Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades - Mechanic Yearbook (Media, PA)

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JY Qlluurse in Qgritulturt FEVV years ago the question was asked, Can agriculture be suc- cessfully taught in a trade school P It has proved successful at VVilliarnson, for here agriculture is taught as a trade. The object of the course here is to prepare young men for the many positions that are now open to those who have a good practical knowledge of agriculture. For a student to receive this practical training in agriculture it is necessary to have enough tillable land to suit the need of the live stock, well planned farm buildings, a complete equipment of modern farm and dairy machinery and well-bred live stock. The school farm includes two hundred and twenty acres, about eighty acres of which is tillable soil, the remainder being in campus and wood- land. A large portion of the school farm is devoted to the raising of ensilage corn, wheat and garden truck. The VVells' farm of sixty acres has been leased for the last two years and has yielded a good variety of wheat, corn, potatoes, etc. ' The farm buildings, of which there are twenty-one, consist of dairy, barn, piggery, poultry buildings, Creamery, horse barn, calf barn, green- houses, hot-beds and agricultural laboratory. The latter includes class- rooms, chemical laboratory, office, locker room, shower baths and repair room for machinery and exhibition work. . Our farm equipment of machinery includes a I. I, Case 10-20 H. P. gas tractor, which is used for all purposes on the -farm, as plowing, har- . rowing, disking, threshing, silo filling, etc. Several other machines, includ- . - ing the check-row, cornfplanter, threshing machine, double disc harrow, De Laval steam turbine cream separator, a Sharpless suction feed hand separator, Sharpless clarifi er and a canning outfit have also been added to the equipment. Animal husbandry is divided into four departments, namely, dairy, swine, horses and poultry. The dairy consists of pure bred Holstein-Friesians, jerseys and Ayrshires. The Holstein-Friesian herd is headed by Sir Fairview Korndyke's Darkness, No. 105917, a young sire of great merit, who stands among the leaders of the breed. Golden Ferris' Son, No, 78687,-.heads the-Jersey herd and is a wonderful sire of proven worth. Brown HARVEY R. BURR Instructor in charge of Department of Agriculture 20

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HE accompanying comparative wage earning diagram was pre- pared by the late James M. Dodge, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Link Belt Engineering Company. It graphically illustrates the great advantage the school-trained men have over shop-trained apprentices, par- ticularly the school-trained men of iVil- liarnson. This diagram was prepared without a knowledge of the management and was used by Mr, Dodge at the Com- mencement exercises in the Spring of 1903. Since then this same method of comparison has been made by many schools and colleges throughout the coun- try. ,In its preparation Williamson grad- uates were used in comparison with the shop-trained men and as usual played an important part in originating this desir- able scheme of comparative presentation. WTTVYTIIL nfs- THIS llflilg-ifkJlfA3L:f:cP 525000 I I 5., 'L,fim,m,,,.f,,. 24ooo I I I I X NI I IMI 23000 I I I I I I ..,., ax, ,::f:s:,,,.,: ' 22000 I I I I 225.55 ,.,,,,2fx't ai ooo I I I I I lm f,':,'-:::zi::i:'IzH ' zoooo I I I I I l9ooo I I I I ,IW I ggggg I . I I .M 'sooo I nl - gi.....yran.LnsA nfzulrrrnr ucuss. 'sooo I V -. ss nnamirnrrwvlurmu E ,4 p no mam Iw urnws . 14000 I 1 I' I ,, .,,,, I'ffZ.I..,, lzooo I I 'S I I ' ' ,I QI nf., Hooo I loooo I ' I I I Sooo I 3 I . I I I I I sooo If I I I I I I I I I I I I I sooo I -If 5000 ,I -'I I I I I TE mmm. 4ooo S gf' I I I DIF I 0000 I I I awww zooo ' I I I I I'4 'I ' :ooo -I-'5-M I I I I I I I6 I7 I8 I9 20 Zl 22 Z3 24 25 26 27 za 29 30 IGES I9

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Kate's Grandson, No. 16821, is the head of the Ayrshire herd and is a very promising young sire. With these three great sires to lead the way we expect in a few years the herd to be one of the best in the country. I w The swine department consists of two breeds of swine, the Berkshire and Duroc jersey. This department is gaining very rapidly in popularity. The horse department consists of nine work horses, three of which are brood mares, four Colts and a saddle pony. All the horses are of grade Percheron breeding and they meet the requirement of farm-very well. The poultry department is already well known for the quality of its breeding stock. The department has a large collection of prizes won at the various shows. In the spring of 1916 a graduate of '15 was selected to assist in the poultry department and a '16 graduate to assist in the dairy department. These men meet the demands, 'as they have had a good academic course in con- nection with the practical training required to teach agriculture. ' Last fall an opportunity was offered to the students to take a trip to Springfield, Mass., where the National Dairy Show was held. WVhile there we had the privilege of seeing the best dairy cattle of all breeds in the World and the most modern creamery machinery, also of observing ways of handling milk in the most sanitary manner. This year we had the first live stock judging team to represent the school since the course of agriculture was started. They had a very success- ful season, always' bringing home their share of the prizes. At the Devon Horse Show they made their first appearance, where they were in com- petition with Pennsylvania State College, Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and Deleware Col- lege, and succeeded in capturing the second place trophy, a silver cup and two medals. The course has been carefully outlined, cover- ing a period of three years. During the Freshman year the regular academic work, which is given to all trades, is covered and also the studies of botany, agronomy and soils, The mornings are spent in the class rooms and the afternoons are spent on general farm work. The Junior year is devoted to the regular aca- demic work and the study of feeds, breeds of live stock, veterinary science and farm machinery and motors. The mornings are spent on the farm and the afternoons in class work. K , i ' SENIOR AGRICULTURISTSI 2I