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began to organize. Had the officers of the College not foreseen the possibility of a conflict between the farm bureau as a public service organization supported by the taxpayers and the farm bureau as a class organization, or society, there might have been severe criticism. The county agents of course were paid from public money and so were supposed to serve every agricultural interest in the county and not any special organization.Mr. Brokaw, the director of the extension service, pointed out very definitely the work of the county agent in an address delivered at the meeting of Organized Agriculture in 1922. He made clear the following four points:
"1. That the County Extension Agent (or County Agricultural Agent) is supported by public funds, is really a member of the agricultural college staff, and in that degree is a public official.
"2. That this Extension Agent, being a public service official, may not solicit membership for any class organization nor favor in any way one class organization above another.
"3. That the agency within the County which cooperates in directing his efforts is known as a County Farm Bureau and is a public service organization.
"4. That the County Extension Agent as a factor in the advancement of our basic industry in each county, as a member of the agricultural college staff, and as a representative of the federal department of agriculture, must be supported by public funds."
The new farm bureau law providing for county appropriations had done much to make up for the loss of the emergency appropriations. At the end of 1921 there were forty-six organized counties in the state employing county agricultural agents. Eleven of these counties employed two agents. There was in these later years an increasing development of the county unit plan in carrying on extension work almost entirely thru the county agent. Community programs of work were emphasized. Such work as the securing of harvest labor, seed certification, purebred sires, insect and rodent extermination, orchard renovation, better seed potatoes, was promoted. In fact, the modern day county agricultural agent aims to have several special
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lines of work under way in his county, as well as offering every farmer such assistance in the solution of special problems as he may desire.Along the line of home demonstration, there was work in clothing, foods and nutrition, home health and hygiene home management, home millinery, and the like. Boys' and girls' clubs now included projects embracing wheat, corn, potatoes, garden, pig, sow and litter, dairy calf, cow and calf, beef calf, sheep, poultry, canning, cooking, clothing, and hot lunch. How much the extension service had grown is evident from the fact that its total expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1921, from federal appropriations, state appropriations, and county appropriations amounted to $342,359.57.
THE EXPERIMENT STATION
The marked feature of the work in the Agricultural Experiment Station was the fuller development of the lines of work which had been started during the late nineties and early 1900's. These later years were years of greater intensity, with a better perception of the problems that needed solution. There was now an adequate staff of workers representing practically every branch of agriculture, and one man no longer had to be depended upon to handle everything from teaching to research in several branches and subdivisions of those branches. In addition to the appropriations from the Federal Government in the Hatch and Adams Acts, the experiment station now and then received a substantial appropriation at the hands of the Legislature for general research or for putting into execution some special branch of research.
We have already learned of the North Platte Substation, established in 1903, but now there came a demand for similar stations in other sections of the state. In less than ten years, the Valentine and Scottsbluff substations were established, an experimental fruit farm was started near Union, and additional land for the experiment station at
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Lincoln was purchased, not to mention the Culbertson substation which was established at the town of that name in southwestern Nebraska, and later given up. The agronomy farm was added to the central station in 1918.It is perhaps not an easy matter to pick out all the important work in an experimental way which has been carried on during the last ten or twelve years. Much of the work started during these years is still under way and yet to be reported upon. Experimental work at best is a slow process and especially in the case of observing and developing plants, it often takes several years.
In conjunction with the substations more and more attention had been paid to the problems of the western Nebraska farmer. Here there was investigation as to the possibilities and limitations of cultural practices in overcoming drought. Three outstanding things were here determined: (1) the proper cultivation of the soil to conserve moisture; (2) varieties of crops adapted to the conditions; and (3) the proper rates of seeding. The North Platte substation became a recognized leader in dry land investigations.
In the department of agronomy there was the development of Nebraska. No. 60 wheat, which it might be said is the rival of the Kanred wheat from Kansas - only Nebraska did not give its wheat a distinctive name. Today there is the great development of sweet clover thruout Nebraska. Not so many years ago sweet clover was thought to be a weed, but today it promises to be a crop as valuable to the raiser of livestock and the general farmer, as alfalfa hay is to the feeder. Nebraska of course cannot compete with the East in bluegrass pastures, but here is a pasture crop that will maintain three times as many animals per acre.
