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Show AGRICULTURE AS A SCIENCE. A visit of President Kerr to The Tribune Trib-une yesterday, and the ensuing conversation, conver-sation, give an opportunity for the discussion dis-cussion in a general way of the advancement ad-vancement made and possible In agricultural agri-cultural science proper. First as to possibility. Such advancement advance-ment as has been mado shows clearly that the possibility in this- direction is unlimited. A review of It Is also convincing con-vincing on the proposition that no branch of human usefulness has made so little progress in the past four thousand thou-sand years as agriculture. It -is true that there has been a mechanical Improvement, Im-provement, In the way of tools; there are better ploughs and Implements; harvesters, threshers, mowers, are magically mag-ically in advance of old appliances and methods. There has been some betterment bet-terment in seeds, in fruits, and In methods of handling and marketing products. But in the science of ngri-culturo ngri-culturo itself, the advance has been small. Farmers lake what their fathers fath-ers took, In tho way of crops, and the yearly routine goes on with. but. slight modifications. It has been conceded that enlargements and improvements may be made, but that new species could not be created, and that there are many forms of plant life that are .vigorous but useless to man. But one man In all the ages has had tho hardihood hardi-hood to dispute all this; to claim, and demonstrate his claim, that new species may be produced, and even so unpromising unprom-ising a plant as the thorny cactus may be deprived of Its forbidding features and made nutritious and useful; and that man Is Luther Burbank of California. Cali-fornia. His brilliant success in developing devel-oping new and permanent forms of fruit, plants, and flowers, Indicates the unlimited field that Is open to Investigation Investi-gation and experiment. The marvels Indicated point to the untouched field that Is open to the scientific sci-entific farmer and to original research. "When a man can develop an apple which will withstand the frosts of the Atlantic coast, as Mr. Burbank has done, the question arises why cannot some one originate fruits of different kinds that will with, certainty withstand with-stand the spring frosts. of this mountain moun-tain country. Why should not the Agricultural Agri-cultural College develop an investigator investiga-tor who would take hold of questions of this kind, and 'so confer upon the Slate untold benefits? If the cactus can be deprived of its thorns and made a succulent ioou tor man and beast, why cannot this improved cactus be made to take the place of the worso than useless cactus forms that cover the valleys and plateaus of the southern south-ern part of this State? Tho fact Is, and this fact Is being' fully recognized by scientific men, that agriculture and its kindred pursuits are inferior lo the highest forms of scientific progress nnd achievement only because human ingenuity and application ap-plication have not been applied in that direction. What if forms of useful and desirable plants could be found that would grow abundantly upon our arid plains, and oven cover the mountains! Can any ono fail to see the startling transformation that such a realization would bring to all this region? In comparison with this glowing prospect, why should an agricultural college take pride in graduating men to bb doctors, lawyers, dentists, or stenographers? The problems of agriculture are as yet wholly unsolved, save only the most elementary ones, and wo work those problems better than the ancients did and better than primitive peoples dd chiefly because of the application of mechanic arts to theme, an application which is not agricultural but mechanical. mechani-cal. What Is wanted Is to apply to agriculture the same persevering ingenuity in-genuity and intelligence that have wrought such miracles in other fields. Mr. Biirbahk has opened the way; that way has many branches, and Innumerable Innumer-able by-paths. After a while Ave may expect that It will be as antiquated to hear a man say that he can produce nothing Usable on any given piece of land, as It would now seem to see him ctit his grain with a' sickle or thresh It out on a floor under the tread of oxcn. The growth of a , plant Is always a wonder; but the giory of tho growth of new and better plants, under the sllmuhiH of a broodencd, enlightened, and scientifically applied agricultural science in Its -expert-state, a hint of which may be had hy a study of Ml. Burbank's methods, and by a thorough sense' of what others eminent in the lino of agricultural experiment and progress are doing, will electrify the farming operations of America, and mako acrlculture the leading science, as it Is the leading industry, of the world. We look to sec such forward steps mode In this science within the next few years, under the lead hnd fostering fos-tering care of our National Department Depart-ment of Agriculture (which has put $10,000 a year for ton years at Mr. Bur-bank's Bur-bank's disposal for experiment purposes) pur-poses) ns will make over tho earth anew, and mako every calling seem mean and Inferior beside that of tho trained agriculturist. |