Rocky Mountain College - Yellowstone / Poly Yearbook (Billings, MT)

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as Agricultural Department -fs f I , -'bv .azz 1 ' i ' - i L I , A an 2 .' , ' A CLASS OFAGGIESU The entire end and aim of education is two-fold: hrst. it is to make a self-supporting and useful citizen: and second. to develop the personalities of the individual to the fullest possible extent. By a self-supporting and useful citizenis not meant one who simply furnishes the means of sustenance for himself and family. lYhile that is essential, more is necessary. He must do not only that, but he must contribute something, even tho it be but small. to the public good. In every individual, there exists certain faculties or capabilities upon the development of which much depends. So much, in fact, that it often means the difference between suc- cess and failure. It is true that these are often hidden from sight and may never even be dreamed of until brought to light by some apparent accident. But it is the discovery and development of these faculties which is the second aim of education. In agricultural education, these principles still hold true, for no one can deny that it is a large and important feature of the entire educational system. But it was not long ago that the farmer was looked down upon as occupying the lowest round of the social ladder, and even now one sometimes hears a person sneer at the educated farmer. Therefore agricultural education must do at least two things: first, it must make him effi- cient in a business way: and second, it must teach him to become an intelligent and broad- minded member of society. To attain the first object, it is necessary that a certain amount of technical or voca- tional training be given. 'lmhe time has passed when it was thought that anyone could be a farmer, regardless of his qualification, for the realization has come, that there is no occupation in which more careful and thorough study and investigation are necessary. As in all vocational training. theory and practice must go together. This principle is not al- ways recognized, for it is easier to teach a mass of general, present-day agricultural prac- tice, than it is to apply the underlying principles to cases arising in every-day life. But this must be done, for in this age of rapid advancement along all lines, the present-day ..2 51

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H Engineering eparimenf EI Fl if if i QQFSLN Elf Je r j 'iii it 'Q 7' -N Z-, Eff:- I i f' . i 9. K fe ff ' term? 247, Y , ' - - ffff,-'EZ' J N I c. wilf- lillllttlllllllzilfllllIIMEMYHHIKYFMIHHIT The lingineering depaitment has been at a great disadvantage in having no equip- ment for shop or laboratory but we have now reached the time when we can have a part of the many things necessary to hold the interest and satisfy the ambition of the average engineering student. In the first place we have begun our shop building which, when fin- ished, will be among the very best in the XVest. We have enough of the building finished to accommodate every one at present. During the summer we expect to continue the work and will be rea-ly for a much larger attendance. ln the second place, our engineer- ing course is being changed. During the first term of each year an experimental course fffifida WILLING ENGINEERS in electrical engineering will be required of all engineering students to acquaint them with the more simple phases of the work and inspire thein to do their best in order to reach a point where they may go deeper into the science of engineering. Qthers may feed pigs, may ponder over jaw-breaking names, may argue from morning until night before the courts of justice, or may write long lists of balance sheets with an Continued on Page One Hundred Thirty-seven -24-

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THE POLY practices will soon be superseded by others radically different and the old information will be practically worthless. But while all this is necessary, the broader and more human side of agriculture must not be forgotten. The farmer is not only a toiler, a tiller of the soil, he is moreg he is a member of society, and as such, possesses certain privileges and owes certain duties which are entirely outside the province of his vocation. Therefore he should be given the chance to obtain that broader training without which the best and most evenly balanced develop- ment is impossible. Nearly everyone, when about to choose the profession or occupation to which he is about to devote his energies and faculties, looks first at the opportunity or opportunities which the various callings afford. Tn agriculture there are at least three different lines from which a choice may be made. These three are: the actual pursuit of farming, the teaching of agriculture in high schools or colleges, and the Civil Service or government work. The criticism is often made that the boy educated in an agricultural school does not often return to the farm because there are no opportunities there. This may have been true in the past, but in the future it will not be true. It is coming to be recognized more and more that the farm as a purely business proposition affords as great opportunities as are found in any other line of business. In the old days, which have passed away forever, farming was not a capitalized business, and the owner of a farm seemed content with obtain- ing a fairly comfortable living. But all that is rapidly changing and at the present time the business methods used by the managers of the great mercantile houses are being used for the management of farms with successful results. Then, too, the increasing number of tracts of land taken up by individuals or corporations, not for speculation but for culti- vation. as a business investment, show that farming is at last coming into its own. Another criticism sometimes heard is that if the back to the land movement is al- lowed to continue, there will soon be an overproduction of the agricultural products which will result in great loss to the entire agricultural industry. But if one pauses to think a moment, he will see that such a catasprophe is impossible. If the rate of increase in popu- lation continues the same as it has been in the last hundred years, by the end of the next century we should have at least twelve hundred millions of people here in the United States, and unless the agricultural production increases in proportion, we must either move or starve. This increase in production will not necessarily mean a greatly increased area, but rather greater yields from the area already under cultivation. These larger yields can be obtained only through better and more improved methods of tillage. There is, too, an aesthetic side of farming. VVho will deny that the farmer is not blessed far above the city dweller, in that he is free to come and go as he pleases, with the blue sky above him, and the soft grass beneath his feet? He is not shut in by towering walls of brick and stone, and he does not walk on blazing pavements, breathing the fetid, stifling air of the city. He is not called to his work in the moring by a shrieking whistle or clanging bell. and at night be can sink into a peaceful slumber without hearing the con- stant din of the city in his ears. For those who feel that the time and money which they have expended on their edu- cation demand some quicker and more tangible return than could be obtained on a farm, the teaching profession is always open. In the last few years, the demand for teachers of agriculture in high schools and colleges has doubled again and again, and hundreds of schools that have desired to introduce courses in agriculture have not been able to do so because of the lack of available instruction. There always will be a demand for the teacher who is thoroughly conversant with the principles of agriculture, and who knows how to apply them to the problems with which the farmer is constantly coming face to face. Continued on Page One Hundred Thirty-eight 126-