In horticulture one of the biggest accomplishments of recent years was carried out. For many years the majority of farmers in northwest Nebraska were under the impression that they should import their seed potatoes. But the college proved to them not only that this was unneces-
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sary but that they could grow seed potatoes themselves which would actually eclipse those grown in some of the best seed-producing states. The college developed the growing of certified seed potatoes for the southern market, and the grower in northwest Nebraska who takes extra care and has his potatoes certified can receive 50 to 75 cents a hundredweight extra for his crop. Over in the irrigated districts the college proved to growers that irrigated seed generally runs out, and in many cases after a few generations is worthless. This has been demonstrated to be due to a, disease -- spindle tuber. It was suggested that these growers could buy dry land seed from their neighbors a short distance away. Even on a poor market, 1923, those who applied these two ideas made over $100,000 clear profit over what they could have done had they followed their old plans. Of course it must be understood that many accomplishments such as this are carried on in cooperation with the Agricultural Extension Service.Then there is the work in agricultural engineering. With the erection of the new building for agricultural engineering, equipment for testing agricultural implements was installed. The piece of work of the most original and far-reaching character has been the testing of tractors. The Legislature in 1919 passed a law compelling manufacturers of tractors sold in the state to have them tested by the college to see if they measured up to the specifications as given in the companies' advertisements. A special track was constructed for this work and a small building erected to carry on some of the special tests. It is interesting to note that as a result of the testing of sixty-eight tractors in 1920, manufacturers of six tractors increased their engine speed, manufacturers of eleven lowered their horsepower rating, eleven made changes in their equipment, and three withdrew from the tests. A great deal has been accomplished in co-operation with the Agricultural Extension Service in solving practical problems, such as drainage and prevention of soil erosion on the average farm.
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For the first time, perhaps, people began to think seriously about system on the farm. The department of farm management, later rural economics, found a fruitful field for labor here. Farming was no longer a hit-or-miss proposition, but a business that demanded as careful study as any other business. So the college has begun experiments to find out why farmers do not make money, and to develop scientific plans of handling individual crops and farms to make as substantial profits as possible.Probably the outstanding result of the experimental feeding work with animals during this period was the renewed emphasis placed on the use of corn and alfalfa as the ideal fattening ration. The "fancy" feeds, as well as the substitution of millet, timothy, and prairie hay for alfalfa, did not give as good results. It was found that in fattening lambs four pounds of corn and three pounds of alfalfa were necessary to produce one pound of gain, in fattening calves from five to six pounds of corn and two pounds of alfalfa, in fattening two and three-year-old steers eight pounds of corn and five pounds of alfalfa, while in fattening pigs, five pounds of corn and one pound of alfalfa were necessary to produce one pound of gain. The work has tended to show that in the case of calves, lambs, and pigs about ten pounds of gain may be secured from one bushel of corn.
Another important fact may be deduced from the figures given above. Calves make as much gain on 60 pounds of feed as older cattle do on 100 pounds. This fact lies at the foundation of the "baby beef" work. The corn belt feeder will do well to feed more calves, thereby producing greater gains at less cost. Western stock raisers may well afford to raise more calves to turn over for fattening to the corn belt feeder. The markets have shown an increasing demand for young beef.
