Cornell University Library 
 S 521.NS6 
 Addresses at the dedication of the build 
 
 3 1924 002 818 023 
 
''^. 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002818023 
 

 
 > 
 
 H 
 c?5 
 oi 
 
 > 
 
 z 
 
 D 
 
 _J 
 _I 
 
 z 
 
 Di 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 H 
 < 
 
 CC 
 D 
 
 H 
 _1 
 D 
 O 
 
 5 
 o 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 UJ 
 
 a 
 
 UJ 
 
 -J 
 _1 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 UJ 
 
 H 
 < 
 H 
 
 CO 
 
 cc 
 o 
 >- 
 
 UJ 
 
 UJ 
 
 X 
 
ADDRESSES 
 
 AT THE 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE BUILDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 New York State College of Agriculture 
 
 APRIL 27, 1907 
 
 CORNEI<I< UNIVERSITY 
 
 ITHACA, NEW YORK 
 
 1907 
 
 s 
 
ADDRESSES 
 
 President Schurman : I have the honor of presenting 
 the Governor of the State of New York — 
 
 lustum et tenacem propositi virum 
 Non civium ardor prava iubentium, 
 Non voltus instantis tyranni 
 
 Mente quatit solida, neque Auster, 
 
 Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae, 
 Nee fulminantis magna manus lovis ; 
 Si fraetus inlabatur orbis, 
 Impavidum ferient ruinae. 
 
 In Spare moments during the last forty-eight hours, 
 which have been more than full with multifarious and im- 
 perative engagements, I have made a translation of these 
 stanzas from the third Ode of the Third Book of Horace, 
 which, with apologies to the shades of Horace for my rash 
 presumption, I now venture to read : 
 
 A just man of tenacious will, — 
 No party bent on doing ill, 
 No frown of tyrant boss or lord, 
 No yellow journal's windy word 
 
 His righteous purpose ere can move, — 
 Nor the big bolt that's hurled by Jove. 
 Mid chaos and dissolving bands 
 Unmoved and fearless, lo ! he stands. 
 
 Once our comrade in this University, always our friend, 
 and now Governor of our State, Charles Evans Hughes. 
 
 ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR HUGHES 
 
 You have celebrated with • fitting ceremony the Hun- 
 dredth Anniversary of the birth of Ezra Cornell. Nothing 
 could more suitably embody the spirit which animated him 
 in the. founding of Cornell University than this provision 
 for instruction and experiment, for the spread of useful in- 
 
formation, and for intelligent leadership in order to pro- 
 mote the agricultural interests of this State. 
 
 The progress of civilization is perhaps most strongly 
 marked by the widening of the area of instruction and the 
 diminution of failures due to untutored and unrelated 
 effort, through the establishment of schools for proper 
 training and for the communication under skilled direction 
 of the lessons of experience. And the modern breadth of 
 view with reference to scholastic purpose, and the rapid 
 growth in appreciation by the people of the benefit of 
 scientific instruction could have no more striking illustra- 
 tion than the establishment, under the auspices of the 
 State, in contact with schools of liberal arts, of politics and 
 of law, of this school of agriculture. 
 
 I am reminded of the occasion when, fifteen years ago, 
 as a member of the staff of instruction of this University, 
 I listened to the inaugural address of its new President. I 
 remember well the mingled expressions of concern as to 
 the wisdom of his policy and admiration at his courage — 
 not to say audacity — in announcing it. Rarely has there 
 been vouchsafed to any prophet a clearer vision or a more 
 complete fulfillment of his prophecy. Among other things 
 President Schurman then said : ' ' From the very begin- 
 ning Cornell University has paid special attention to the two 
 subjects which more than any other vitally affect the interests 
 of the majority of our people — I mean agriculture and veter- 
 inary science . . . We need an appropriation for a College 
 of veterinary knowledge of at least $40,000 a year . . . and 
 at the same time liberal provision should be made for agri- 
 culture, including horticulture. The first and imperative 
 need is that of a building large enough to house, along 
 with the department of agriculture those of horticulture, 
 entomology, and dairy husbandry .... The home of 
 teachers and investigators, it should be made the living 
 center of all the agricultural interests of the State. Stu- 
 dents would come for the regular courses or for short 
 winter courses ; and those who could not leave their homes 
 
might receive instruction by correspondence. Bulletins 
 
 would be published giving results of investigations 
 
 "We should need at least $200,000 for the building and then 
 such appropriations as would make the work in it worthy 
 of the vast agricultural resources and wealth of this im- 
 perial state." 
 
 All those who heard marvelled at his dream. But in 
 1894 a State Veterinary College was established, and an 
 appropriation was made by the State for the construction 
 and equipment of suitable buildings for its purposes. It 
 has also received appropriations for its maintenance 
 amounting to $25,000 a year. 
 
 In 1904 the Legislature passed an act establishing a 
 State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, and ap- 
 propriated for the construction and equipment of its build- 
 ings the sum of $250,000, and at the last session of the 
 Legislature it received for its maintenance and for the pro- 
 motion of agricultural knowledge through the State an ap- 
 propriation of $100,000. 
 
 We may pause to congratulate President Schurman, not 
 only upon his foresight, but upon the sagacity and vigor 
 which has enabled him to accomplish his purpose. 
 
 There are many engrossed in the great industrial activi- 
 ties of the State who fail to realize the importance of its 
 agricultural interests. According to the last census New 
 York led the states in the value of its dairy products, of its 
 hay crop, of its vegetables, of its flowers and'^lants, and of 
 its apple crop, while in the value of its fruit and orchard 
 products it was second only to California. The value of its 
 farm property is exceeded only in the case of three states. 
 The State has no more important dutyjthan to husband its 
 agricultural interests. 
 
 Much has been done in recent years to improve the con- 
 dition of the farmer. The rural free delivery has brought 
 him in closer contact with his fellow citizens and with the 
 forces which make for progress in the State. The improve- 
 ment of the roads of the State will greatly^^jfacilitate his 
 
access to markets. While he has the advantages of these 
 external improvements, he has the opportunity of taking 
 part in the important and eflScient organization of the State 
 Grange for the protection and advancement of his interests. 
 The State Department of Agriculture has a most important 
 function and among its other activities is now addressing 
 itself to the very serious problem of farm labor. Its efforts 
 have also facilitated the sale of abandoned farms. 
 
 But much remains to be accomplished. In the press of 
 the questions incident to the congestion of population in 
 our great cities we must not forget the demands of rural 
 communities and must not fail to take advantage of every 
 opportunity to promote the welfare of that important portion 
 of our population, which, although not urban, has its own 
 serious social and economic problems. 
 
 We need scientific instruction in matters pertaining to 
 farming — instruction with reference to suitable farm ma- 
 chinery — with regard to the various matters which Director 
 Bailey has aptly called ' ' rural engineering ' ' , and in the 
 various subjects which relate to rural life. We need not 
 only instruction and experimentation at this school, but the 
 dissemination of its influence and the carrying to the people 
 through the various forms of extension work of the informa- 
 tion and the practical assistance and guidance which will 
 help them in solving the problems of existence and in 
 developing the agricultural resources of the State. 
 
 It is for these purposes that this school has been estab- 
 lished. The statute provides : " The object of said College 
 of Agriculture shall be to improve the agricultural methods 
 of the State ; to develop the agricultural resources of the 
 State in the production of crops of all kinds ; in the rearing 
 and breeding of live-stock ; in the manufacture of dairy and 
 other products ; in determining better methods of marketing 
 and handling such products and in other ways ; and to in- 
 crease intelligence and elevate the standards of living in the 
 rural districts." 
 
Under the Act of Administration, while these buildings 
 and equipment are to. remain the property of the State, 
 Cornell University is entrusted with their custody and con- 
 trol and is authorized to administer this College, with 
 authority to appoint investigators, teachers and other em- 
 ployees, to lay out lines of investigation, to prescribe the 
 requirements of admission and the course of study and 
 otherwise to exercise such power as may be needed for due 
 administration. 
 
 This is a sacred trust. To your administration the State 
 has committed one of the most important interests of the 
 people, represented in the establishment of this school. It 
 is not a school to be administered for the benefit of Cornell 
 University, but it is a school to be administered by Cornell 
 University for the benefit of the people. We may view its 
 future with confidence as we recall the services rendered in 
 the past by those connected with the agricultural work of 
 this University, and I am sure it is gratifying to the people 
 to know that the work is to continue under the immediate 
 supervision of that accomplished director, I^iberty Hyde 
 Bailey, to whose ability and energy this institution owes so 
 much. And through wise administration and through the 
 benefits which will result from the knowledge this school 
 will disseminate, and the fruitful experience it will record 
 and communicate, Cornell University will be entitled to the 
 respect and the gratitude which are the just due of the 
 faithful execution of a public trust. 
 
 President Schurman : — On behalf of the State of New 
 York, it is now my privilege and my agreeable duty to 
 commit through you to Cornell University the custody and 
 control of these buildings and property, constructed and set 
 apart by the State for the New York State College of Agri- 
 culture, and through you to commit to Cornell University 
 the administration of this college for the benefit of the 
 people of the State. And in doing this I take pleasure in 
 expressing my confidence in the administration of this trust 
 
by Cornell University and my expectation that through 
 this foundation the agricultural interests of the State will 
 be notably advanced. 
 
 Acceptance by President Schurman 
 
 Governor Hughes : — In the name and on behalf of Cor- 
 nell University I accept with a feeling of deep responsibility 
 the trust which, on behalf of the State of New York, you 
 have now committed to us. It will be not only my own 
 aim, but the aim also of the Trustees of Cornell University 
 and of the Faculty of the College of Agriculture to serve 
 the State with the utmost diligence, zeal, and efficiency. 
 It is our conviction that, by bringing the torch of science 
 to bear upon the work of the farmer, Cornell University is 
 at once fulfilling one of the highest functions open to a 
 university and, at the same time and in consequence of this 
 activity, it is facilitating and fructifying the oldest, the 
 most fundamental and the healthfulest of human industries. 
 We deeply appreciate the confidence which the State has 
 shown in the management of this University by entrusting 
 to us the administration of this State College of Agricul- 
 ture, for which the lyCgislature has made such generous 
 provision, and on behalf of the Trustees, of the Faculty of 
 Agriculture, and indeed of all the Faculties of the Univer- 
 sity, I now solemnly pledge that Cornell University will do 
 its utmost to prove worthy of this trust and to improve and 
 elevate the agricultural interests of the State, for whose 
 benefit the trust was instituted. 
 
