestive to him the rest of his life. Surely
it is worth a day’s journey and the spending of a few dollars
to send your boy to this school where he may see what it
has taken theUniversity a quarter of a century to demonstrate.

YOUNG MEN STUDY FARM MACHINERY

Probably your boy has an aptitude for machinery. If
so, he can go into the wood shop and forge room and get the
practical knowledge of how all kinds of carpenter work and
blacksmithing should be done, and how to handle these tools;
he can go into the farm mechanics laboratory and study farm
machinery to his heart’s content. That there is a demand
for young men trained for this work is evident from the fact
that last season 24 young men who had received special
training in farm mechanics went out from the University in
the employ of different harvester companies. They started
out in May, spending the time from then until school com-
menced in September following the harvest season from the
southern states into the extreme north, putting up and doing
expert work with harvesting machinery. These young men
got from $40 to $50 per month and their expenses paid. A

12

number of these boys were working their way through
school, but had been especially trained here and knew how
to put up machinery; they had worked for days and weeks
with these machines when properly adjusted and when im-
properly adjusted, studying all their intricate parts. In one
of their examinations they were required to take apart three
binders, a Deering, a McCormick and a Champion, leaving
them in smaller pieces then when the machines came from
the factories, throw them all in one pile, and, more rapidly
than you or [ could handle scrap iron, they sorted out the
pieces, threw them in three separate piles, put the machines
together, turned on the power and had them running. These
boys were experts; they were trained to do something; in
short they KNEW HOW and then they found that there was a
demand for young men who had that very kind of training.
The “KNOW HOW” man need never be idle.

ATTENDANCE AT THE UNIVERSITY

The attendance at the College of Agriculture is very
much increased. Seven years ago there were only 19 stu-
dents here; the enrollment this year numbers 4380 persons.
The whole University of Ulinois has an enrollment of more
than 4000 students, 100 of the 102 counties of our state being
represented and also 438 states of the Union and 138 foreign
countries. More than 400 instructors devote their entire
time to instructional work in the different departments. So
you see the University of this state is cosmopolitan. It draws
upon the whole world, as it were, not only for its instructors,
but for its student body, and is an institution of which we
I}linois people may feel justly proud. ‘You have paid for it
and you should use it for yourselves and your sons to the
fullest possible manner.

As I said before, we are trying to inculcate in these boys
a love for the soil and an appreciation of the dignity of labor.
It is the aspiration of every American boy te own his own
home, and if there is any one thing especially taught to the
boys by environment and in the College of Agriculture it is
the appreciation and value of hard work and careful thinking

as contributing factors in their life work.

13

My young friends you are soon to face the problem of
self-support, and I believe that the majority of you would
prefer to remain your own masters and enjoy the indepen.
dence of your own homes. It is the aspiration of every
American boy to own some land and spend money in improv-
ing and beautifying his home. Now, if you had some older
friend who had made a pronounced success of farming would
it not be worth your while to spend some time associating
with him and learning what he knows about work in stock
feeding, rotation of crops, systematic farm management and
the like?

We recognize that experience is a dear school. Can you
afford to spend years learning methods which are well
known perhaps only a few miles from your own home? The
Agricultural College of which | have been speaking is in
ciose touch with practical farming everywhere so that its
ideas of instruction and advice are of general and not merely
local value. Why not acquire these ideas and profit by
them? Why not spend a few months or a year or two at the
College of Agriculture of your state?

It is our object to acquaint the boys with facts and prin-
ciples and the ability to use them, taking the stand thata
portion of a boy’s education ane be drawn out of the sub-
ject matter of his profession and that it is a mistake to edu-
cate a boy without the slightest reference to matters which
he will be expected to know when he comes to be a man

There are a great variety of interests from peeing
to end of an Agricultural College course. While the young
men are growing deft and skillful with their hands, they are
thinking clearer and the desire and thirst for knowledge
grows as the way to get it is pointed out to them. Notonly
are their hands and intellects trained, but with the right kind
of sensible, level-headed toys their hearts grow more kindly
and tolerant through social and intellectual intercourse as
they rub up against each other and they realize that they
are building the best that can be received in this life, which
is true manly character.

