of the idea of a university farm. He felt that for such a farm to teach effectively, it would necessarily have to be a model farm with examples of the best of everything, without any reference to local profitability, climate, or circumstances, and such a thing was clearly infeasible. However, in his last report as dean of the College of Agriculture before his 1905 retirement, Hilgard finally came around to the idea that a university farm "had become a pressing need" and was "much needed for proper and practical instruction in agriculture".
=== Founding of the university farm ===
Around the turn of the 20th century, Peter J. Shields, secretary of the California Agricultural Society, became aware that colleges of agriculture elsewhere had university farms which performed experiments and provided hands-on education in useful agricultural subjects, and that young people were leaving the state to study at such farms. Shields began to champion the cause of a university farm. He was later honored as the "founder" …