Presidrnt Schurman : You have had the pleasure of 
 listening to the present Governor of our State. When the 
 University was opened in 1868, the State, owing to the in- 
 ability of the Governor to be present, was represented by 
 the I/ieutenant-Governor. After the lapse of almost forty 
 years that gentleman is with us to-day, having in the inter- 
 val continuously served the University with great wisdom 
 and ability and with unflagging hope and zeal as a member 
 of the Board of Trustees. He is also the founder of our 
 most coveted prize in the art of oratory, of which he is 
 himself a distinguished exemplar. He is, however, not 
 only an orator ; he is a lawyer of high standing, a public- 
 spirited citizen, and a diplomat who has represented our 
 Republic in foreign courts. In spite of all his honors, 
 however, we always think of him as the old-time, faithful 
 friend of Cornell University. I do not introduce, I merely 
 present our good friend, the Hon. Stewart L. Woodford. 
 
 ADDRESS OF GENERAL STEWART L. WOODFORD 
 
 It is a long look backward to that October day, in 1868, 
 when Cornell University was first opened for the reception 
 of students, and began its work among the great schools of 
 the country. We were gathered in the audience room of 
 the old Cornell lyibrary, with which you are all familiar. 
 Our entering senior class numbered eight. My old Yale 
 College mate. Dr. White, was our President, and it fell to 
 my lot that day, as Lieutenant-Governor of New York, in 
 the absence of Governor Fenton, to represent the State, 
 and deliver to Dr. White the charter and keys of our Uni- 
 versity. (Turning to Governor Hughes, General Wood- 
 ford continued.) Your Excellency, I was once myself a 
 candidate at the polls for the great office you not only hold 
 but fill. The people did not have the same kindly appre- 
 ciation of me as they had of you last autumn. You ob- 
 
 9 
 
tained your certificate of election. Through the kindly in- 
 tervention of Senator Tweed and his confreres I failed in 
 getting mine. I heartily congratulate our people and our 
 State that you succeeded where I failed. (Turning again 
 to the audience, General Woodford continued.) Ladies 
 and gentlemen, I have had much satisfaction in my admin- 
 istration of our State affairs-. An old maxim of the civil 
 law declares that what one does by another he does by him- 
 self. I once had Governor Hughes as a law student in my 
 office, and from what he has done at Albany you can see 
 how well I trained him. I did not quote this maxim of the 
 civil law in its original I^atin, for I have not President 
 Schurman's rare gift of translation into verse. But if 
 what one does by another he does by himself, may not the 
 defeated candidate for the Governorship of thirty years ago 
 modestly claim some credit for this most successful 
 administration ? 
 
 We had a great University from the start. It was once 
 said by a student of Williams that, given a hay rick, Mark 
 Hopkins and one student, there was a University. We 
 had Ezra Cornell for our Founder, Andrew Dickson White 
 for our first President, Professor Agassiz, Russell lyowell, 
 George William Curtis, Bayard Taylor and Goldwin Smith 
 in our first Faculty. We were indeed a great University 
 from the beginning. 
 
 My few remarks must of necessity be reminiscent. 
 
 As I recall that day when we opened our doors memory 
 goes back to the time when I first saw Andrew D. White. 
 It was in 1852 on the campus of Yale College. Yale had 
 not then grown to the dignity of being a University. We 
 were simply Yale College, and Harvard was only Harvard 
 College, and Princeton was only Princeton College. I re- 
 member well the thoughtful, earnest, serious, but always 
 courteous and always kindly young man. I did not grow 
 to know him well in our college days, because class distinc- 
 tion was then very literal and very effective in college life. 
 He was a junior. I was only a sophomore, and when I 
 
raised my hat to him as we passed, and he recognized my 
 salute with courteous and graceful bow, I imagined that I 
 knew him as well then as I should now, were we brothers 
 in a college fraternity. 
 
 I first saw and met our great Founder when I took my 
 seat as Lieutenant-Governor at Albany. Ezra Cornell 
 and Andrew D. White were then Senators in the small 
 circle of the Senate Chamber. I well recall Mr. Cornell, 
 serious, kindly, earnest, taciturn. It became my good for- 
 tune afterwards to know him well, and a truer, more gener- 
 ous, more unselfish and more far-sighted man than Ezra 
 Cornell I have never known. He was so modest that when 
 he had determined to create this University he wished to 
 name it in some such fashion as this, either the New 
 York State University or the New York State Technical 
 College, but never dreamed of allying his own name to the 
 foundation. He only yielded and consented to our becom- 
 ing Cornell University after Senator White had long rea- 
 soned with him — had told him that Harvard had taken the 
 name of its founder ; that Yale had taken the name of the 
 clergyman who induced his confreres to give their few 
 books that there might be a beginning of the college ; that 
 Brown had taken the name of its founder, and that it was 
 due alike to the family and the home of Ezra Cornell that 
 the University which he founded should be forever Cornell 
 University. And so, ladies and gentlemen (turning to Dr. 
 White), permit me to present to you the sponsor who 
 stood godfather to the child. 
 
 We have our college colors, the red and white. Night 
 before last I sat beside a fair and cultured woman of 
 Ithaca, and during our conversation accidentally asked her 
 if she knew how Cornell obtained its colors. She an- 
 swered "no." I asked another at luncheon yesterday, 
 and she said " no." Then I asked a member of our Board 
 of Trustees, and he said ' ' no. ' ' Then I asked two leading 
 members of our faculty, and each said ' ' no. ' ' I^et me ask 
 you of this great audience. Your silence indicates pos- 
 
sible ignorance even on your part. When we chose the 
 red and white we took the carnelian red in thought of our 
 Founder, Ezra Cornell, and we took white for our first 
 President, Andrew Dickson White. If any of you shall be 
 asked thirty years from now how we got our colors, don't 
 let our lady graduates reply that the red and white signi- 
 fies a fair female complexion ; don't let our men reply that 
 with a little indigo added they would be the patriotic 
 colors of the nation. But remember always that the car- 
 nelian red and the pure white were the birthright of the 
 University, and stand for our Founder and first President. 
 
 The Morrill bill, passed in 1862, gave large grants to all 
 of the States for the founding and maintenance of colleges 
 where should be taught especially agriculture, the me- 
 chanic arts and military science. The struggle of the civil 
 war was then upon us. Poets may then have dreamed of 
 peace congresses, but the men of that day knew that bayo- 
 nets must preserve the life of the nation. And so instruc- 
 tion in military science was made an integral part of the 
 foundation of every school organized or aided under the 
 Morrill bill. 
 
 We have kept the faith pledged in our acceptance of the 
 benefits of that bill. 
 
 This great gift of the State, this building you dedicate 
 to-day, is for agriculture. Sibley College and all our great 
 plant for instruction in the mechanic arts tell what, we 
 have done for the highest education of labor. This 
 armory with its peaceful stacks of silent muskets, the in- 
 spiration of '76, the memories of 1862, teach us forever 
 that the armed force of the nation is necessary to maintain 
 the life of the nation ; that when treason strikes there 
 must be an intelligent and patriotic military force to direct 
 and energize the loyalty and effort of the nation. To-day 
 as forever in the past, the strong right arm of the soldier 
 must save the flag in time of peril. I pray that peace may 
 smile forever on this republic. I pray that order and 
 obedience to law may be and abide in the home, in the 
 
city, in the state, aud in the nation. I pray that the time 
 may come when the nations shall gather ' ' in the parlia- 
 ment of man, in the federation of the world", and when 
 peace shall reign the wide world over. But until that mil- 
 lenium shall dawn I bid you remember that right must be 
 strong enough to beat down wrong. The wolves never 
 care how many sheep there be. To protect the sheep 
 there must be force sufficient to beat back the wolves. 
 
 If we would keep agriculture at the forefront we must 
 give to the farmer the best chance for broad, scientific and 
 efficient agricultural education. This problem has been 
 with us since the founding of that first agricultural college 
 where Professor Adam taught in Eden. I congratulate 
 you on what Cornell is doing and has the chance to do to- 
 day. 
 
 If we would keep labor and industry intelligent and far- 
 sighted we must see that they form a part of the oppor- 
 tunity for the highest education. Such schools as Sibley 
 give this opportunity to-day. 
 
 If we would preserve our Republic safe from the danger 
 of the plutocracy on the one hand and the mob upon the 
 other, we must see that our educated men and the great 
 body of the plain people have full opportunity to master the 
 rudiments of military science without the necessity of a 
 great standing army. 
 
 My young friends of Cornell, never forget the responsi- 
 bility that goes with intelligence and strength. Let us so 
 labor on that the Cornell of a century, grown and developed 
 with the increase of a century, shall stand for the same 
 principles and things that Cornell stands for to-day, for 
 culture, for agriculture, for the mechanic arts and for 
 military science. Then shall our children's children feel 
 for us the same gratitude we have to-day for Ezra Cornell, 
 who gave, and for Andrew D. White, who helped him build. 
 
 13 
 
President Schurman : We have been favored to-day 
 by the presence of the Governor of the State of New York 
 and of a gentleman who ought to have been Governor of 
 the State of New York. Our gubernatorial resources are 
 not yet exhausted. We have still to present to you a re- 
 cent Governor of the State of New Hampshire. This gen- 
 tleman comes to us not only as the former chief executive 
 of a sister state, but as the Master of the National Grange, 
 the leading exponent of the great agricultural interests for 
 whose benefit we dedicate these buildings to-day. I have 
 the honor to introduce to you the Hon. Nahum Josiah 
 Bachelder, our co-worker in the field of agricultural 
 education. 
 