It is not the aim of Agyicultural College training to

14

pound a lot of knowledge into a boy’s head which may or
may not be of practical use to him afterwards, but rather to
fill him with a boundless enthusiasm and set before him high
ideals, intellectual and moral. Agricultural education pays
in dollars and cents, in desirable positions, in opportunities
for promotion, in usefulness, influence and happiness. A
better knowledge of the science of agriculture and modern
practices is essential to the highest achievement in success-
ful farming.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE YOUNG MAN DESIRING AN EDUCATION

Now, a definite word of suggestion to these young men
before me: You perhaps have heard it said that an educa-
tion would unfit you for the farm. I know there are some
so-called “educations” that might do so. But I want to as-
sure you that a real education, a bringing out of native facul-
ties, which trains the eye to see, the hand to work and the mind
to perceive the truth in all things will never unfit any man
for the farm who is fit to be a farmer. The College of Ag-
riculture can show you such students every semester.

Your success in getting this sort of an education which
will be of practical value to you will depend primarily upon
what sort ofa boy you are, how hungry you are for knowl-
edge, how willing you are to apply yourself, and upon the
natural strength of your mind. If you have not already
gotten all you can from the schools near your home, let me
suggest that you devote the next year or two to mastering
thoroughly the subjects taught in that school. Get on good
terms with your teachers and get their help. Send to the
Agricultural College at Urbana, for a catalog of the College
and bulletins from the Experiment Station. Ask for sug-
gestions as regards books to read. There are men connected
with this College whose business it is to attend to such things
and they are only too glad to help you. Keep your mind
constantly at work in this direction. Remember that noth-
ing can keep you from getting an education, and we want
you to get the education which will bring out the very best

15

that is in you, but remember that you must GET YOUR
EDUCATION YOURSELF. No book, no teacher, no col-
lege instructor can educate you; you must educate yourself.
Neither money, nor position, nor teacher, nor college can
give development of mind and real education except you
have a determination to appropriate these opportunities.
Yes, it is “‘up to you.”

If financial difficulties stand in your way put your wits to
work and get money enough during the next year or two to
get started in College. Work extra time and raise some crop;
do the work yourself and pay rent for the land, if need be;
sell the crop and with the money buy some pigs, or sheep;
fatten and sell these and in this way start a fund to be used
for books and to pay your way for a year or two in the Col-
lege of Agriculture.

THE PURPOSE OF AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE EXTENSION

I believe that most farm boys sincerely desire to better
their prospects and become useful men. The trouble is they
sometimes do not know just how to go about it. To aid in
starting them right and to make their pathway plainer and
easier is the object of Agricultural College Extension. This
work has in view the bringing of the educational forces of
our State Institution in touch with the largest number of boys
living upon Illinois farms and inducing them to avail them-
selves of the advantages of higher education in agriculture
and other lines.

Much of our work is done in co-operation with the F'arm-
ers’ Institutes in their corn growing and corn judging con-
tests. Through the medium of excursion parties which are
encouraged to visit the University, many parents come here
and bring their children and personally investigate the op-
portunities offered at the University. Who can tell the
thoughts that run through the minds of these young people
when they first go through the College halls? I know that
they return to their homes with a new incentive for diligent
work.

16

We havea list of the names of several thousand boys
and girls with whom we are in direct correspondence and to
whom we send literature concerning the College and Station
work.

in short, the leading features of the work of College Ex-
tension are: Personal correspondence, personally visiting
the homes of these young people, the organization of young
people’s experimental clubs, and excursion parties to visit
the University.

You older people may recall how a few words of encour-
agement and sympathy helped you in your life, and this work
gives an introduction, as it were, and enables the young
people to come more gracefully into College life and heips
them to meet the demands which are made upon them.
Briefly, the results which attend this work are as follows;

First—An interest in agriculture is awakened early in
life.

Second—A marked increase in the attendance at the
College of Agriculture.

Third—The better preparation of the students.

Fourth—A more general appreciation among young
peopie upon the farm of the advantages of higher education
in all lines.

Hifth—A wider and more intelligent conception of what
the College of Agriculture and the University are doing and
of their needs.

There is much about this work which cannot be tabu-
lated or expressed in words or figures, but it is evident that
fruit has been borne along the lines mentioned and the belief
is cherished that what has been accomplished is but a fraction
of what is bound to follow the cumulative effects of this line
of work.