The dairy -work of the college prospered greatly during these years, added impetus being given by the erection of the new dairy building in 1916-17. In 1923 the college had
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approximately forty-two cows in milk of all breeds with an average production per cow of about 12,134 pounds of milk, 494 pounds of fat, or 617 pounds of butter. Nebraska's great record has been made with Holsteins. Figures compiled a year before and published in the Journal of Dairy Science showed Nebraska holding first place among mature Holsteins, second place among the junior four-year-olds, second place among the senior three-year-olds, fifth place in the junior three-year-old class, fourth place in the senior two-year-old class, and second place in the junior two-year-old class. This was out of a total of twenty-four colleges and universities. On the honor roll of the Holstein-Friesian Association for 1922-23, the herd of the Agricultural College stood at the top among all the agricultural colleges of the country.The foundation of the dairy department went back to two cows, Karen II, mother of Katy Gerben, and La May, the mother of La Verna Lincoln. Neither of these cows cost more than $50. Karen II was purchased by Prof. A. L. Haecker, of whom we have previously read, in the late nineties. Katy Gerben, her offspring, was to have a remarkable influence in Holstein history. At two years of age Katy produced 338 pounds of butterfat, and the next year broke the World's record as a three-year-old, producing 18,573 pounds of milk and 620 pounds of fat. During her twenty years of service to the institution Katy gave birth to fourteen calves, of which nine were bulls and five heifers. She outlived all of her daughters except one. During fourteen lactation periods she produced 166,456 pounds of milk, this despite the fact that during later years the front quarters of her udder gave no milk.
Kittie Gerben Lincoln was Katy's outstanding daughter, as far as perpetuating the family line. Kittie gave birth to a son, King Derby Lincoln, who has nine high-producing daughters and eight granddaughters in the herd. His nine daughters averaged, at four years, five months of age, 710 pounds of fat. There are forty-two descendants of Katy Gerben in the University herd.
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La May, the other famous cow, was purchased in 1909 with a lot of run-down cattle, the entire herd being bought for $38 a head. The daughter of La May was La Verna Lincoln, who brought to the University of Nebraska at one time the distinction of being the only college which had bred, raised, and owned a cow producing more than 1,000 pounds of butterfat in a year.Then there was the manufacture and distribution of hog cholera serum, carried on by the College of Agriculture. In 1911 the Legislature established a plant for the production and distribution of hog cholera serum under the direction of the regents of the University. The Legislature of 1917 discontinued the appropriation, but the Legislature of 1919 provided funds to reopen the plant. Today most of the serum is purchased and tested by the station and then shipped out to the farmers.
The work in the investigation of animal diseases, which was such a prolific source of inquiry and almost the first important investigational work carried on by the college, was resumed a few years ago. The new laboratory provided for animal pathology makes possible such work on an ambitious scale.
For the first time the college was now able to pay some attention to the scientific aspects of poultry raising, with the establishment of an adequate poultry plant. Nearly every farmer raised some poultry, but there was always much to be desired in the way of investigation and extension work along this line. A great deal has been accomplished in co-operation with agricultural extension in developing, on the average farm, high-producing flocks of poultry.
It would be quite possible to enumerate many other lines of work that the College has under way. There are always plenty of practical experiments, in which immediate results may be looked for. Then there are many of a highly scientific character, such as those carried on in animal pathology. The man who writes the next ten years of this
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history will doubtless be able to recount the results achieved in the various undertakings going on at the present time.NEW SUBSTATIONS
From the passage of the Kinkaid Act in 1904, and in fact, during practically the entire first decade of the 1900's, there had been a steady influx of settlers into western Nebraska. The homestead lands began to be picked over, and soon the western half of the state was dotted with sod houses of the homesteaders. The land north of the Platte began to be settled. Irrigation played an increasingly important part in the North Platte Valley, and in other sections of western Nebraska. With the advent of the homesteader with his small farm or ranch, seldom over 640 acres, there came a demand for information as to how to make a living. Western Nebraska was now face to face with the problem of making the small farm or ranch pay its way. The sand hills were unusually important of course, covering some 20,000 square miles, or about one-fourth the area of the state.
"The obvious usefulness of the North Platte Station no doubt lies at the basis of the call for a similar enterprise in another but a very different section of the state, the so-called Sand Hills region," the regents' report for the two years ending in 1908 stated. "The station at Lincoln practically covers the ground for the eastern and central parts of the state, that is to say, for the glaciated portion and for the loess plains. The substation at North Platte does the work for the elevated plateau. The sand hills naturally come next. Their agricultural and stock-raising possibilities are thru under-development vastly underestimated."