 ADDRESS OF EX-GOVERNOR BACHELDER 
 
 I appreciate the honor in being permitted to speak for 
 agriculture at this notable gathering. I might speak as a 
 practical farmer, as a trustee of the agricultural college of 
 my state, as the executive officer of the state department of 
 agriculture of New Hampshire, but I understand I am in- 
 vited here to speak for the farmers of the country through 
 their great national organization. I appreciate the honor 
 of speaking for it and for them upon this occasion. 
 
 The leadership of the State of New York among the 
 states of the Union in all that pertains to the welfare of the 
 people of the country is generally recognized, and the erec- 
 tion of this magnificent building, dedicated to the interests 
 of agriculture, is evidence of the appreciation of its citizens 
 of the importance of this great basic industry. The lead- 
 ership of the State of New York in agricultural matters 
 finds expression in its splendid grange organization of 
 larger membership and therefore greater influence than is 
 found in any state, in the comprehensive scope of the work 
 of its department of agriculture, in the efiiciency of its far- 
 
 14 
 
mers' institute system, and in its great State College of Ag- 
 riculture. The citizens of the State of New York have most 
 appropriately recognized agriculture and the departments 
 and organization promoting it in providing these buildings 
 around which will center their agricultural interests, and 
 in which will be prosecuted the work of this great College 
 in the upbuilding of agriculture, and towards which the 
 eyes of the farmers of the nation will be turned for years to 
 come. I congratulate the farmers of New York upon an 
 achievement that promises so much for them and the peo- 
 ple of the nation who will share in the benefits conferred 
 by it. 
 
 It would be a matter of much interest to trace the devel- 
 opment of agriculture in the country, from the crude 
 methods of the red man in the production of a few stalks 
 of corn with a clam shell for an implement and a hollowed 
 stone for grinding the grain, to the perfected farm machin- 
 ery and the great flour mills of to-day. Equal interest 
 would also be found in following the improvement of farm 
 stock, from animals which served in the dual capacity as 
 milk producers and beasts of burden to the registered per- 
 formers in great dairy contests. The progress made in 
 these matters would reflect in a remarkably clear manner 
 the progress made in agriculture as a whole. The pioneers 
 who settled upon the farms in New England, New York 
 and in the great West were a sturdy race of people. They 
 were imbued with a resolute spirit and were stimulated by 
 the one desire to dig from the soil an honest livelihood for 
 themselves and their families. All else was subordinate to 
 this, and they entered upon the task with remarkable forti- 
 tude and courage. The journey to the place selected for 
 the rough cabin home was frequently made over the trail, 
 marked only by spotted trees, with the family and house- 
 hold goods carried upon horseback. The young wife 
 cooked the meals, reared a family of children, kept the 
 cabin in order and the wild animals away, while the hus- 
 band was vigorously preparing the land for the production 
 
 15 
 
of crops. In the course of time the cabins gave way to 
 frame buildings, barns were erected, and, as the farm pro- 
 ducts became more than sufficient for family use, a portion 
 was sent to market. As the farms were developed, roads 
 were constructed, school houses and churches built, and 
 government, both local and state, established. The pioneers 
 in every section of the country have been tillers of the soil, 
 and the government established and the laws enacted were 
 by them and for their industry. 
 
 Wonderful strides have been made since then in matters 
 of communication and transportation in rural districts. 
 Rural mail delivery and the rural telephone have placed 
 the farmer in direct communication with the world, and 
 the vast net-work of trolley lines enables him to reach 
 town or city with great convenience and at little expense. 
 The parcels post, when established, will prove a greater 
 boon to farmers than to afly other class of people. 
 
 The farmers of to-day are not called upon to endure the 
 hardships of the early settlers, and their occupation has 
 changed from one of toil and drudgery, requiring great 
 physical endurance, to one of refinement, requiring great 
 mental effort. The man with the clam shell as a farm im- 
 plement has been superseded by the man with the hoe, and 
 the man with the hoe has been superseded by the man 
 with the riding cultivator. The old-time sickle has given 
 way to the cradle, and the cradle has given way to the 
 reaper and self-binder. The danger from the red man and 
 the wild animals has been superseded by danger from the 
 bond seller and the automobile. The spotted trail has 
 given way to magnificent stone roads, and in many in- 
 stances, I regret to say, the stalwart representative of the 
 farmers in public affairs has given way to the professional 
 politician. 
 
 Remarkable progress has been made in industrial devel- 
 opment in recent years, in which agriculture, as we have 
 indicated, has had a proportionate part. I might quote 
 statistics showing the magnitude of this industry, the 
 
 i6 
 
yearly value of farm productions, including live stock, 
 fruit and dairy products, and the great volume of agricul- 
 tural exports which have made our country a selling, in- 
 stead of a buying, nation, but these would be meaningless 
 without corresponding figures in regard to other indus- 
 tries, and this is not the time or place for a recital of these 
 figures. Sufl&ce it to say that there are more people en- 
 gaged in agriculture and more money invested in it than in 
 any other single industry, which fact alone would entitle it 
 to prominence among the industries of the nation. This, 
 however, does not constitute its greatest claim to recogni- 
 tion, but the fact that it is a productive industry. 
 
 Manufacturing gives employment to a vast army of 
 laborers and to a great amount of capital, builds up thrifty 
 cities and villages, but manufacturing produces nothing. 
 It takes the raw material that had its origin in the soil and 
 transforms it into the finished product, but nothing has 
 been added to it. Manufacturing simply changes the form of 
 things. Transportation, which is an important factor in in- 
 dustrial affairs and causes the existence of great commercial 
 centers of wealth and population, transports products from 
 one locality to another, where they are in greater demand 
 and command a greater price, but nothing has been added 
 to them. Transportation simply changes the location of 
 things. Around manufacturing and commercial centers 
 great mercantile interests have developed but these repre- 
 sent simply the interchange of commodities. Trade 
 simply changes the ownership of things. The professions 
 in great variety, both honorable and necessary, find em- 
 ployment among the people engaged in the industries and 
 pursuits, but none of these produce anything. 
 
 Agriculture produces things. The intelligent efforts of 
 the husbandman combine the elements of the atmosphere 
 and the elements of the soil, neither of which have a 
 marketable value in their original, form, bring crops into 
 existence, and add to the real property of the world. The 
 elements of the soil were as abundant, and the climatic con- 
 
 17 
 
ditions as favorable, when this country was inhabited by 
 savages and the bison roamed over the fields at will, as they 
 are at the present time. The growth of great cities has 
 followed, rather than preceded, the development of agri- 
 culture. When the products of the farm are reduced the 
 fires in our great forges burn lower, the spindles in our 
 great factories turn with less rapidity, the trains upon our 
 railroads run with less frequency, and the goods upon the 
 shelves of our great mercantile houses begin to gather dust. 
 When the farms of the country yield abundant crops, as 
 they have in recent years, abandoned forges are kindled 
 anew, manufacturers are unable to fill orders, and transpor- 
 tation facilities, extensive as they are, become clogged. 
 Agriculture furnishes the mainspring of industrial activity. 
 
 The agricultural resources of the country are of great 
 magnitude, and the soil and climate are adapted to the 
 production of a great variety of crops. The cottdn fields 
 of the South, the grain fields of the central West, the 
 grazing of the mountain states, the fruit orchards of the 
 Pacific coast, and the greenhouses of New England are 
 among the most extensive and the most productive in the 
 world. Figures representing the volume and selling value 
 of the products of these are so great as to convey no ade- 
 quate information, and yet the limit of production has not 
 even been approached. With the development of irriga- 
 tion, and the adoption of extensive agriculture, the farms 
 of the United States can furnish the food products for the 
 people of the entire world. The possibilities of agriculture 
 are almost unlimited, and are quite beyond power of com- 
 prehension. 
 
 Those who represent you at Albany and those who rep- 
 resent us all at Washington, should understand that in 
 the degree in which agriculture is fostered general pros- 
 perity will be promoted, and neglect of agriculture will be 
 surely followed by degeneracy and decay in the nation. 
 Agriculture is the basis, and not a by-product, of American 
 industries. 
 
 i8 
 
If we study the history of the nations of the world aright 
 we will learn that as agriculture has been fostered pros- 
 perity has prevailed. Japan, France and Germany are 
 striking examples of this principle and mention might be 
 made of those in the other class. If our own country 
 reaches and maintains a leading position among the nations 
 of the world, it will be through fostering care of its agri- 
 cultural industry, rather than in the expenditure of ex- 
 travagant sums of money upon military equipment. The 
 real strength of a nation consists not in great standing 
 armies and magnificent battleships, but in the prosperity of 
 its agriculture. 
 
 Speaking broadly, I will say that our government has 
 exercised great liberalty towards the agricultural industry. 
 It supports a department of agriculture of a comprehensive 
 nature unexcelled among the nations of the world. Its 
 agents reach the uttermost corners of the earth for seeds 
 and plants that will increase the productiveness of our farms 
 and secures parasites that will feed upon and destroy in- 
 jurious insects. The increase in the appropriation for ex- 
 periment stations, and the more recent increase in the ap- 
 propriation for agricultural colleges aggregating nearly two 
 million dollars annually, is evidence of its appreciation of 
 the importance of developing agriculture. The appropria- 
 tions made by states for making these funds available 
 amount to several million dollars annually, while the educa- 
 tional and executive work supported by states in the interest 
 of agriculture represents the expenditure of vast sums of 
 money. The members of the great national farmers' 
 organization, the grange, which has within its jurisdiction 
 greater possibilities for the welfare of the farmers and the 
 development of rural affairs than any voluntary organiza- 
 tion in the history of the world, are contributing more than 
 a million dollars annually for carrying on its grand work, 
 which is securing marvelous results. 
 