Sometimes a single letter or a half-hour’s conversation
contains the destiny ofa life. To give one concrete instance:
Not long ago I visited a farm home in which were four boys,
the oldest about 20 years of age. He wasa senior in the high
school and expected to take a course in electrical engineering.
His brother had been out of school for two years and told me

17

that he expected to follow farming and did not believe that an
education outside of the district school would be of value to
him. The family was not familiar with the work of the Col-
lege of Agriculture, although well informed upon general
topics. After supper we lighted a lantern and got some
corn which we scored for the boys, and told them of the
work of the College of Agriculture, how we judged live stock,
something of the work in the wood shop, forge room, farm
mechanics laboratory, etc. They were interested and we sat
up until late in the night discussing the advantages of an ed-
ucated over an uneducated man. The next morning the
father thanked me for my visit and promised to bring his
two sons to visit the College of Agriculture. They came dur-
ing the next summer’s vacation. We spent the day in show-
ing them over the grounds and through the buildings of the
University. As a result the oldest boy came to enter the
Engineering School and his brother came with him to enter
the College of Agriculture where he expects to spend at least
two years. Then, there weretwo younger boys in that tam-
ily who will be influenced by that evening’s visit. DiD IT
PAY?

To the older ones in this audience 1 would say, were you
privileged to return to your childhood days could you not
with the knowledge which the years have brought, give a
more certain trend to the acts of that period? And yet to
you as friends, teachers or parents, there comes the oppor-
tunity to place yourselves in a measure beside this latter-day
child, the farm boy, and by words of sympathy and encour-
agement lead him to that higher piane of which true man-
hood is the summit.

THE BUILDING OF CHARACTER

T have spoken earnestly and positively along these lines,
for, if you will allow a personal reference, all my life was
spent upon a farm until four years ago, and I know whereof
I speak. Remember that after all the greatest success lies
not in the mere making of money, or in making a great stir

18

in the world, but rather it consists in the building up around
this personality which incloses the body, of true and manly
character. In that alone comes peace and happiness. Re-
member that your acts are immortal through their effect up-
on the world and upon others. Try to live so that others
may be lifted up by you.

We Americans love our homes, and we want to make
them the best homes in the world. We know that in order
to make this Nation stronger and wiser true homes must be
built up. We must teach and educate these farm boys that
to be strong, clean, honest, true men is to find the best her-
itage that can be given to a man, and with a head to will, a
brain to plan, anda hand to do, means the best of attainment.

And nowiIam done. I have taxed your patience, but it
has been a pleasure to talk to you and you have helped me
by being good listeners. I believe that these young men be-
fore me will succeed, for

“We all believe in Illinois; she’s the state,
With all the elements to make her great—

Young men, high hopes, proud dreams; ‘tis yours to see
Your state succeed to what a state should be.”’

CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION.

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE,

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA.

WHO ARE ADMITTED

Anybody who reads and speaks English and is sixteen
years of age may be admitted to the College of Agriculture.

CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION

For graduates of accredited high schools and for students
eighteen years of age there are no conditions, unless the per-
son is deficient in English, when, if under twenty-one, he will
be assigned to the Academy for that subject. If between
sixteen and eighteen years ofage and not a high-school grad-
uate, he will take one-half his work in the Academy and the
other half may be taken in agriculture.

WHAT ADMISSION MEANS

When a person is admitted under any of these plans, it
means that all studies of the University as wellas of the Col-
lege of Agriculture are open to him in the same way as to any
other University student.

19

20

It means, too, that whether his stay be long or short he
will obtain University credit for whatever he does, whether it be
much or little, and this credit can be applied to graduation at
any time the student may desire.

WHAT CAN BE STUDIED

Everything taught in the University is open toa student
admitted to this College. The system is elective, and the
student chooses his own work, under guidance and advice.
The College of Agriculture alone offers over 100 courses,
some elementary, others exceedingly difficult. Naturally the
student would take the more elementary courses first.

