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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1904)
1 Agricultural Education in; Germany '..-.-',,.' s ;' -' , ! - ""' ' i . . L ' ' .y j-t ' . ' , f : ' "'' ' . .' - "t - , ! V-"- ' -feu " ; j ;- v.. , Vv , "V'- i -'V . J; .' ' i t ! t j j' i i I I 1R. JULIUS KUHN, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY . : OP HALLE TAKEN WHEN SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OP AGE. . . ...... r .,- . f . . N THE old city of Ha'le, standing on the east bank xf the River Saale. in Saxon Germany, the visitor finds many things which interest him greatly, not least of which is the agricultural department of the university. Had I time I should like to tell - about the city whose history runs tack many centuries Jnto the dim past; of the sturdy Halloren ("salt makers") who brav ly struggled for right and liberty, but who finally went down before the powerful and persistent tyrants who lived in the neigh boring castle of Gieblchenstein; of the cas tle Itself perched on a volcanic rock mass two or three hundred feet above the river at its base, now a gigantic ruin; of the castle of Morltzburg, built by another ty rant on the riverside in the city, for subju gating the liberty-loving people, and th's, too, a mass of ruins. There is much that might be said about the university, with its J.000 students, its buildings, its libiary, its long roll of great men who have taught or studied here. But there is not time for these. I can take but a brief glance at one department of the great university, that of agriculture. More than forty years ago Dr. Jul'us Kuhn was appointed professor of agricul ture in the university. . Through his efforts a fine department 1ms been organized, equal to that of any other subject in the univer- ' alty. Agriculture is here regarded as a branch of study quite on a level with o her subjects, and it has long been accepted as one of the subjects which a student may pursue in his study for the highest degree bestowed by the- university, namely, that of doctor of philosophy. . Prof. Kuhn ran! s as high as any man in the faculty. It was my good fortune to be invited to a confer ence with him, and I found him to be one of the most charming men that I have ever met At nearly 80 years of age he has s ill the spirit and enthusiasm of a young man. I forgot his age in listening to his earn st, buoyant discussion of some of the difficult' problems with which he Is now engaged. The department of agriculture occupies an Irregular block in the city, and a still more Irregular tract of land In the suburbs. The latter is the farm and experiment sta tion, while the former contains the build-, lags, laboratories, museums and collections Which are used in Instruction. The build- j Ings are of solid brick construction, and ' number six for Instruction purposes anl ) as many more for the housing of the sam ples of domestic animals which, are kept tiere for Illustration. The buildings occupy the borders of the block, leaving the inte rior for illustrative plats and yards for ex hibiting the animals. Here are hundreds Of small plats on which are grown illus. -trative samples of all of the obtainable va-' rletles of grains, grasses, forage plants, fruits, vegetables, medicinal, ornamental, poisonous and other plants of economic in terest. Here is a meteorological stall, n, ' JDtted up with a full set of automatic appa ratus, which makes continuous records of ) everything connected with the weather. I bare not the time or space in which te tail all about the animals which are kept here for Illustration and study. I found all - of the . breeds of cattle 'th.it I hai ever heard of and some that anoear to be un- . known in America They are kept in bax stalls, so that they are free to move about, and each breed is distinctly labeied in lure , letters, so that one may see at a g'.ance what kind of an animal is before him. Of wild cattle there were at least half a dozen species, some of which are as in teresting as anything that one sees in a menagerie. Of some of these there wore hybrids, but I was told that no hybrids had yet been .secured between the common cattle and the water buffalo of the Cau casus region. A hybrid between these Is much to be desired, since the water buffaU is very strong and hardy and well adapted for heavy draft purposes, but all attempts at securing hybrids have entirely failed. Of sheep I saw some very Interesting wild forms, us well as good samples of all the cultivated varieties, including the curious "big-tailed sheep" of the far east, end many promising crosses. We saw Borne Interesting crosses between the wild hogs of Europe and some of the cultivated breeds. They looked sufficiently wild to suggest that they might be immune against all of the diseases to .which the well-bred hog Is heir on account of his high state of cultivation. I was greatly Interested in a pair of wild horses (2-year-olds) which Prof. Kuhn had recently Imported from Central Asia, where horses of this kind have lived from time immemorial. They were sleek, plump, light bays, and looked a good deal like the breed which. I used to know when a boy, under the name of Canadian horses. I should Ilka to know the results of the breeding of these wild Asiatic horses in central