The Legislature in 1909 made provision for two substations. One bill, passed by the Legislature, provided "that for the furtherance and promotion of agricultural, horticultural, forestry, and livestock interests of this state,
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an experimental sub-station shall be established north of the sixth standard parallel and west of the second guide meridian in the State of Nebraska, including the counties of Sioux, Dawes, Box Butte, Sheridan, Cherry, Keya Paha, Brown, and Rock, which station shall be under the control and management of the board of regents of the state university."Another bill passed by the same Legislature provided for an experimental substation "west of the one hundred and second meridian in Nebraska." The regents of the University were authorized to select the necessary lands for the first station, and in the case of the second station, they were authorized "to take such steps in conjunction with the authorities of the United States as they deem necessary to successfully establish such station." Fifteen thousand dollars was appropriated from the temporary university fund for the first station and $5,000 for the second station.
The sandhill station was located by a committee of regents at Valentine, while the other station was located near Mitchell, in co-operation with the government, and became known as the Scottsbluff Substation.
The Valentine station, according to the report of the Board of Regents for the two years ending in 1910, included "40 acres of deeded land adjoining the town, together with about 1,050 acres of land from the military reservation, which is to remain under easement from the government, in the possession of the University as long as it is used for experimental purposes. A substantial house built of cement blocks and a barn of the same material are in process of construction. This material was selected in part with an endeavor to demonstrate the feasibility and economy of concrete construction in the sand hills region of the state."
By an act of Congress the University had been granted a perpetual lease by the War Department to 1,093 acres of the old Fort Niobrara Military Reservation, while the
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town of Valentine voted the other forty acres to the University. The land comprising the Fort Niobrara Military Reservation passed from the control of the War Department to the Department of Interior about 1914, and most of it was thrown open to settlement. The land occupied by the substation was reserved and tendered to the Board of Regents at the nominal price of $1.25 an acre, and it was purchased by the Board of Regents.The site for the station "west of the one hundred and second meridian" was recommended by a committee of the United States Department of Agriculture, which was to have the station in charge in co-operation with the University of Nebraska. This station was to be located five miles east of the town of Mitchell and seven and one-half miles northwest of the town of Scottsbluff. The regents agreed to this site, and 160 acres of land were set aside.
The station in Nebraska was to be one of several such experiment or demonstration farms which were to be established on reclamation projects in the United States that were subject to homestead entry. There was some difficulty in securing the money which had been promised by the Department of Interior for the buildings to be erected at this station, but finally on March 7, 1910, Secretary R. A. Ballinger approved the use of $5,000 for erecting buildings on the land which had been set aside by the Reclamation Service. On March 15, a memorandum of co-operation was signed between the experiment station and the bureau of plant industry of the United States Department of Agriculture. Fritz Knorr was appointed superintendent by the bureau of plant industry and his appointment was approved by the University.
Both of these new substations were now ready for work. At the Valentine station it was determined to give a trial to alfalfa, corn, sorghums, and all grasses which held any promise for the sand hills. It was also proposed to establish a dairy farm and to try out timber cultivation. A good idea of what this station was accomplishing is found in
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Bulletin No. 156, Farming Practice in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, by James Cowan, who had been appointed superintendent of the farm on March 1, 1910.Experiments showed that alfalfa would do well, especially where there was subirrigation. Potatoes gave every promise of becoming an important crop, when people gave more attention to the details of their growing and marketing. Corn and small grains did quite well, under the right conditions. It was found that trees could be made to grow in favored localities with the selection of the proper varieties and with a little care in handling them. James Cowan resigned as superintendent of the Valentine station in 1919 and E. M. Brouse was appointed to the position.
The work at the Scottsbluff station, carried on in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture and to some extent with the Reclamation Service, was primarily an investigation of the possibilities of growing crops on the irrigated land in that district. The law originally passed by the Legislature evidently did not contemplate investigations along the line of livestock, altho some feeding experiments have been carried on from time to time, especially in handling by-products of the sugar beet in feeding. The station has been a more or less practical aid and demonstration farm for those who have taken up irrigated land along the North Platte river.