WHAT CAN BE STUDIED AT ONCE

After the student has been on the grounds he will be able
to make his selection intelligently, but for his first guidance
the list on page 26 is printed. It contains nothing that the
student may not tale the first year, and is thus a good list to
choose from on entering. If he expects to stay a year or
more, he would do well to choose chemistry as one of his
studies. Under the United States law, all students take
military drill.

HOW MUCH CAN THE STUDENT TAKE

After each study in the list is anumber. A student may
ordinarily take studies adding up to eighteen credit hours in
each semester, or thirty-six in one year. Exceptional stu-
dents may take a little more.

WHO OUGHT TO GO
Everybody who expects to live on the farm should go to
this College, if only for a brief period.
WHEN SHOULD HE COME
At any time when it is possib!>, but the best time is at

the opening of the school year. <A good time is at the open-
ing of any half semester, when new studies are started.

21
HOW LONG SHOULD HE STAY

As long as circumstances permit. He should take a col-
lege course and graduate, if possible, but he should come, if
only for a half semester or even a month.

IT IS A GOOD PLACE ''O GO

The elective system is in operation, and the student gets
what he wants and is not required to take what he does not
need. Whether his stay is long or short, whatever he does
is thoroughly done, and he gets credit for what he accom-
plishes.

Many interesting experiments are in operationand plainly
to be seen by the student. There is a staff of thirty-five
teachers. The laboratory system is used, whereby the stu-
dent does the work himself under the personal direction of
the specialist. The College and Station own extensive labor-
atories, well equipped, from 200 to 300 head of cattle, with
horses, sheep and swine in proportion, extensive plantings in
horticulture, and a complete agricultural and general library.

Many important meetings are held at the College every
year, and a two weeks’ convention is held each winter, in Jan-
uary, attended by leading farmers from all over the state,
and addressed by men prominent in agriculture. This is
known as the Corn Growers’ and Stockmen’s Convention and
the Two Weeks’ Course in Agriculture. The first two hours
of the morning and all of the evening are given to the con-
vention. During the remainder of the day, classes are con-
ducted in stock-judging, corn-judging, farm mechanics,
butter-making, and household science.

NO DISTINCTION AMONG STUDENTS

Some institutions discriminate against agricultural stu-
dents. It is not so here. The University of Illinois is a
democratic institution, and all classes of students are wel-
come—engineering, and agricultural students, scientists,

22

literaries and lawyers, all mix without distinction. Every-
body is happy and everybody is busy at the University of
Illinois.

OPPORTUNITIES EXCEPTIONAL

It is generally conceded that this College offers courses
in soils, crops, animal husbandry and horticulture second to
those of no other institution. It is not so generally known
that five men devote their entire time to dairy husbandry,
and that butter-making is in progress throughout the year,
offering unusual opportunities to students of dairying at any
time they may find it convenient to come.

WORK TAKEN IN THE UNIVERSITY

Students in the College of Agriculture aiming to graduate
take a little less than half their work in technical agriculture,
unless they increase it by election. Certain other subjects
as chemistry, English literature, military tactics, and phys-
ical training are required; again a given number of credits
must be elected from botany, zoology, geology, physics, and
physiology, and any remaining credits are open electives from
anything taught in the University. Briefly, a student in the
College of Agriculture may take any subject taught in the
University whenever he meets its conditions and is able to
do the work. In these other subjects he receives the same
instruction and enjoys the same advantages as other students
of the University. Special students not candidates for grad-
uation take such subjects, agricultural or otherwise, as they
prefer, except that holders of agricultural scholarships take
at least half their work in technical agriculture.

The University offers work in the following studies:
Agriculture, Anthropology, Architecture, Art and Design,
Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering,
Drawing, Economics, Electrical Engineering, English Lan-
cuage, French, Geology, German, Greek, History, Italian,
Latin, Law, Library Science, Mathematics, Mechanical
Engineering, Mechanics, Mineralogy, Municipal and Sanitary

23

Engineering, Music, Paleontology, Pedagogy, Philosophy,
Physical Training, Physics, Physiography, Physiology, Psy-
chology, Railway Engineering, Rhetoric and Oratory, Span-
ish, Training for Business, and Zoology.

