A32—Lancaster Fifing, Saturday, Jma 14,1900 NEWARK, Del - Delaware extension dairy specialist Dr. George Haenlein believes in the value of international ex- change programs. Born and reared in Germany, now a U.S. citizen, Haenlein himself has benefited from first-hand experience with two distinct ways of life. He encourages his agriculture students at the University of Delaware to spend tune working and studying abroad so they can find out bow people on the other side have dealt with problems similar to their own. Six University agriculture students will spend the summer in Germany doing just that. Five will live and work with farm families in South Germany, while one will work at the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Munich. These six Delaware students are among a group of about 300 from the entire United States who will be working on German farms this summer. Some German students will be coming to U.S. farms as well, m an exchange program spon sored by the Student Government Association of the German Universities on the European side, and by interested individuals such as Haenlem on the American side. Last year, as part of the same program, Haenlem found spots for four University of Delaware students in Germany and placed four German students on Delaware farms, to the delight of everyone concerned. For years, Haenlem has also been encouraging University of Delaware students to spend a semester of study m Vienna, Austria. Twenty from the University, including three from the College of Agricultural Sciences, spent the recent spring semester there taking a standard 15 credit course load. Dairy specialist promotes international exchange program Though the classes weie offered in English, the students still found the ex perience challenging. “It’s a maturing ex perience,” Haenlein ex plains. “Many of these students have never been away from home before. Not only do they learn the sub ject matter, they also gain confidence by learning how to get around and com municate m a foreign en vironment.” For these reasons, Haenlem would like to see summer school for credit in Europe established as a regular study and/or training-abroad program of the University of Delaware. Whether or not such a formalized program is ever established, sending American students to spend a summer working on German farms is an education in itself. There are real differences in the American and European ideas of farmer training. In the United States, as long as someone has cash or bank credit, farming and most trades are easy to enter. For instances, if you can bake a cake, and you can find someone who is willing to buy it, you are in business as a professional baker. In Germany, as in a number of other Old World countries such as Swit zerland and Sweden, it can’t happen that way. Before you can call yourself a farmer, a baker, a chimney sweep, or a cow milker you must survive a rigorous program of training, practical ex perience and certification examinations. It’s a system that dates back to the Medieval craft guilds, and it has few parallels in the United States. Before a student can even enroll in most colleges of agriculture in German universities, he or she must have already had a specified amount of experience working on a farm, and not How to become a dairyman University of Delaware animal science professor Dr. George Haenlein helps U. of D. students David Perry, left, and Larry Webber make plans for the summer. The two will be living and working on farms in Germany. just any farm, but a certified farm. In contrast, many University of Delaware agriculture students have had no pnor agricultural experience. It isn’t required. In the United States, farmers generally milk their own cows, perhaps with some hired help. In Ger many it’s customary to hire a milker just to care for the animals. A professional milker would be like a subcontractor for the cows, being paid monthly by the farmer on the basis of performance. Here’s how one becomes a milker in Germany. (The system is similar for becoming a farmer or for entering any trade.) First the young man or woman must be apprenticed to a master milker. The apprentice works along with the master while also at tending evening school sponsored by the trade association. After a couple of years the student mik.l pass an examination to be ad mitted to the next level of training. At this point, the student is still a journeyman. Haenlein describes the promotion as similar to the military promotion from private to private first class. After another two or three years as a journeyman, the student may be admitted to the master’s examination. Only those who pass this examination may go into business for themselves as milkers. By the time German people can call themselves milkers, or farmers, or plumbers, Haenlem says, they know their trade inside and out. In America, the land of opportunity, he says, the young plumber you hire may be learning on your kitchen sink. • BARN PAINTING • ROOF PAINTING • BIN PAINTING • MASONRY & EPOXY COATING • Sandblast preparation All work is guaranteed satisfactory. “Call the Country Boys with the Country Prices" GEBHARTS Agriculture - Industrial - Commercial | Box 145 A, R.D. 4 11 Hanover, PA 17331 j 1 Ph: 717-637-0222 !' Also, in America, couples from big cities are free to try their hands at farming as long as they can find the money for land, machinery and supplies. They may not have the shghtest idea of what they’re doing, but they have every right to try. That’s why the extension service is a must in this country, Haenlem explains. Those farmers with a lack of experience especially need the county agents and specialists to show them what to do. In Germany a farmer already knows the basics, so the German (Turn to Page A3B)
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