 The great problem before us is how to induce farmers to 
 make these great facilities available. Richly endowed col- 
 
 , 19 
 
leges of agriculture are of little benefit unless farmers will 
 send their sons to be educated. Millions of experiment 
 station bulletins amount to but little unless farmers will 
 read and profit by them. The best organized farmers' 
 institute system in the world will avail nothing unless 
 farmers will attend and put the instruction given in practice 
 upon their farms. The largest grange can accomplish but 
 little for its members unless they make an effort to attend 
 its meetings. No college, or station, or institute, or grange 
 can do for the farmers that which they must do for them- 
 selves, although these may help them do it. One of the 
 most encouraging signs of the times is the general interest 
 among the people in all these agencies, for the buildings 
 devoted to their purposes are scarcely large enough to ac- 
 commodate those who desire admission. There is a tre- 
 mendous awakening among the agricultural people of the 
 country that means much for the future development of 
 agriculture and of the nation. 
 
 It is unnecessary, and even presuming, to speak of the 
 importance of energetic and intelligent effort for success in 
 agriculture in this great agricultural state. Success in any 
 occupation or profession does not depend so much upon con- 
 ditions and environment as upon an indomitable effort to 
 succeed. Contingencies will arise in agriculture that can- 
 not be accurately forecasted, for climatic conditions may 
 upset the best laid plans, but those are less numerous than 
 supposed. The shiftless farmer attributes failure to un- 
 favorable weather, while the energetic, intelligent farmer 
 attributes failure, if it comes, to lack of proper safe-guards 
 against it. The systematic rotation of crops, the proper 
 manipulation of the soil and the intelligent feeding and 
 breeding of farm animals will go a long way in preventing 
 failures that might otherwise be ascribed to the forces of 
 nature, or the effect of unwise and burdensome laws. It is 
 not right to charge the Creator with things for which we 
 alone are responsible, or the legislature with acts for which 
 it is not guilty. 
 
The farmers of the country, in addition to thorough 
 preparation for agricultural pursuits by means of the various 
 agencies provided, need to exert a greater influence in 
 public affairs than they have in the past, for, as the great 
 producing class, they bear the burden of unjust legislation 
 and extravagant appropriation more than other people. 
 The more abundant the crops and the greater their apparent 
 prosperity, the less they appreciate this fact. We have no 
 specific recommendations to make in regard to any legisla- 
 tive matter, either state or national, but refer to the general 
 application of this principle. When people have exercised 
 the right of suffrage at the polls and a member of some 
 political party has been chosen to ofiBce, they still have a 
 duty to perform in upholding that oflScial in his defense of 
 the right and in struggle with wrong. It is in this way 
 only that the farmer can exert that influence in public 
 affairs to which he is entitled by the great importance of 
 agriculture as the basic industry of the nation. It is his 
 duty to see that only competent, faithful and honest men 
 who will recognize the great importance of agriculture and 
 unflinchingly stand by its interests are nominated for posi- 
 tions of trust and when they have manifested their loyalty 
 to the people, as the great governor of your great state has 
 done, uphold his hands and sustain him while he occupies 
 the position. 
 
 Every effort that renders farming more profitable and 
 farm life more attractive is a patriotic effort, and that agri- 
 cultural college that is not stimulating in the mind and 
 heart of students a love for agriculture and for farm life is 
 not fulfilling its mission, however large its number of 
 students, or however able the members of its faculty. A 
 prime object in the establishment of agricultural colleges 
 was raising the standard of this great industry through the 
 mental development of those engaged in it. The men 
 trained in this great college and located upon farms in all 
 sections of this great state have been beacon lights for those 
 in the vicinity who were unable to receive its training. 
 
 21 
 
This is not only a benefit to agriculture and the State, but 
 it is also a benefit to the men educated, for when a person 
 is induced to engage in farming in an intelligent and scien- 
 tific manner he has entered upon the most comfortable and 
 independent life open to him in any of the industrial pur- 
 suits. If his opportunity for making money is not so great 
 as in a metropolis, his chances of becoming an honorable 
 and useful citizen are greater and the dangers of moral de- 
 generacy are far less. 
 
 The most valuable asset of farming is the privilege of en- 
 joying country life. The improvement in the means of 
 transportation and communication between city and coun- 
 try and a better appreciation of the health-giving qualities 
 of out-door life have caused the development of great pub- 
 lic sentiment in favor of rural life. Sympathy is no longer 
 expressed for the person who is obliged to live in the coun- 
 try, but for the person who is obliged to live in the city. 
 I/ife in the country is natural, while life in the city is arti- 
 ficial. Contact with nature in the pure moral atmosphere 
 of rural life contributes to the physical, mental and moral 
 development of the boys and girls, thereby forming charac- 
 ter that will later result in occupying positions of great re- 
 sponsibility in the state and nation. Without recourse to 
 fresh blood from the country our cities would decline and 
 our great industrial and commercial enterprises would fail 
 for lack of leadership. 
 
 To live in the country and enjoy all its pleasures we 
 should love rural life. To love the country is to take an 
 interest in all that belongs to it — its occupations, its sports, 
 its culture and its improvement — to gather the flocks 
 around us and feed them from our own hands — to make 
 the birds our friends and call them all by their names — to 
 rove over the verdant fields with a higher pleasure than we 
 would find in the carpeted halls of regal courts. This is to 
 love the country and to make it not the home of the body 
 only but of the soul. 
 
 22 
 
The building dedicated to-day to the cause of agriculture 
 will continue for all time a permanent factor in stimulating 
 more intelligent husbandry, a better and higher standard of 
 manhood and womanhood among the rural classes, enabling 
 them to exert in a greater degree the influence intended by 
 the Creator, restoring the tillers of the soil to their rightful 
 position as the true nobility of the land. 
 
 23 
 
President Schurman : Governor Hughes has, in his 
 speech, done me the honor of referring to the day, fifteen 
 years ago, when he as a professor of law in this University 
 sat in this building and listened to my inaugural address 
 as President. At that time, you will recall, Cornell Uni- 
 versity did not receive from the treasury of the State of New 
 York a cent for any purpose whatever. In that address, 
 as Governor Hughes has described to you, I outlined the 
 policy of State aid to Cornell University, especially for the 
 maintenance and large development of our work in agricul- 
 ture and veterinary medicine. Governor Hughes has re- 
 ferred to the surprise and concern of the audience at the 
 announcement of this new program. One of my wisest 
 and best friends on the Board of Trustees afterwards told 
 me there was not a person in the room who had any faith 
 in the scheme. To-day, however, we have two colleges 
 splendidly housed at the expense of the State, and the 
 State generously appropriates for their support nearly $200,- 
 000 a year. 
 
 Governor Hughes, in kind and complimentary terms, 
 said that ' ' rarely has there been vouchsafed to any prophet 
 a clearer vision or a more complete fulfillment of his 
 prophecy." If you will not think me immodest, I desire to 
 inquire whether another prophecy of mine has not been 
 fulfilled. In 1903 Professor Isaac P. Roberts retired from 
 the Directorship of the College of Agriculture after a term 
 of faithful and highly efficient service extending over -a 
 generation. I then nominated to the Board of Trustees as 
 a successor to Professor Roberts a man who I told them 
 would, in my opinion, quickly prove himself to be the best 
 agricultural college director in the United States. I ask 
 to-day whether this prediction has not also been fulfilled, 
 and I now present to you the distinguished Director him- 
 self, Professor lyiberty Hyde Bailey. 
 
 24 
 
THE OUTLOOK FOR THE COLLEGE OF AGRI- 
 CULTURE 
 
 L. H. BAILEY 
 
 The dedication of these great buildings raises two ques- 
 tions — the question of their purpose and the question of 
 their significanee. In discussing these questions, it is 
 likely that we shall review a type of problems that is some- 
 what unusual to university gatherings, and we may arrive 
 at a new outlook. 
 
 It is first necessary to state a point of view. This Col- 
 lege of Agriculture is not established to serve or to mag- 
 nify Cornell University. It belongs to the people of the 
 State. It will justify its existence only as it serves the 
 people of the State. The farmers of the State have secured 
 it ; no amount of academic sentiment would have secured 
 it. Their influence has placed it here. They will keep it 
 close to the ground. 
 
 The final establishing of this college, after many years of 
 experiment and of waiting, is another epoch in the fulfill- 
 ment of the dream of our great Founder. His outlook was 
 one of service, and he would serve by founding an institu- 
 tion in which any person may find instruction in any 
 study. 
 
 We should never forget at such a time as this to value 
 the services of our former director, whose long, patient and 
 tenacious work has made this day possible. To more than 
 one of us. Professor Roberts has been guide, philosopher 
 and friend. 
 
 I. The Purpose of the College 
 
 The purpose of this College of Agriculture is fully ex- 
 pressed in the act of administration : 
 
 " The object of said college of agriculture shall be to im- 
 prove the agricultural methods of the State ; to develop 
 the agricultural resources of the State in the production of 
 
 25 
 
crops of all kinds, in the rearing and breeding of live- 
 stock, in the manufacture of dairy and other products, in 
 determining better methods of handling and marketing 
 such products, and in other ways ; and to increase intelli- 
 gence and elevate the standards of living in the rural dis- 
 tricts. For the attainment of these objects the college is 
 authorized to give instruction in the sciences, arts and 
 practices relating thereto, in such courses and in such 
 manner as shall best serve the interests of the State ; to 
 conduct extension work in disseminating agricultural 
 knowledge throughout the state by means of experiments 
 and demonstrations on farms and gardens, investigations 
 of the economic and social status of agriculture, lectures, 
 publication of bulletins and reports, and in such other 
 ways as may be deemed advisable in the furtherance of the 
 aforesaid objects ; to make researches in the physical, 
 chemical, biological and other problems of agriculture, the 
 application of such investigations to the agriculture of 
 New York, and the publication of the results thereof." 
 
 II. The Significance of the College 
 
 The significance of this new State institution is deter- 
 mined by the public need of it, and by the promise it makes 
 of meeting these needs. 
 