SCHOLARSHIPS IN AGRICULTURE AND HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE

The University offers every year to each county in the
State, except Cook and Lake, and to each of the first ten
congressional districts, one scholarship for prospective stu-
dents of agriculture in the College of Agriculture and one for
prospective students of Household Science in the College of
Literature and Arts, the College of Science, or the College
of Agriculture.

Appointments are made by the Trustees of the University
to scholarships in Agriculture upon the recommendation of
the executive committee of the Illinois Farmers’ Institute, and
to scholarships in Household Science upon the recommenda-
tion of the County Domestic Science Associations. Young
men under 16 years of age and young women under 18 years
of age and those who have already attended the University
are not eligible. Acceptable candidates, residents of counties
or districts for which appointments have been made, may be
assigned to counties or districts not yet represented.

The scholarships are good for two years and relieve the
holders from the payment of the matriculation fee, $10.00,
and the incidental fee, $24.00 a year. The term of ascholar-
ship may be extended four years, if, before it expires, the
holder satisfies in full the requirements for admission to the
freshman class of the college in which he is enrolled.

EXPENSES

What will it cost? This is an important question with
every one, and with some it settles the possibility of a college
course. ‘The best estimate is about as follows:

i. Matriculation: 166, ald: ONCE ss statis tas sa ond nsee sede eles $10.00
aap GP Ret OMr LEG, MTC ONC Gia sx, dadda 3's idee vi o/e:aim ach ieiaishel nies sinle 5.00

24

3... Incidental fee, for half year............. iar evehorsteckeleerete siete 2) OOO)
4. Tuition fee, in University for half year....... debian cece eels ROO
5. Tuition fee, in Academy for half year..... suk tebe: chores ee lafehe ele teed UW LCO
6. Laboratory fees, vary from nothing to.......... Se iso AL OLO0
7. Room rent, each student, two in room, ee Sn, $35. 09 to 65.00
B2- BOard, PeErsyicariver cicleies fee cite isicercueiniere ciate teh estas 090,00 tor 126.00
9. Washing, per year....... A sdactavele aac sts sind se bawigns askerOU tO) GaeLOU
10. Books, from nothing to...... Acree aise Sialentner ore: sitccteasieai OL00)

N. B. Only regular students pay a and 2; only special
students pay 4. Holders of scholarships do not pay either 1,
8 or 4. Laboratory fees apply to but few subjects and are
light except in chemistry. Books are to be had at reduced
rates, and are often sold to succeeding classes.

Work.—No regular labor can be guaranteed to students,
yet many do get some employment about the University or
in the adjacent cities.

For all necessary expenses of the year, the average stu-
dent is not likely to live for less than $275.00 or $800.00.

There is a large number of suitable private places in
Urbana and Champaign, within walking distance of the Uni-
versity, where students can obtain table board and room.
There are several students’ clubs at which the cost of meals
is about three dollars a week.

THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS

The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Asso-
ciations have come to occupy a prominent place in the Uni-
versity life. Both are affiliated with the World’s Student
Christian Federation. Each association employs for full
time a general secretary.

The Association House furnishes free for the use of all
students reading room, library, parlors, piano, magazines
and papers, correspondence table, and telephone—a college
home.

Religious meetings for men are held on Sunday mornings,
for women on Thursday afternoons; and for both men and
women on Monday evenings. There are frequent meetings
for the promotion of social intercourse and good fellowship.

A most helpful feature of the work is that in the interest
of new students at the opening of the schoolyear. Desirable

25

rooms and boarding places are found and lists posted for
reference at the Association House. Representatives of the
Association meet the trains, assist students in finding satis-
factory locations, and endeavor in every way to make them
feel at home. The employment bureau helps to find work.

A copy of the Students’ Hand-Book, containing a map
of the cities, and giving information about Urbana and
Champaign, the University, and the various college organi-
zations and activities, will be sent free to prospective
students.

For this Hand-Book, address the General Secretary of
either Association.

AGRICULTURAL CLUB

This club meets weekly. It is devoted to the discussion
of topics of theoretical and practical interest to students of
agriculture. All students connected with the University are
eligible to membership.

The College of Agriculture will at all times welcome re-
quests for further information whether presented in person
or by letter. Address,

EUGENE DAVENPORT, Dean,
College of Agriculture,
or
FRED H. RANKIN, Supt.,
Agricultural College Extension,

Urbana, Illinois.

