Alumni Memories

Edwin Howard Hill

Animal Husbandry, 1930

Edwin Howard Hill

Submitted by his daughter Margaret Hill Northey, of Spirit Lake, who transcribed them from tapes recorded in 1994. (She said: Daddy farmed and went on to become president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. In 1994 Daddy was interviewed for a historical documentation of his life.)

I was a member of the Meats Judging Team. My professor was J.C. Holbert, who was a graduate of Iowa State. He was the coach for the Livestock Judging Team. We had to place five or six classes of four of each animal and then go in and give reasons to Professor Holbert. So I did. I rambled forth and eloquently went on about these various classes.

When I finished he looked at me and said, “Hill, that was a h*** of a good set of reasons, if they were only true!”

I never forgot that. I thought you had better have your facts right.

e and I became very close friends. He’s introduced me at meetings and I’ve introduced him. He served as president of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. I always gave him credit for teaching me the big lesson that you better have your facts right. You can’t do it by eloquence.

1929 Meat Judging Team

We had a Professor Ferkins who taught soils to freshmen. He was kind of a tough little guy, a real good fellow, but he didn’t put up with any monkey business.

I remember him picking up some soil in his hand. He said, “Now, if I ever hear any one of you birds calling this precious stuff dirt,” he says, “I’ll flunk ya!”

Well, to a freshman, that kind of a hard-boiled prof, that really scared us. And boy! We were so careful. And you know, that thing has always stuck with me. I’ll correct my wife when she’s talking about the dirt. And I’ll say, “That’s soil!”

I don’t remember anything in the course, but I never forgot it. “If you ever call that stuff dirt, I’ll flunk ya.”