Europe, especially the results of the crosses with European horses which It is proposed to make later. On the farm, which Is about a mile away, we found rood and extensive buildings, and a large assortment of modern farm tools and machinery. The fields bore evidence j- - I ! i 1 j 1,'Hc'., S., l...!...hU, ...:.,, I.I.;.,'. ' ' . : GENERAL VIEW OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE PX.ATS OF TUB DEPARTMENT Oif AGRICULTURE OJf TICK UN1V1BUTX OP HALLE. ONE OP THE BUILDINGS OP TUB THE UNIVERSITY OP HALLE, - sv THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OP TUB UNIVERSITY OP HALLE WHERE TUB AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS TAKE UP THE STUDY OP PLANTS. of very careful cultivation, and we found that miny lines of experiments were in progress, There were the usual experi ments to test the relative value of new and old varieties; experiments to test the value of different rotations of crops; ex periments to test the relative value of deep and shallow cultivation; experiments to test the relative expense of steam and horse power in field work as plowing, prepa ration of the soil' and handling the crop; experiment's in the uso of various fertil izers, etc., etc. I was Interested In a tract which was set asldo for experiments In regard to methods of exterminating nema todes (certain minute parasitic worms) from the soil, but wus unable to learn whether or not they had been successful. One thing which struck me as very odd on this university farm was the fact that many stout women were employed In field work. The teams were driven by men, but the necessary nand labor In the enro of tha experimental plots was nearly all done by women. I suppose they are more careful than men, end this is probHbly the' explanation of the matter. But it looked very odd to us, all the sarne, Coming back to the buildings in the city we were shown over the many rooms de voted to different lines of work and study. In one large building is the museum of animal husbandry, In w yh are preserved the skins and skeletons of typical animals of different breeds, and also those of the many hybrids and crosses which they have made. I should have enjoyed stay ing here longer, but had to hurry along to the soli museum and the museum of plant products, the botanical museum, the collection of injurious fungi, of economic plants and the machinery hall, where are kept samples of all kinds of agricultural tools and machinery, etc. I must not forget the fine library, filled with agri cultural books nnd periodicals from all parts of the world and in all languages. Here I found many of our American books and reports, showing that the shrewd Ger- .' ! . X.l DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE Ott 'A . , v a ! arvirrhrr .f. im 1 mans do not propose to let us keep our knowledge to ourrelves. I was glad to learn something of tha course of study which agricultural stu dents are expected to pursue. I found that there is a careful balance maintained between the different subjects which enter into the education of the student in agri culture. The German student of agricul ture Is not permitted to become a mere empiric, knowing only the practical side of the subject, but he Is required to take up many courses of collateral and acces sory subjects. Thus he takes physics, (three courses) chemistry, (eight courses) mineralogy and geology, (two courses) bot any, (eight courses) lo-ology, (three courses). That looks pretty stiff to an American student, doesn't It? In addition he must take work in political economy, (three courses) and law (three courses). Of the agricultural subjects he must take work in agronomy and horticulture, (six courses) animal husbandry and dairying; (seven . courses) agricultural economics, (seven courses) and agricultural engineer ing (six courses). When a young fellow goes through all this, after the usual preparatory work in language and mathe matics before entering the university, ha comes out with a scientific and technical training that enables him to take up al most any problem, which he la likely to meet. I have to say that I was much surprised at the extent and thoroughness of the work which I found, and I bado goodby to the venerable professor who has built up this fine department with a feeling of admiration for the man and the work Which he has accomplished. CHARLES E. BESSEY. His Character An Irishman was charged with a petty offense. "Have you anyone in court who will Vouch for your good character?" queried the Judge. "Yes, sorr; there is the chief constable yonder," answered Pat. The chief constable was amazed. "Why your honor, I don't even know the man," protested he. "Now, sorr," broke In Pat, "I have lived In the borough for nearly twenty years, and if the chief constable doesn't know me yet, Isn't that a character for ye?" Town Topics. Unaccountable Conduct The man with the watch passed it over the show case. "I think it neoda a thorough cleaning,' be said. The jeweler opened It and inspected It With his eye glass. "It looks all right," he observed. "What aeems to be the trouble? Has It been topping?" "No, but it's acting strangely. You know you've never been able to keep it from gaining two or three minutes a week, Well, It has begun to keep perfect Unaa tntcly. "-Chicago Trlbuna. r