26
FIRST SEMESTER

First HALF: SEPTEMBER 17—NOVEM- SECOND HALF: NOVEMBER 19—JANU-

BER 16. ARY 25.

Drainage .-.-----------------+---- ------ 2% Power Machinery---_---..2.222..2-.2-- 3
Field Machinery-.------ Pee eee ere 3 IM Gates eee eee et aie ee MEE OD.
Farm Crops—Corn Judging--..--.----- 2% Beef Cattle—Judging _..........-...-- alg
Elements of Stock Meeding.---- ------ 1 Feeding and Care of Dairy Herd-_--__. gh%
Dairy Cattle—Judging ------.---------- 9% Plant Propagation. -2.-. 5.202. 2.1 26
Stable Management— Horses ---------- 1360! INVES es oe CES eels eee aioe 3
Cheddar Cheese .-.--. ------------------ 3 Bacteria and Allied Organisms.-.._...1
Milk-.---.------ ------------ ----------- 3 Elements of Stock Feeding ........._.. 1
Beef Cattle—Judging-----..----.------ Siete GREE pues ete s acu ao 21%
Breeding, Rearing of Horses_--- ----- 1

(GGOC Bye eae ey =a

FULL SEMESTER: SEPTEMBER 17—
JANUARY 25.

Injurious <msectSs5-2.2--2sc2cncnsseccanne

POPU G Growing ceestnte cesses Dooece ee 5
(Plant sHOUSCSE= 22 sas Sees ee ean 5
Genera): Horticulture. --- 2422222, -02-.45 5
Homes Sanitation ec. =e ee cee ae ane 2
Wextilese2:. 82.22 - Ci See. ate ae eee es 2
Animal Diseaseses-2242-28 = ceelc osns ao 5
IMEGICINGS sone 2255-2. aes canoe een D
GhemiStryea-a. sete to sess eee asco 5
BS OUADYacc acetates Soe ieee pols eee ele 5
PEUTAQMLTS Lis see ee = eee ae ey ne ss 5
(FDIS BOT Ys. 2 So ett ete te hee 2 ee 5
Mathematica. 25 3265.02 Seece cee aaa eee 5
IPD VSiCStesara ote ceue acto ce hee ee eee a eens 5
First HALF: JANUARY 28—April 3. SECOND HALF; APRIL 6—JUNE 7.
Crop-Production=-22>22--s-s-caseccsocs 2% IDT RING LOL e aerate ae eee ees 2%
Market Classes of Horses.--..--.------ 2% Marni MacbiInery <-2525<4--4.5c--2seuser 2%
Weel Production. 222 sc. see neene, oa 2% Sprayin gee.) ele ee ees ee ere
Butter Malcn geese =22 2c Lek eee 3 Farmers’ Institute Management-.---- 1
Wancy OHE6SeC ose so ack nee ee eee
City Milk Supply 22-2252. . <pece ace eee 2%

FULL SEMESTER: JANUARY 28—JUNE?7.

Gr TIG ee ee tee ee ie, eee re rae 5
Farm Buildings and Fences.---...------ 5
Small eh riitS==2-2 ss oe seen 2
Vegetable Gardening=-o: = <-2-2,-2-2 2 o- <5 3
Home Wecorsation..2 2 22s22- 65 oes-se 5-2 2
Selectionion Moods .2522 es ee. ee See 3
Personal and Public Hygiene---_--------- 1
Animal WDiSeaSeS2eees eet eee nan c ae ee 5
IMGGIGINES Mites seen oa tome ea tereenee Sec 5
GOOG yin re ee ee ee eres 5
@GHemMistry sone ee tae ee ese ec acceacteeD
BOtaiy eee awk oo ee Ce ee See ne Siete 5
ZOOLOGY te whe eee one et eaae eae eee 5
MAN LS hie ee he ee eee eee eee
LSU OLY eee ea ee ae ee ee ee ae =D
Mathematics: ese ces ccee cane cet 5
IPTV SIGS SS ee a ds A ER a 5

Norn: The above list shows studies open to any student regular or special
upon entering. He will choose an amount aggregating approximately 18, and will be
guided in his choice by his personal preference and needs and by the counsel of the
faculty.

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