The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 15, 1917, Page 12

LT TR RN >~ . experiences seem typical. Getting Learning That Pays Money By ARLAND D. WEEKS, Department of Education, Agri. College, N. D. This title was suggested to me in the invitation to prepare an article for the Nonpartisan Leader. It is a title that stands for a popular point of view. The dollar and cents interest in education is a strong one, and not without reason. The taxpayer invests money in school; he has a dollar and cents inter- est. Society as a whole is interested in large wealth production, and the state has a dollar and cents interest. The student invests money in his schooling, and expects his training to bring him a living. The money point of view is not the orly one that may be taken toward education. There are, other than money reasons for education, but the wealth motive in schooling is important enough to be dealt with in a far longer article than this. LET THE STUDENTS TELL - WHAT THEY HAVE DONE = This is a lazy article, for I conceived the idea of having the students do the work. I thought that students who had been attending the Agricultural col- lege might give me exactly the kind of information suggested by the title, s0 I asked several of the college stu- dents to report cases showing tha money value of things learned at the Agricultural college. These replies are utilized in what follows. Cases like those given could no doubt be multiplied indefinitely; the These few cases give one the impression that there must be thousands and thousands of benefits_directly traceable to items of mfoxmahon given out in the course of a day’s instruction in classes which such young men attend. “An education,” says one student, “is not supposed to bring material results of any consequence until one has fin- ished whatever course he has chosen. TUnless one is working his own way he Las but little chance to put his knowl- edge to the test.” Good discrimination in this sentence. I should say that the student who has learned to express himself as directly as this student has in the above quo- tation, gives evidence of trained abil- ity, to be measured in dollars and cents and otherwise. AN “EXCELLENT FIELD” FULL OF WILD OATS This student goes on to say: “Two years ago I was traveling for the experiment station on field crop inspection work. I came to a place one afternoon where the owner had report- ed an excellent field of oats. At first sight it indeed appeared so, but upon closer inspection I found that seventy- five per cent of the growth was wild oats. I advised the man accordingly and he at once took steps to eradicate the weed. The fact that he got the weed in time saved that neighborhood thousands of dollars.” ““The veterinary knowledge gained in college,” says another student, “saved us sums ranging up to $100 a year be- cause we had a stock farm. The forge work that I got saved many dollars in blacksmith bills and the carpentry that I learned saved money in building and repairing outbuildings. ‘We saved money on our farm through general knowledge in regard to crop rotations, feeding problems, etc.” A third student reports that after taking steam and gas engineering in his freshman year he was able to take a job running a threshing engine. This meant a wage of $3 more than the. wage of the laborer, or for the 33 days put in, a difference of $99. REPAIRING HIS OWN CAR AND SAVING $18. The same student, now an upper classman of recognized ability, adds that last summer (1916) while running a car ten miles from town it broke down. There was trouble in the uni- versal joint which made it impossible to move the car. Telephoning to town he found that it would cost $15 to have the car hauled into town. The cost of repairing would have been. $5. Instead of having the car hauled to town the student says he tackled the job him- self. He took the broken piece out, got a ride to town, bought a new piece, The Dollars-and-Cents Value of an Agriculturdl Eda.catio’nfl which cost only $1.85; in three quarters of a day he had the car in shape again, with a cash saving of $18.15, “due to what I had learned at the A. C.” Let us pause here and preach a little sermon. - He ‘“tackled the job himself.” That shows a confidence derived from knowledge. ‘Writing an advertisement for a com- pany making commercial seed germi- nators brought in a sum. of money to one enterprising student whose knowl- edge of seeds and- plants thus proved ol use to him. An interesting experience was that of another student who while doing crop inspection work two summers ago looked over a 30-acre field of brome grass for a farmer near Christine, N. D: In one corner of the field he found some quack grass. It is illegal to sell seed in North Dakota containing quack grass. The seed would have had to be shipped out of the state, and the extra bother and lower price would have meant a reduction of about one-third in the total returns. 'The farmer cut the quack grass and destroyed it before cutting the brome grass for seed. It ““Sleigh’® Cabs and *‘Bob Houses’’ as Aid to Comfort in Winter Two typical winter sleigh devnces used by farmers in the Red River valley during the past winter. Above is a “sleigh cab” and below is a “bob house.” Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. Now we are not just sure as to whether, ‘“sleigh cabs” and “bob houses” are inventions or not, but we do know that they seem to be the prod- uct of necessity. This past winter has been a severe one, as your coal bill will tell you, and bauling in cream three times a week is often a pretty cold job, so a number of farmers have constructed various forms of protection against the wintry blasts, for use in driving about the the country. * The most common form seems to be the “bob house.” This is constructed of four-inch fir ceiling, for the sides and top, with common one-inch pine boards for the bottom. It is made to set on the bobsled the same as a wagon box. A door is placed on each side, so that in case of a tip-over, the occupants may escape. A small window is placed in each end to afford a view of the road each way and to furnish light. The windows are made double so that they will not frost over. Small slits are made in front for the reins. ~About eight people can ride in one of these “bob houses” each having a straight chair to sit in. Usually a seat is built across the back and chairg used for the others, This plan makes it possible to haul produce when not in use for passengers. Of late because of the high prices offered, the farmers bave been bringing thei}' potatoes to TEN town in the “bob houses.” Many have hauled as far as ten miles with no sign of frosting the potatoes. The main disadvantage to the ‘“bob house” seems to be that the owners can not haul long lumber or crated livestock in them. The “sleigh cab” overcomes this dif- ficulty, as long pieces of lumber, sacks of grain, and a crated hog or calf, or even a cow, can be loaded on behind. The “cab” however does not have the advantage of being able to accommo- date more than three or four people and often only two. It is made about five feet long of the same material as the “bob house.” It is made just wide enough to fit into the bed of the wagon box the same as the top box would fit on. It is made in five pieces, two end gates and two sides, fastened with regular end gate rods. The top of the “cab” sets on with cleats to hold it from sliding off. There are two doors, one on each side, so that the upper one can be us&d in case of a spill. The end gates are each provided with a double glass window. Another advantage of the ‘“sleigh cab” is that’ it is easy to put on and take off, It ‘only requires one boy or man for the Jjob, while it takes two men to change the “bob house.” Great caution should be observed in ®sing heating devices in these inclosed sleighs. A fearful accident happened near Grand Forks early in the winter when an oil stove was overturned and the sleigh caught fire. A boy was burned to death. sold for about $300, so he was saved about $100. MAIN SHAFT SNAPPED; COLLEGE BOY TO RESCUE “One ‘day the main shaft of the binder snapped, on a farm in Lamoura county,” reports another student. ' One of the boys had taken shop work at the Agricultural college and had learn= ed to weld iron. In ‘a little less than a quarter of a day he had the part back in the binder and it was ready for work. L from town and a blacksmith shop, and there was no automobile (1914), and it was during the rush season of harvest, there would have been at least a day’s. delay had it not been for the boy who could weld iron, or a three days’ delay in case of sending to Fargo for a new part. The loss avoided including time ot the man who drove the binder, and of four horsés and one shocker. In addition, waste from the shelling of grain.is to-be taken into account. The boy who had learned how to weld h‘on saved at least $10 in this case. A final incident may be cited, which occurred in March 1915 at Edgeley. A farmer had a large number of small pigs some of which were dying from some unknown cause. During the last term of the school year of 1915 one of the students had been in Dr. Van Es’ class in veterinary. In that class the subject of hog cholera was discussed and among other things the matter of infection as it occurs in little pigs, and the symptoms at Edgeley seemed to illustrate this point. The student sug- gested that this might explain the dy- ing of the little pigs, but the owner said the disorder did not correspond to the hog cholera he had seen. However, a few weeks later the case became n:cre pronounced and specimens were sent to the station at Fargo. A wire ceme back at once that it was cholera. If the advice had been taken earlier some loss could have been prevented. As it was there were only seven out of ninety spring pigs left in the fall. WHEN SPRING COMES Spring is' coming. It is bringing along with it lengthening days and melting skies, and soon the bonds of old Winter will be broken and many of the forces which are pent up at present will be released. Among these will be the ones which aid in the germination of the seeds and the de- velopment of plants, which are so beneficial to humanity. On the other hand there will be those which are sa detrimental to health and to life itself. ‘We mean the disease germs which lurk in unseen places where filth has gath- ered over winter in and around our buildings and yards. If you are a breeder of livestock, guard against these enemies of yours, by practicing methods of scrupulous cleanliness wherever that is possible, The remedy is to-be found in plenty of sunshine, pure air and water, proper food and good care coupled with clean=- liness about the buildings and yards. The animals’ vitality is somewhat lowered in the spring and the above measures will do much to bring about conditions most unfavorable to the development of deasease of any kind. Keep a watchful eye open for hog cholera, foot and mouth disease, etc. “Safety First” is a good motto." CHEESE Cheese -has a higher food value pound for pound than meat. There is very little waste. It can be eaten raw or cooked. An ounce of cheese is equal in food value to 2 ounces of meat, to 1 egg or to a glass of milk. The high food value of cheese, its convenience for serving and its easy keeping quali~ ties make it a food that can often re- place meat and eggs to good advan- tage. NESTS The nests should be a little dark. Mr. Peterson, poultryman at the North Da- kota experiment station, states that the hLen is not so apt to eat the eggs in a darkened nest and wants nest in a se- cluded place. The straw in the nests should be removed frequently and the nest should be removed frequently and the nest should be whitewashed inside and out at least once a year—Hx. Dept. N. D. Agri. college.’ As the farm was eight mileg