Experiments have been conducted on both irrigated and dry land at this station. Crops which have been grown include sugar beets, alfalfa, potatoes, small grain, and forage crops. A small herd of dairy cattle was established at the farm to encourage dairying in this section. Experiments have been carried on with hog and sheep feeding. The proper rotation of crops on both dry land and irrigated land in that section has been an important part of the work of the station. Fritz Knorr resigned as superintendent of this station January 1, 1917, and James A. Holden was appointed to succeed him. In 1917, 800 acres of dry land adjacent to the station was procured by the University to be used experimentally.
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The successful establishment of three substations for the college led to the establishment of still another, the Culbertson substation. The Legislature made provision in 1911 for its establishment with an appropriation of $15,000. The regents purchased a farm of 160 acres adjoining that town. "The larger portion of the appropriation has been expended in purchasing the site and acquiring the buildings and equipment necessary to the substation work; but the substation is now ready to begin work at the opening of the next crop season," the report of the Board of Regents for the two years ending in 1912 stated. The regents at that time suggested that the state was now sufficiently well equipped with substations and that it would be advisable to spend the money on those stations already in existence. The Culbertson station, however, was short-lived. The Legislature of 1915 ordered the land sold, the University giving possession of the farm on March 1, 1916,The Legislature in 1917 made an appropriation of $32,000 for the purchase of an agronomy farm and an appropriation of $10,000 for the purchase of land to be developed into a model fruit farm. The agronomy farm of 160 acres, costing $36,000, was located one and one-half miles east and one mile north of the present farm campus, being really a supplementary tract of land to the central experiment station. The fruit farm was located on eighty acres of land near Union, in Cass County. Forty acres of fruit was immediately set out on this farm in 1918.
Dean E. A. Burnett of the college remained as director of the station thruout this period. Prof. W. W. Burr is now assistant director.
HONORARY RECOGNITION
One of the features of the last few years has been the recognition by the College of Agriculture of men "who have made notable contributions to the betterment of agriculture and rural life in Nebraska." This has been done by conferring certificates of honorary recognition upon
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such individuals. Those who have received the honor include Samuel Clay Bassett, William Gunn Whitmore, Charles H. Morrill, George W. Holdrege, Fred W. Chase, Col. F. M. Woods, Samuel McKelvie, and Edward Provost Brown.FINANCES
The college and experiment station farm in Lincoln was valued in 1922 at $401,200, exclusive of buildings. This shows perhaps, even financially, the value of the work done in promoting agricultural education in the seventies. The permanent endowment funds of the University, derived from the sale of its lands, had reached a total of $900,523.30 by the year 1922. At this time there were 7,156.29 acres of land unsold from the Land Grant of 1862, and 12,135.13 acres of land remaining from the land granted in 1864 under the enabling act of Congress.
The important feature of the latter part of this period was the abolition of the one-mill levy for the University, and instead the adoption of a general budget for the entire state government. It was in 1919 that the Civil Administrative Code was passed, and after that time the various branches of the state government were required to prepare budgets for their needs during each succeeding biennium. In 1917 a state activities fund had been created in which appropriations for the miscellaneous activities of the University were included, such as agricultural extension, the experiment station, substations, etc. This, however, was done away with under the new budget plan. The principal facts relating to the financing of the various developments in the college have already been noted and they need not be referred to again here.
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REFERENCES
Agriculture. Bound volumes, 1909-1921. School and College of Agriculture, Lincoln.
Annual Reports and Bulletins of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Nebraska. 1909-1922.
Annual Reports of Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Nebraska. 1914-1921.
BRADFORD, HARRY E. Agricultural Education in Nebraska. Thesis, University of Nebraska. 1917.
Catalogs of the School of Agriculture. 1909-1922.
Catalogs of the University of Nebraska. 1909-1922.
Federal Legislation, Regulations, and Rulings Affecting Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. States Relations Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 1917.
HILL, D. S. Introduction to Vocational Education. Macmillan Company, New York. 1920.
Laws of the State of Nebraska. 1909-1923.
Nebraska Blue Book. Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau. 1920.
Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Co-operative Agricultural Extension Work in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 1915.
Reports of the Board of Regents, University of Nebraska. 1909-1921.
The University of Nebraska, 1869-1919. Semi-Centennial Anniversary Book. The University, 1919.
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