 The need of an institution that stands primarily and 
 directly for the people who live on the land is apparent 
 when we consider that one-third of the persons in the Union 
 are farmers, >and that even in New York State, dominated 
 as it is by great cities and by corporate interests, there are 
 apparently more farmers than in any other state in the 
 Union, outside the slave states, excepting only Illinois and 
 Ohio, and when we further consider that all other special 
 educational institutions of whatever kind or name, are 
 organized and maintained in the interest of professions or 
 affairs that center in towns and cities. Not only do one- 
 third of our people till the land for a living, but the pros- 
 perity of the other two-thirds is directly or indirectly con- 
 ditioned on the products that this one- third raises out of the 
 soil. The weal and welfare of these persons who live under 
 the open sky determine, therefore, to a great extent the 
 
 26 
 
welfare of the general public ; and, equally, the point of 
 view and the attitude of these numberless people are reflected 
 in every national question. 
 
 In the United States there are 5,739,657 farms carrying 
 about 25 million farmers. There are five million farm 
 homes, — not persons living in rented houses, or boarding in 
 strangers' families, or living in flats and milking a tin 
 cow ; but persons living in homes that they own or mean to 
 own, going about their business in their own way, earning 
 their living, — not receiving it or getting it, but earning it — 
 self-respecting, staunch, of good original fiber, asking 
 favors of no man, but wanting opportunity and waiting for 
 it. 
 
 As they are near the objects with which they live, so do 
 their mental processes run directly from fact to conclusion 
 with little regard for proper forms Of logic. So also are 
 they likely to measure men and affairs by real standards. 
 The city man is removed from first-hand contact with 
 sources of supply. His supplies come in packages, with 
 labels and coloring matter, and he is not content unless they 
 are sophisticated or fixed up. He not only drinks water 
 from bottles, but adulterates it with carbonic acid gas. 
 The farmer drinks uninflated water. 
 
 The position of agriculture in the affairs of the nation is 
 further evidenced by the fact that 35.7 per cent of all per- 
 sons over ten years of age engaged in gainful occupations 
 are in agricultural pursuits as against 24.3 per cent in man- 
 ufacturing and mechanical pursuits, 16.3 per cent in trade 
 and transportation, and 23.7 per cent in professional, 
 domestic and personal service. 
 
 The value of all farm property in the last census year was 
 $20,514,001,838, while the entire capital in all forms of 
 manufacture for the same year was less than half this 
 amount, or $9,874,664,087. The total horse-power em- 
 ployed in all factories was 11,300,081, whereas the total 
 number of horses and mules on farms in the United States 
 was 18,276,551. Aside from this, very many farmers are 
 
 27 
 
using other power than horses and mules and most of 
 them use machines that multiply the power of horses and 
 mules. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL POSITION OF NEW YORK STATE 
 
 Coming now to the State of New York, we find that 
 there are nearly 227,000 farms. The number of farms 
 with buildings is 223,836. If we assume that each of these 
 farms with buildings has a family of the average size of 
 families in the census year (4.7 persons), we find that there 
 are more than one million persons living directly on the 
 land in New York State. 
 
 There are six states in the Union that have a valuation 
 of farm property exceeding one billion dollars, and in this 
 list New York State stands fourth, being exceeded by Illi- 
 nois, Iowa and Ohio. In the total value of farm products 
 New York has the same rank, being exceeded by Iowa, 
 Illinois and Ohio. In the value of farm crops in 1899 it* 
 held fifth place, being exceeded by Illinois, Iowa, Texas 
 and Ohio. Considered with reference to the value of farm 
 products per acre it heads the states in this list, the figures 
 being. New York $15.73 per acre; Ohio, $13.36; Illinois, 
 $12.48 ; Texas, $12.25 ; Iowa, $12. 2. 
 
 New York State has about sixty-seven and one-half 
 thousand dairy farms, or one-sixth of all those in the entire 
 Union. This is more than twice those in Pennsylvania, and 
 nearly twice as many as in Illinois, Iowa and Ohio com- 
 bined. The milk produced in New York in the year 1889 
 was 77 ,799,352 gallons. New York State ranks first in the 
 Union in the production of hay and forage, in this commodity 
 producing about one-ninth of the product of the United 
 States ; in milk, butter and cheese, exceeding by about 
 twenty millions of dollars its nearest competitor ; in the 
 number of dairy cows, exceeding one and one-half millions 
 (the only county in the Union having more than three 
 millions of dollars worth of dairy products is St. I^awrence 
 county, N. Y. ) ; also in potatoes, vegetables, farm forest 
 
 28 
 
products, apples, hops, flowers and plants, small fruits, 
 and nursery products. 
 
 These great figures of the agricultural effectiveness of 
 New York State are often lost sight of in the preponderat- 
 ing influence of our many cities. Eighty-five per cent of 
 the taxes of New York State, for example, are paid by 
 Greater New York and Erie County. We must bear in 
 mind, however, that this wealth did not originate in these 
 cities. The raw material comes somewhere from mother 
 earth, and a good part of it comes from farms in New York 
 State or elsewhere. There are only three sources of raw 
 materials — the soil, the mines, and the sea. If one were to 
 judge by the temper of recent events, he might think that 
 some of the raw material in cities is derived from the wind. 
 
 It is a wrong philosophy that would apply the proceeds 
 of taxation only to the localities in which they originate. 
 The state is an organism, and cities, like the country, are 
 only parts thereof. Whatever may be said for or against 
 strong centralization of government, it has the tremendous 
 advantage of being able to expend the revenues collected of 
 all the people in the interests of all the people. All along 
 the cities seem to have carried the idea that the country is 
 responsible chiefly to them ; the city also is equally obli- 
 gated to aid its contributory country ^to do its share 
 in the contributing of public revenues to build country 
 highways, country churches, country schools, and other 
 rural institutions, for it is from the country that the city 
 derives its raw materials which it works over into im- 
 mediate wealth. The city has a distinct obligation to the 
 country. Without the country there would be no city ; 
 without the city there would still be land. Great as the 
 cities are and much as they mean to our modern civilization, 
 the city cannot live to itself alone. 
 
 THE AGRICULTURAL DECLINE IN NEW YORK 
 
 Great and commanding as are all these figures of agri- 
 cultural wealth, there is nevertheless another side to the 
 
 29 
 
picture. So far as statistics exhibit the facts, there is in 
 many ways a marked decline in the agriculture of New 
 York State. In 1850, i860 and 1870 New York held first 
 place in the value of farm property. In 1880 it lost first 
 place to Ohio ; in (890 it took third place, being exceeded 
 by Illinois and Ohio ; in 1900 (as already stated) it took 
 fourth place, being exceeded by Illinois, Iowa and Ohio. 
 In population there has been a marked decline in rural 
 communities. According to the figures of Rossiter, in 1850 
 five rural counties showed a decrease in population ; in i860 
 nine; in 1870 nineteen ; in (880 eight ; in 1890 twenty- 
 three ; in 1900 twenty- two ; in 1905 (State census) twenty- 
 one. It appears that 43 counties have shown a decrease in 
 population at some period in the past century. Twenty- 
 eight counties, or one half those outside the metropolitan 
 districts, have a smaller population to-day than they have 
 had at some previous time, and these counties represent 
 nearly one half tke entire area of the state. There has been 
 a decline under the maximum of more than 80 thousand 
 persons in the rural counties of the state. This decline 
 seems to be expressed ( i ) in migration of population to 
 cities and to other regions ; (2 ) in lower birth rate. 
 
 In the occupancy of farms there has also been con- 
 siderable change. While there were nearly 1,200 more 
 farm families in the state in 1900 than in 1890, there were 
 3,479 less families owning farms and 3,238 more families 
 hiring farms. The percentage of farms operated by owners 
 had decreased in the ten years from 79.8 to 74.4 ; the per- 
 centage operated by tenants had increased from 20.2 to 23.9. 
 Of the nearly 227,000 farms in the state in 1900, 34 per 
 cent are reported as encumbered. Moreover, between the 
 years 1880 and 1900 there was an annual decrease in value 
 of farm property of seven and one-third millions of dollars. 
 For the same period there. was an annual decrease in the 
 value of land and improvements of nearly eight and one- 
 half millions of dollars. 
 
 It is worth while to recall that the density of population 
 
 30 
 
in New York State in 1905, according to Rossiter's figures, 
 IS only 169.4 persons to the square mile, notwithstanding 
 the fact that in New York City it is 12,000 to the square 
 mile. In the remainder of the state (outside New York 
 City) it is 86, or one person to each 7.4 acres ; yet we have 
 been reading for many years of "Ten Acres Enough" 
 and the latest contribution to this literature is called 
 "Three Acres and Liberty." 
 
 THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FIGURES 
 
 Startling as these figures seem to be, they really are not 
 cause for great alarm. They are measures of a condition ; 
 and this condition must be understood and fairly met. 
 This condition represents the greatest internal, economic 
 problem in New York State to-day. 
 
 In the face of all this statistical decline three facts stand 
 out prominently : .( i ) markets are as good as ever, for 
 there is no decline in the purchasing power of the people 
 (rather there is a reverse tendency) ; (2) the land is still 
 productive, notwithstanding a popular impression to the 
 contrary ; (3) good farmers are better off to-day than they 
 ever were before. 
 
 We have heard much about the abandonment of farms 
 and we are likely to think that it measures a lessening 
 efiScienc}' of agriculture. We must not be misled, however, 
 by surface indications. We" must distinguish sharply be- 
 tween abandoned farms and abandoned lands. We are now 
 in the era of a process of the survival of the fit. Two 
 opposite movements are very apparent in the agriculture of 
 the time : certain farmers are increasing in prosperity, and 
 certain other farmers are decreasing in prosperity. The 
 former class is gradually occupying the land and extending 
 .its power and influence. The other is leaving the land. 
 Abandoned farms are not necessarily to be deplored ; rather 
 they are to be looked on as an expression of a social and 
 economic condition. The older farming was practically a 
 self-regulating business, comprising not only the raising of 
 
 31 
 
food and of material for clothing, but also the preparation 
 and manufacture of these products. The farmer depended 
 on himself, having little necessity for neighbors or for 
 association with other crafts. In the breaking up of the 
 old stratification under the development of manufacture and 
 transportation and the consequent recrystallizing of society 
 the old line-fence still remained ; persons clung to the 
 farm as if it were a divinely ordained and indivisible unit. 
 This atomic conception of the farm settled the business into 
 rigidity. The abandoned farms are forsaken atoms ; and 
 there are many other atoms, large and small, to which the 
 owner still clings with a forlorn hope. In most cases, the 
 rehabilitation of these farms must be molecular. The tradi- 
 tional boundaries must often be disregarded. Old farms 
 are largely social rather than economic units. Because a 
 certain eighty acres is enclosed with one kind of fence and 
 assessed to one man does not signify that it has the proper 
 combination of conditions to make a good farm. We 
 regret, often without reason, when a family gives up the 
 farm for the town ; we drop a tear for the abandoned 
 hearthstones. But in the end, sentiments are personal. 
 New farms will be made out of the old. Rome is built on the 
 ruins of Rome. 
 
