author
Thomas Forsyth Hunt
1862–1927
A pioneering agricultural educator, he helped shape modern agricultural science and left a lasting mark on the early development of what became UC Davis. His writing reflects a practical, forward-looking view of farming, education, and rural life.
1 Audiobook
The Young Farmer: Some Things He Should Know
by Thomas Forsyth Hunt
About the author
Born in Illinois in 1862, Thomas Forsyth Hunt became an influential American agronomist, teacher, and academic leader. He studied at the University of Illinois and went on to build a career focused on improving agricultural education and bringing scientific methods into everyday farming.
Hunt served as dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley, and is remembered as an important figure in the growth of the university's agricultural programs, including the foundations of the Davis campus. Archival records from UC Davis also note his later research travels in the Caribbean and Central America, where he studied agricultural practices and documented them in papers and photographs.
He also wrote books and lectures for farmers and students, including works on agricultural history, rural economics, and practical farming. That mix of scholarship and plain usefulness makes his work still feel connected to real life, even a century later.