Montana State University Bozeman - Montanan Yearbook (Bozeman, MT)

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Montana Agricultural Experiment Station THE beginning of scientific research in agriculture was scarcely one hundred years ago. Before the dawn of the historic period, man had discovered and improved most of the common grains, vegetables, fruits, and forage crops now in general use. and the same is true of many agricultural practices necessary for increased crop yields. There was. however, no explanation of the results obtained beyond the occult, nor was there any effective means of bringing the improved methods to the great mass of producers. Most of the farmers were groping in the dark. Out of this condition came the demand for colleges of agriculture, and agricultural experiment stations. In Montana, the Agricultural Experiment Station was organized in association with the State College, when the latter was esablished in 1893. Its first mission was to change the general vision of the state’s agricultural resources into concrete possibilities for the various districts of the state. Decided progress has been made in finding the varieties of grains, forage crops, vegetables, potatoes, fruit, etc., that may be produced to greatest advantage. The possibilities and limitations of dry farming and irrigated farming have been pointed out. and the methods of crop rotation and fertilization necessary to maximum yields demonstrated. The value of Montana grains and forage crops in feeding and fattening all classes of livestock has been studied. That we can produce, and finish for market, animals and animal products of the highest quality has been fully illustrated. The station has kept abreast of the need, in devising methods of controlling insect pests and plant diseases, and is making progress in the study of animal diseases peculiar to Montana. The studies on farm organization and the efficient use of farm equipment have pointed the way to more efficient farm practices, and to lower production costs. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT GARDENS Thirty-one

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Montana Extension Seruice THE Montana Extension Service, one of the units of the Greater University of Montana, is the medium through which the teachings of Montana State College and the United States Department of Agriculture, as they relate to agriculture, are carried into the homes of farmers and stockmen of the state. Some of the states in the country boast over twenty years of extension work. Extension work actually started in 1785 in the early agricultural societies, the first of which was formed that year in Philadelphia. The work has been nation-wide only since the passage of the Smith-Lever act about sixteen years ago. Extension work, in an educational sense, is teaching; in a business sense, it is selling ideas. In the early efforts to establish and develop a nation-wide cooperative extension service, the officers were guided largely by the teaching profession. Later, because it had to “sell” ideas, it brought salesmanship into its activities. In Montana, extension work is supervised by J. C. Taylor, who holds the office of director of extension. His office and all the offices of the administrative officers are in the Extension building, which was the home of Montana State College in 1893. Montana, being such a large state, has wide variations of soil, climate, and rainfall. For that reason, extension specialists in the various lines of agriculture are kept continually busy finding improvements suitable to all the sections of the state. There arc specialists in agronomy, livestock, dairying, poultry, home economics, horticulture, economics and other fields. These specialists keep in touch with the work of the college and experiment station, work out practical applications for agriculture, and then distribute the information through the regular extension channels. At present thirty-six of the fifty-six counties in Montana have agents of the Montana Extension Service. EXTBNSIOK m i LDING Thirty

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 The Montana Collegian r | 'H E Montana Collegian is the official paper for alumni and former students of - ■ Montana State College. Its purpose is to acquaint these persons with the most recent activities of the college and to keep in touch with the personal activities of the alumni themselves, who correspond with the alumni secretarv who is also the alumni editor of the Montana Collegian. The most interesting experience of the former students of the college are thus brought to the attention of the editing staff, and they in turn give the story to the other alumni through their paper. The staff includes: Dr. Alfred Atkinson, who is the editor-in-chief of the publication; John Dexter, editor; Lewis True, assistant-editor; and the alumni secretary. Willis Wood, who is the alumni editor. It requires a considerable amount of work on the part of these men to publish a paper which tells as much as possible in very little space. There are a great mam things to write about, and the result appears in the form of a small newspaper which has established an enviable record among alumni association publications. The material for each number of the paper is gathered over a period of about three months, for there is but one issue during this time. At present, issues are sent out to the alumni in September, December. March, and June. The Montana Collegian has assumed the responsibility of keeping in touch with four thousand alumni and former students. Every three months, four thousand copies of the paper are sent to all parts of the world, taking to those people a message of good will from Montana State College and asking for their continued support of the college in return. The alumni always respond nobly to the sentiment expressed in the paper. To the Montana Collegian and to those people who arc so vitally interested in its existence. Montana State College owes a debt of gratitude that is difficult to pay. JOHN DEXTER WILLIS WOOD Thirty-two