 We must consider that the agriculture of the eastern 
 states is changing rapidly. It has passed through several 
 epochs. Farming has been a very easy business, as meas- 
 ured by the old ideals and standards. With the increasing 
 demands and competitions of civilization, however, it is 
 coming to be much more complex and is demanding a much, 
 higher grade of intelligence and greater business ability. 
 The farm of the future must be very much better equipped 
 than the farm of the past has been. 
 
 The future of agriculture in New York State lies largely 
 in its diversification. This diversification is already a 
 feature of the State. It is significant that while New York 
 ranks fourth in value of farm property, it ranks as low as 
 seventeenth in farm acreage, showing that the yield per 
 
 32 
 
acre is far greater than in many of the competing states. 
 Considering the fact that New York State is one of the 
 largest states east of the Mississippi, this condition also 
 indicates that New York is internally less developed than 
 some of its competing states. Illinois ranks first in value 
 of farm property and first in available farm acreage ; Iowa 
 ranks second in value 6f farm property and second in avail- 
 able acreage ; Ohio ranks third in value of farm property 
 and third in available acreage ; New York ranks fourth in 
 value of farm property and seventeenth in available acreage. 
 Moreover, only 69 per cent of the total acreage of New 
 York State is improved land. We Tiave already seen that 
 the value of products per acre in New York State is greater 
 than in the competing states that we have considered. 
 
 A further evidence of the great diversification of agricul- 
 tural enterprises in New York State is shown in the fact 
 that in twenty-two of the leading products of this latitude 
 New York State stands first in the production of eleven of 
 them, whereas no other state ranks first in more than two 
 or three. 
 
 Fifty years ago, fifty millions of pounds of cheese were 
 made on farms in New York State, whereas only two and 
 one-half million pounds are now manufactured in that 
 way; but more than 127 million pounds are made in fac- 
 tories, indicating a very great change in conditions of 
 manufacture as well as showing the increase in the total 
 product. 
 
 It does not need figures to convince any person who has 
 traveled in New York State that the agricultural resources 
 of the commonwealth are undeveloped. Agriculturally, 
 New York is a new state. One-third of it is in woodr 
 land. A good part of the state to-day is a howling wilder- 
 ness. Farmers in certain parts of the state are now peti- 
 tioning the I,egislature to protect them from bears. 
 
 EDUCATION IS THE SOLUTION 
 
 The problem, therefore, is one of readjustment to new 
 conditions, and this readjustment can occur only through 
 
 33 
 
the diffusion of greater intelligence. Knowledge and edu- 
 cation lie at the very foundation of the welfare of the open 
 country of the Empire State. Information and knowl- 
 edge, however, and even education, do not of themselves 
 constitute reform or progress. We need legislation and 
 broad redirection of social and economic forces ; but educa- 
 tion lies behind and at the bottom of all these movements 
 and without it no lasting progress is possible. 
 
 There are many reasons why New York State should be 
 first in agricultural activity : ( i ) it has already held the 
 leadership and it should be a matter of state pride to re- 
 gain that position ; (/) because of its geographical posi- 
 tion and its great markets ; (3) because of its large area ; 
 
 (4) because of the diversity of its soils and its products ; 
 
 (5) because of the steady and forceful character of its 
 rural population. But first place in agriculture also means 
 first place in the intelligence and enterprise of its farmers. 
 Some of the states to the west of us have taken great pains 
 to develop their agricultural conditions. Their conditions, 
 however, are often easy and simple as compared with ours. 
 Highly diversified agriculture demands the highest degree 
 of special and technical skill, as it also develops a wide di- 
 versity of affairs and a high type of citizenship. Amer- 
 ican agriculture is yet raw and undeveloped. I look for 
 its first real evolution in the old east rather than in the 
 west. Jn the west they are still in the epoch of self-con- 
 gratulation, and a man who criticizes or who gives some 
 other state the credit of more tons of produce is in danger 
 of being much criticized. We in the east have reached 
 the point where we are willing to look the facts squarely 
 in the face. 
 
 If knowledge and education supply the basis of all pro- 
 gress, it next concerns us to inquire what manner of edu- 
 cation the farming people need. It would seem to require 
 no argument to convince any one that education in agri- 
 culture should be expressed in terms of the daily life. Our 
 education has not been so expressed. We have been pass- 
 
 34 
 
ing through a long epoch of experimenting in methods of 
 teaching agriculture. Leaders have been produced, liter- 
 ature has been written, and a broad basis of scientific fact 
 has been developed. We are now able to put agricultural 
 questions and affairs into pedagogic form so that agricul- 
 ture is made a means of education. There is no reason 
 why country-life subjects should not be made to be as 
 effective in training men as those associated with mechanics 
 or engineering or history or medicine or law. Because this 
 has not been accomplished in the past is no reason why it 
 may not be accomplished in the future. We shall prob- 
 ably see as much progress in the next ten years in these 
 regards as we have witnessed in the past fifty years. These 
 purposes are well expressed in the Land Grant Act of 1862, 
 which is the magna charta of education, probably being 
 the most important enactment ever drawn in the interests 
 of educational policy. All funds accruing from the Land 
 Grant Act are to be used, in the language of the act, " in 
 order to promote the liberal and practical education of the 
 industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions 
 inHfe." 
 
 THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 Having discussed the need of an institution that shall be 
 a normal and natural expression of agricultural affairs 
 and that shall represent them in all their varied activities, 
 we may now consider what promise this State College of 
 Agriculture makes of meeting this great need. 
 
 (i) First of all, I call attention to the fact that this col- 
 lege contains men and women. Here are my colleagues, 
 sitting with their fellows from the other faculties of this 
 great University, well trained, high-purposed, standing 
 equal with their associates in the esteem of their colleagues 
 and of all the world. There are sixty-nine members in the 
 staff, appointed by the Board of Trustees, and I am sure 
 that I am safe in saying that no other equal body of men 
 in the world excels them in their ability to study and to 
 solve the questions to which they have devoted their lives. 
 
 35 
 
And before me are the students, men and women — not a 
 few ill-prepared men apologizing for the subjects they pur- 
 sue, but hundreds of them, old and new, earnest, well-pre- 
 pared, with a purpose in life, and industry and grit to carry 
 it out, and every one of them as proud as he can be that 
 he is a member of the College of Agriculture. 
 
 The number of students in this University pursuing agri- 
 culture alone during the present year is 542, of which 241 
 were winter-course students. Not counting the graduate 
 students, which have increased very greatly, there has 
 been an increase in attendance of students in agriculture in 
 Cornell University in the last ten years of 390 per cent. 
 These figures now place the New York State College of Agri- 
 culture amongst the first three or four in the Union ; and yet 
 the college has only begun its work — this dedication be- 
 gins a college, not completes it. There are 100,000 boys 
 and girls back on those farms that should be receiving in- 
 struction in agriculture this very day, and when our work 
 is in full swing next winter, yonder buildings, large as they 
 seem with their nearly three acres of floor space, will not 
 be able to accommodate the student body properly. This 
 year Faculty and students in agriculture alone number 610 ; 
 the main auditorium, which you are soon to inspect, seats 
 550 persons. Nearly 2,000 students have left us, far the 
 larger part of them having gone directly to the farms and 
 dairy establishments of New York State. In twenty-five 
 years there . should be at least 10,000 more. In that da)' 
 they will be the leaders. They will dominate not only the 
 agricultural practice, but the social and political ideals of 
 the open country. It is possible that they may dictate 
 the control of the balance of power in New York State. 
 
 (2) The second assurance of promise and success lies in 
 the fact that the interest in education by means of agricul- 
 ture is not local. It is now more in the public mind than 
 any other phase of education. This statement is well il- 
 lustrated in the attendance of students of agriculture in 
 the Land Grant colleges of the country. In the year 
 
 36 
 
^^94-5 there were 2,712 such students in attendance in the 
 United States. In 1^05 the number exceeded 7,000, repre- 
 senting a gain in ten years of more than 350 per cent. The 
 gain in the next ten years will undoubtedly be very much 
 larger. The leadership in rural affairs is rapidly passing 
 to the interests that associate themselves with the agricul- 
 tural colleges and experiment stations. In twenty- five years 
 there will be a new political and social philosophy of the 
 open country born out of these institutions. 
 
 (3) The third note of promise is the fact that we have 
 here the framework of a serviceable college of agriculture. 
 Most of the main departments in a modern college that 
 stands for education by means of agriculture are now 
 represented in the faculty and the curriculum. This col- 
 lege now comprises such distinctly agricultural depart- 
 ments, already organized or in process of organization, as 
 agronomy, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy industry, 
 farm mechanics and machinery, rural engineering, rural 
 art (landscape gardening), rural architecture, rural 
 economy, home economics, and the normal department ; also 
 the extension work and the experiment station. Aside from 
 these departments, are the special applications of some 
 of the biological and physical sciences, as chemistry and 
 botany and zoology in their relations with agriculture. 
 Two or three other great departments are needed to make 
 this college fully representative of the activities and affairs 
 of the open country ; but the foundation is laid. These 
 departments represent the framework of a modern college 
 of agriculture. On this framework the completed struc- 
 ture is to be erected. 
 
