George Washington Carver

*Helping Farmers in the Field* The Jesup Wagon brought a changing array of teaching tools and giveaways. It might carry the latest farming equipment one week and a complete garden in bloom the next. Below are just a few examples of the different lessons and materials Carver and his students brought to the farmer in the field:
	Plants & Seeds: Carver wanted to raise the farmers’ spirits as well as their incomes so he often gave away starter packets of flower and vegetable seeds.
	Soil Samples: Carver taught farmers that their crops were only as healthy as the soil, so the Jesup wagon came equipped with examples of healthy and unhealthy soil.
	Cows & Pigs: Identifying different breeds of livestock was an important skill. Sometimes Carver brought along cows and pigs bearing signs around their necks to identify their breeds.
	Farm Tools: The Jesup Wagon brought a range of tools and equipment to farmers, from new-fangled cultivators and plows to more simple hand-held shovels and hoes.
	Carver Products: Carver also used the Jesup Wagon to publicize products created in his lab and made from the bounty of the Tuskegee Institute’s farms.
	Fruits & Vegetables: Carver displayed living proof that his methods worked—gorgeous produce from Tuskegee’s farms.

Agricultural experiment stations often shared their research and findings with other scientists by publishing bulletins. So Carver used the Jesup Wagon to distribute his own educational bulletins to farmers.

Carver created his publications with the farmer in mind. Written in simple language and directed at practical concerns, his bulletins became popular with farmers. They were another way that the “People’s Scientist” helped raise farmers from the “lowlands of sorrow.”

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