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Agricultural Education in; Germany
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1R. JULIUS KUHN, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY
. : OP HALLE TAKEN WHEN SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS OP AGE.
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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
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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,
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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-
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DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE Ott
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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.
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