 The mere enumeration of these departments indicates 
 that, while the main or central business of a college of agri- 
 culture is to teach the science and the practice of farming, 
 such an institution really stands for the whole open 
 country beyond the bounds of cities, taking this field be- 
 cause it is indivisible and also because other institutions 
 have passed it by. There are whole universities that have 
 
 37 
 
a lesser scope than these leading colleges of agriculture. 
 These institutions mean not one iota less than the re- 
 directing of the practices and ideals of country life, and 
 they are to-day making the grea<-est single contribution to 
 constructive pedagogical politics, and for the very good 
 reason that they deal with the commonplace and funda- 
 mental facts and necessities of life. There was a day 
 when universities tolerated instruction in agriculture. 
 The time will soon be, if it is not already here, when a 
 university that is a universit5' must include agriculture if 
 it is to meet the problems of the people. 
 
 (4) We are now witnessing a radical change in methods 
 of teaching. These agricultural colleges have slipped 
 their academic bonds. They are getting hold of the real 
 objects and the real affairs. l,and and animals and or- 
 chards and machines and crops are no longer regarded as 
 mere museums, but they are laboratories and laboratory 
 materials to be used for the same purpose and in the same 
 pedagogical spirit as the geologist uses rocks or the 
 chemist uses chemicals and chemical problems. In yonder 
 buildings which we now dedicate there is a classroom into 
 which real live cattle and sheep and other animals may bfe 
 taken for study. These animals will be laboratory ma- 
 terial. If it is worth while to study live bacteria and live 
 insects, it is equally worth while to study live cows. 
 
 In other words, the spirit of the modern agricultural col- 
 lege is to teach in the terms of the actual daily life, 
 making nature and the farm a real part of one's living and 
 the foundation of his philosophy of life. The lack of ap- 
 preciation of this laboratory significance has prevented the 
 proper growth of these agricultural institutions. Never 
 have they had money enough or freedom enough to work 
 out the problems fundamentally. Agricultural education 
 is the most expensive to maintain of all education because 
 its laboratories are so large, so various, and so expensive 
 in their up-keep. Institutions centering about city ideas 
 receive no end of money and study. The open country is 
 
 38 
 
finally coming to its own. With money and men the rural 
 problem can be solved, and the State is under the necessity 
 to solve it for its own preservation. 
 
 THE RE- DIRECTING OF RURAI, INSTITUTIONS 
 
 We are all aware of the present return of country-life 
 sentiment. It is of two kinds : the desire of many persons 
 to escape to the country, which is reasonable ; the desire of 
 certain other well meaning persons, mostly doctrinaires, to 
 "uplift" the farmer, which is mostly misdirected and un- 
 necessary, but usually harmless and it keeps them occupied. 
 The farmer stands on his own feet, and he needs no apology. 
 The help that he needs is the removal of conditions that 
 disadvantage him, so that he can work out his own progress. 
 Now, mostly through no fault of his own, the institutions 
 ■wjhich are nearest to him are in a state of arrested develop- 
 ment or even of decadence. The greatest need at the 
 present day, whether in state or national issues, is a funda- 
 mental redirecting of rural institutions. There must be a 
 new crystallization of ideas, and perhaps to some extent a 
 new political philosophy. 
 
 The main efEort of the agricultural colleges thus far has 
 been to establish themselves and to teach their students how 
 to make the land more productive. While a study of the 
 means of increasing the productivity of land must always 
 be the central effort of these institutions, as I have said, they 
 have now taken on a much larger scope and must deal also 
 with the farm as a part of the community and consider 
 farming interests with reference to the welfare and the weal 
 of the commonwealth. 
 
 We have lived in an epoch of city-building. The avenues 
 of trade and the movements of population have drained the 
 country into the city. The next generation is going to see 
 the rise of the small town. The agricultural colleges and 
 experiment stations are an essential part of this new redi- 
 recting of effort and all the work of these institutions 
 eventuates in social ends. Agricultural institutions are 
 
 39 
 
not isolated agencies. Thej' contribute to the public wel- 
 fare in a very broad way, extending their influence far 
 beyond the technique of agricultural trades. Out of all our 
 facts and discoveries we must now begin to formulate a 
 new social economy. 
 
 With the growth of urban sentiment, the nativeness of 
 urban institutions has been allowed to die out. City insti- 
 tutions have taken their places. The attention of all the 
 people has been directed cityward ; even though they live 
 in the country, they think of the town and city as the 
 proper place in which to go to church, to school, to seek 
 enlightenment and amusement. Socially, the country has 
 been left sterilized. If we need a fundamental redirection 
 of country institutions, I may be allowed to indicate a very 
 few of those which seem to me most to need new and 
 careful study. 
 
 1. Organization. — We need to organize the affairs of the 
 agricultural country. There are many small organizations 
 crystallizing about local questions. These questions are 
 largely economic. They may be societies of corn growers, 
 of creamery men, of evaporated fruit men, clubs organized 
 temporarily to check tuberculosis, reading clubs, and the 
 like. Some central agency should coordinate and integrate 
 all these local and isolated organizations so that, while 
 every one maintains its complete autonomy, altogether they 
 may proceed toward definite ends. Most of the rural 
 organizations are really conventions meeting once a year or 
 possibly once a month. In the interim they have no 
 effective and contiijuing interest ; thereby they lose their 
 efficiency. In contradistinction to all this is the Grange 
 which conducts its business throughout the year, its offices 
 always being open ; and this is why the Grange, with its 
 more than seventy thousand members in New York State, 
 has such tremendous influence. 
 
 2. Communication. — The city has developed greatly 
 because of the perfecting of means of communication. The 
 country is now beginning to consider this question. Trol- 
 
 40 
 
leys, rural free deliveries, and other agencies are now well 
 established. We must take care that these means of com- 
 munication do not result in draining the country into many 
 small cities or towns, as the railroads and canals have here- 
 tofore drained it into metropolitan centers. Good roads 
 are a means of doing business expeditiously and eco- 
 nomically ; they are also a means of overcoming isolation 
 and they will have a great influence in organizing social 
 movements in the open country. All other avenues of 
 commerce have been primarily city feeders. It is of the 
 utmost importance, therefore, that country highways serve 
 country necessities. 
 
 3. Entertainment. — The city has developed high effective- 
 ness in entertainment and amusement. Country people are 
 looking to the city for their entertainment. I am wonder- 
 ing whether the time will not come when we shall endeavor 
 to reestablish some of the good old country entertainments 
 and games. I have already said to the students in this 
 college that I would like them to have an athletic field of 
 their own if, thereby, they could develop native games in 
 which many persons could participate rather than those in 
 which a few perform feats of skill and all the others look 
 on. There is no essential or necessary reason why country 
 people should look wholly to the town or city for amuse- 
 ment or entertainment. 
 
 4. Schools. — The riiral school needs fundamental re-direc- 
 tion. While it is better now than it ever was before, it is 
 nevertheless in a state of arrested development as compared 
 with town schools and city schools. The small country 
 school is a good school just because it is small and also be- 
 cause it is close to the actual problems of the people. In 
 spite of this fact, however, the teaching in these schools is 
 little related to its environment. Our good old Professor 
 Roberts, whom we all delight to remember and to honor, 
 used to say that he had graduated from all the country 
 schools, and the only thing he ever learned that had rela- 
 tion to the farm was that cider is made from apples. 
 
 41 
 
I suppose it is indisputable that all effective education 
 should develop out of experience ; and also that every 
 school should be the natural expression of its community. 
 If these statements are accepted, then it will be seen that the 
 mere addition of a subject here and there to the school cur- 
 riculum may not be sufficient to put the school into real 
 relationship with its environment. I am thoroughly in 
 sympathy with the establishment of secondary special 
 schools for the teaching of agriculture whenever they can 
 be well organized and the subjects thoroughly well taught. 
 I am also much in sympathy with the introducing of agri- 
 culture as a special subject in rural schools, whenever it can 
 be effectively handled. These two agencies ought to be 
 effective in arousing and crystallizing public sentiment to 
 the need of a new kind of education. However, these can- 
 not solve the problem of rural education in terms of the 
 daily life. The separate agricultural school may be 
 thoroughly effective from the pedagogical point of view, 
 but even one in every county cannot reach all the people. 
 Suppose there were fifty-five agricultural high schools 
 established in the rural counties in New York State, and 
 that each should have a capacity of graduating fifty students 
 per year who had received elementary agricultural instruc- 
 tion. In order that one boy from each farm in the state 
 should have a chance in such a high school would require 
 about eighty-one years. Moreover, there should be at 
 least two persons from every farm educated in terms of 
 farm life, and new generations are being born. The final 
 ineffectiveness of merely adding agriculture in the rural 
 schools lies in the fact that it does not constitute a funda- 
 mental re-direction of the whole point of view of the school 
 itself, although it may be a most useful means of starting a 
 revolution that will bring about that desirable end. I be- 
 lieve in the nativeness of the rural schools. I should like 
 to see them numerous and relatively small. In certain 
 cases consolidation of rural schools may be advantageous. 
 It is advantageous only when they need to be consolidated 
 
 42 
 
or centralized for pedagogical reasons. It is not wise to 
 consolidate them merely to secure greater funds to main- 
 tain a combined school ; for it is the duty of the State to see 
 that its people are educated, and if we expend millions of 
 dollars for canals and for roads and for other objects, we 
 can also afford to spend more millions of dollars for the 
 education of our children. I should be sorry for the time 
 when local taxation for the maintenance of schools would 
 ever be eliminated or reduced, for we need the spur of tax- 
 ation to interest the community in its own affairs ; but, on 
 the other hand, I also look for the time when the State will 
 cooperate even more fully than at present in making direct 
 appropriations to the rural schools. The school should 
 represent local interest. We have become so much in the 
 habit of moving from place to place that we are likely to 
 lose our attachment to particular pieces of land. I strongly 
 sympathize with the feeling of farming communities that 
 when a school is discontinued in a neighborhood a vital 
 spark has gone out of the community. 
 
