Memorial Statement for Professor Asa Carlton King (June 24, 1877 — January 17, 1967)
"Asa Carlton King, Professor Emeritus, served as Professor of Farm Practice and Farm Superintendence in the New York State College of Agriculture for thirty years. He had resided at 117 Mclntyre Place, Forest Home, since 1915.
Professor King was reared on a farm near Trumansburg, New York. He graduated from the Trumansburg Academy, matriculated at the College of Agriculture at Cornell University in September, 1895, and received his B.S. degree in agriculture in June, 1899. As an undergraduate he was a prominent member of the Cornell crew under the famed Coach Courtney and was navy director for one year. He was a member of the Sphinx Head and Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.
For ten years following his graduation from the College of Agriculture, he operated a fruit farm at Trumansburg. His success as a farmer resulted in his being called in 1909 by the New York State Department of Agriculture to lecture at farmers’ institutes. At that time it was the policy of the Department of Agriculture to rely almost exclusively on men who were actively engaged in farming to relate their experiences in following recommendations of the College and Experiment Stations. Many farmers were not yet ready to listen respectfully to college professors and government research workers, but college-trained men who were making an outstanding success of a practical farm enterprise had great influence in stimulating farmers to adopt improved methods and to strive for a better understanding of the scientific principles underlying farm operations. Professor King was unusually successful in winning the confidence of farmers and helped to lay the foundations for an enlarged extension service that was soon to follow.
During the winter of 1911-12, Professor King was employed by the College of Agriculture to give instruction at Extension Schools. These schools, organized throughout the State, were set up usually as a five-day course with a staff of three or more instructors, most of them college professors. “Carl” King soon became one of the most popular conductors of Extension Schools although he was still primarily a farmer.
On April 1, 1915, A. C. King accepted a full-time position at the College of Agriculture as Professor of Farm Practice; and during the thirty years in which he had charge of the faculty requirement in farm practice, almost 10,000 men students were enrolled in the College. Professor King evaluated the farm experience of these students and placed many of the inexperienced men on farms where they could gain additional experience to complete the practice requirement. He brought to this work a sympathetic understanding of the problems arising when an inexperienced city boy worked for a practical farmer. Under his supervision both the students and the farmers profited.
On the retirement of Professor J. L. Stone in 1920, Professor King assumed responsibility for supervision of the College farmlands not under jurisdiction of the various departments, and at that time his title was changed to Professor of Farm Practice and Farm Superintendence. Under his direction the lands were well-managed for the purposes of research, instruction, and production of crops for livestock. The services expected of Farm Practice by the departments were maintained on an efficient and cooperative basis.
During the twenties and thirties Professor King promoted the change from horse-farming to power-farming. At one time there were sixteen teams of horses used on the University farm for farm work and to haul ice for the dairy plant and coal for the University heating plant. Professor King also helped to promote tile drainage not only on the College farmlands but on farms in the state. He was instrumental in establishing the boarding house in Forest Home for single employees.
In addition to his regular work he found time to serve his community by taking an active interest in the Forest Home school and Forest Home Improvement Association. Professor King was a friendly man who worked well with other people. He was a great lover of nature and, after retirement, pursued his hobbies of fishing and hunting, and hiking through the fields to observe wild flowers. He loved to pick wild strawberries.
In 1905 he married Viola Doyle, who passed away in 1947. In 1960, he married Helen Covell. He is survived by Mrs. Helen Covell King and two daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Hoyt Dillingham of Ithaca and Mrs. Edith King Fulton of Houston, Texas, and four grandchildren."