Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

Page 11 text:

A Auhlr, flurpiiarfitl lCit have been identified with an institution of higher learning, 1IL as a member of its Faculty, for a decade and a half, is a noteworthy fact; and to have served the same institution uninterruptedly for that length of time, is a proud record. But to have given that institution, and through it the Commonwealth, all one’s time and talent for one-half of a generation with steadily increasing zeal, devotion, and usefulness, is an achievement out of the ordinary; one upon which any man might well look back with satisfaction, and the feeling and consciousness of “duty well done”. Of such nature is the record of I)r. James Withycombe, who for sixteen years has been successively Professor of Agriculture, and Director of the Oregon Experiment Station; and has just severed his connection with the institution to enter upon a wider field of activities. From the very first year of his connection with the College, it became apparent that agriculture in Oregon was to have a friend at court, and also an adviser; that slipshod and out-dated farming methods and haphazard practices were to be knelled to their grave; to be succeeded by the New Spirit, representing diversified farming, orderly arrangement, scientific application, and cooperative endeavor. The general farmer, the dairyman, the orchardist, the stock raiser, the truck gardener, all felt that they had won a wideawake, energetic ally, who was anxious to serve them; who advocated good roads, better transportation facilities, improved stock, and modern methods in the tilling of the soil, the harvesting of crops, and the marketing of farm produce. The Station soon enlarged its sphere of action; it became the real handmaid of the Oregon farmer, the center for the dissemination of new ideas. By example and precept, personal visitation and correspondence, by lectures, institutes, and demonstration trains, the work was carried on; and these new ideas have been sent and taken into every section, district, and community, and almost every farm of the State, until it would seem that not a single freeholder, renter, or homesteader has been overlooked or neglected by the Station. Certainly no one interested enough to make inquiries, and willing to avail himself of the proffered assistance, should be in a position to complain of neglect. Aided by the Doctor's unwearied activity, agricultural prosperity-in Oregon has increased to a marked extent. The threatening and highly undesirable movement from farm to city has been and is stoutly