 It is not necessary to have an entirely new curriculum in 
 order to redirect the rural school. If geography is taught, 
 let it be taught in the terms of its environment. Geography 
 is the surface of the earth. It may well concern itself with 
 the school grounds, the highways, the fields and what grow 
 in them, the forests, hills and streams, the hamlet, the 
 people and their affairs. When I began to study geography 
 it was a ballooning process. I began somewhere off in the 
 universe and gradually dropped down through the solar 
 system until I reached the earth. When I landed on the 
 earth it was in South America and Asia. I learned about 
 the anacondas and boa constrictors of South America and 
 the lions and tigers of the old world jungles. I never 
 learned anything about the pigs and chickens on our own 
 farm. What I learned about these animals was of two cate- 
 gories : there are certain animals that deserve to be studied 
 because they* afford products useful to man ; there are cer- 
 tain other animals that need to be studied because they are 
 terrible creatures that eat folks up. 
 
 43 
 
All this, of course, is rapidly changing. We are now 
 interesting the child in the earth on which he stands, and 
 as his mind grows we take him out to the larger view. A 
 good part of geography in a rural community should be 
 agriculture, whether so-called or not. Geography can be 
 so reorganized and so redirected as in ten years to revolu- 
 tionize the agriculture of New York State. 
 
 I might make similar remarks about arithmetic. The 
 principles of number are, I suppose, the same everywhere ; 
 but there is no reason why the practice problems should not 
 have local application. In my day at least, a good part of 
 the practice problems were mere numerical puzzles. I fancy 
 that even at the present day the old people are interested 
 in the problems that the child takes home merely because 
 the child is in a fix and his predicament appeals to their 
 sympathies. When, however, the child takes home a 
 problem that has application to the daily life, there is a dif- 
 ferent attitude on the part of the parents not only to the 
 problem, but to the school which gave the problem. A 
 good part of agricultural practice can be expressed in 
 mathematical form. How to measure land, how to figure 
 the cost of operation, how to compound a ration or a spray 
 mixture, how much it costs to fight bugs in the potato field, 
 the mathematics of rainfall and utilization of water by 
 plants — these and a thousand other problems that are per- 
 sonal and vital could be made the means of so redirecting 
 and reorganizing number work as to make it possible, by 
 means of the schools, to revolutionize the agriculture of 
 New York State. 
 
 My hearer can at once make applications of this line of 
 thought to the reading, to the manual training, and to the 
 other customary work of the school. I recall the case of a 
 young teacher who was told when he went into a com- 
 munity that persons could not spell as they did in the old 
 days. He saw his opportunity. He discarded the spelling 
 books and made up a list of two hundred words that were 
 in common use in the community. He taught the people 
 
 ■44 
 
to spell and, at the same time, he interested them in a new 
 way in their own affairs. Starting from this beginning he 
 has come to be a man of much more than state reputation. 
 
 You have only to consider the school houses to see that 
 the rural school is in a state of arrested development. Go 
 with me from Maine to Minnesota and back again and you 
 will see in the open country practically the same kind of 
 schoolhouse all the way, and this is the kind in which our 
 fathers went to school. There is nothing about it to sug- 
 gest the activities of the community or to be attractive to 
 children. Standing in an agricultural country, it is scant of 
 land and bare of trees. I think that if a room or wing were 
 added to every rural schoolhouse to which children could 
 take their collections or in which they could do work with 
 their hands, it would start a revolution in the ideals of 
 country-school teaching even with our present teachers. 
 Such a room would challenge every person in the com- 
 munity. They would want to know what relation hand 
 training and nature-study and similar activities bear to 
 teaching. Such a room would ask a hundred questions 
 every day. The teacher could not refuse to answer them. 
 It was with some such idea as this that we have erected on 
 the Cornell campus, in connection with the College of Agri- 
 culture, a rural school building which has the ordinary 
 teaching room and also a work room. This building, 
 costing only $i,8oo, is also designed to be comfortable and 
 attractive and sanitary — three conditions which I fear are 
 little present in the average rural school building. I want 
 to see the time when some great university, wishing to con- 
 tribute perhaps more than its accustomed share to the public 
 welfare, will establish a plain, simple, redirected rural 
 school as an example and incentive to all men. 
 
 The problem of the rural school, therefore, is not so 
 much one of subjects as it is of methods of teaching. The 
 whole enterprise needs to be developed natively and from a 
 new point of view ; for, in an agricultural country, agricul- 
 ture should be as much a part of the rural school as 
 oxygen is a part" of the air. 
 
 45 
 
5. Government. — It is a question whether we do not also 
 need a redirection in rural government. The rural people 
 are not inert, as they are often said to be, nor are they in- 
 competent, but the systems whereby men are organized 
 and affairs are directed are likely to be incomplete, in- 
 effective and to lack vitality. I think we need more active 
 and compact rural government. I am afraid that some of 
 our systems may be found to be antiquated and inade- 
 quate. 
 
 6. Financial institutions . — We all know that the farmer 
 is disadvantaged in our financial institutions. Banks, for 
 example, give him almost no direct aid in his business, 
 however much they may aid those who trade in money. 
 We need banking institutions that shall have for their 
 main purpose the developing of the country from which 
 they draw their trade. 
 
 7. Churches. — The rural church also needs radical atten- 
 tion. What I have said about the rural school-houses will 
 apply very largely also to the country church buildings. 
 They consist chiefly of a preaching room and a vestibule. 
 They have changed very little within two generations. 
 Concerned in too many cases with technical religion, 
 formal piety, small and empty social duties, the country 
 church lacks the activity and real connection with life to 
 appeal to many of the strong personalities in its com- 
 munity. The country church offers a great opportunity 
 for young men who wish to be of service to their fellows, 
 providing they see a new horizon and desire to recast the 
 church effort into line with daily living. Every pastor 
 who hopes to do the greatest service in the open country 
 should have training in an agricultural college, or in some 
 similar institution. Religion is the natural expression of 
 living, not a set of actions or of habits, or a posture of 
 mind added to the daily living. The type of religion, 
 therefore, is conditioned on the kind of living ; and the 
 kind of living is conditioned, in its turn, very largely on 
 the physical and economic effectiveness of life. 
 
 46 
 
I should like to see on every important four corners in 
 the open country four buildings — on one a general as- 
 sembly place, as a town meeting hall or a grange hall ; on 
 another corner I should like to see a building into which 
 the products 'of the community, historical mementos, 
 books, biographies of the inhabitants, and the like could 
 be collected and preserved. Such a building . would de- 
 velop a strong local interest and attach persons to the land 
 on which they live. On another of the corners I should 
 like to see a redirected rural school devoid of all fidgets 
 and fads, which should be as much a native expression of 
 the community as are the farms and the homes themselves. 
 On the other of the four corners I should like to see a 
 country church which would stand for aspirations and 
 ideals, but which .should have its roots, nevertheless, run 
 deep into the indigenous affairs of the country. Every- 
 thing with which men have to do needs to be spiritualized. 
 This is much more effective for our civilization than 
 merely to spiritualize things that we hope for. 
 
 From this brief sketch we see that the rural country 
 needs a new direction of effort, a new outlook, and a new 
 inspiration. Some man some day will see the opportunity 
 and seize it. The result of his work will be simply a new way 
 of thinking, but it will eventuate into a new political and 
 social economy. When his statue is finally cast in bronze, 
 he will not be placed on a prancing steed nor surrounded 
 hj any symbols of carnage or of war. He will be a plain 
 man in citizen's clothes, but he will stand on the ground 
 and his face will be towards the daylight. ' 
 
 THE OUTLOOK 
 
 Young men and young women who have the love of the 
 open country in your hearts, there lies the opportunity for 
 new leadership. With the great growth of urban senti- 
 ment and affairs we have overlooked the value and signifi- 
 cance of the plain country institutions, and also of 
 the common things of life. Other ends in Hfe have 
 
 47 
 
come into prominence and persons have been attracted 
 by the high points and by objects and affairs remote from 
 them. Real leadership lies in taking hold of the first and 
 commonest problems that present themselves when you go 
 home. I have spoken of the young man who attained to 
 leadership because he taught the persons of his community 
 how to spell. I know one other man who is organizing 
 new methods of farming practices in his community. Re- 
 cently he was called by President Roosevelt in consultation. 
 Leaving this institution you will be asked more than one 
 question when you alight from the train on your way home. 
 Some one has a problem. Whatever it is and however small, 
 seize it. If you have not studied the problem you, at least, 
 ought to have the organizing ability to take hold of it and 
 to understand it. Some one can help you. Concentrate 
 the sentiment of the community on it. Take hold of it 
 with a will and because you feel that it will help your fel- 
 low men. No man should enter into service for the pur- 
 pose of developing leadership ; he should serve for the sake 
 of the service. Leadership is a result of good service and 
 will come as a natural consequence. Whatever the prob- 
 lem and no matter how small it may seem to you, if you 
 solve it greater opportunities await you. The opportuni- 
 ties will be measured only by your ability to see them and 
 to handle them. Most of us are so blind that we never see 
 the opportunity that lies directly before us. I bid you, 
 then, go back into the rural country fully inspired with the 
 idea that great opportunity for service awaits you. Here 
 is a new thing in the world. 
 
 These are some of the visions that we see. The Gov- 
 ernor, with great words and in the name of the people of the 
 Empire State, has dedicated these buildings to the interests 
 of the persons who stand on the land. We accept the re- 
 sponsibility. We accept it because we have seen the vision. 
 We know that we cannot reap the harvest, but we hope 
 that we may so well prepare the land and so diligently sow 
 the seed that our successors may gather the ripened grain. 
 
 48 
 
Joining hands with the State Department of Agriculture, 
 with the State Experiment Station, with all other institu- 
 tions, public or private, that work for the welfare of the 
 open land, and with the men who stand on that land, we 
 hope to contribute our part to the work that lies before us 
 all. Our problem lies with the people both here and yon- 
 der. If there is any man standing on the land, unattached, 
 uncontrolled, who feels that he has a disadvantage and a 
 problem, this college of agriculture stands for that man. 
 
 49