21S FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



above any other school of the kind in the land. The more I looked into the mat- 

 ter the more the idea grew upon me and I finally consented to accept the position 

 and began my work last July. At my first visit, Dr. Beal asked me what kind 

 of cattle I liked best. I said I didn't know. Said Beal, isn't it a little funny 

 for a President of the Agricultural College to know notliing about cattle? I 

 said I should pretend to know nothing which I did not know, but that I did 

 not believe it was essential that I should know all these details in order to be 

 a capable head of the institution. My work is to be a captain to these lieuten- 

 ants and see that they have opportunities to work, and I shall make it my busi- 

 ness to see that the Legislature is not left in the dark as to the character of 

 the work that is being done there. 



******** 



The Agricultural College is not a thing of American invention. The idea, 

 like our improved cattle, was imported from across the water. 



Why, Austria maintains 60 day and 174 night Colleges of Agriculture. 

 Prussia has more than 200, and in addition has scores and scores of exjieri- 

 mental stations. 



Even little Sweden expends more than two millions of dollars j)er year for 

 Agricultural Colleges. 



The French budget for 1885 included $10,000,000 for the advancement of 

 Agricultural science, and of this sum 8200,000 was for the one branch of 

 it —Veterinary science. 



What is the result? 



n the whole French republic there is not a foot of unproductive arable soil. 

 In tead of deteriorating it is improving. We have to send to Paris to get our 

 horsikin to teach Veterinary anatomy. Why not make these things here ? 

 Because they are ahead of us in Veterinary science and so we have to get our 

 Veterinary tools from Europe. Apart from colleges, there are T4 experimental 

 stations in Europe; Italy, smaller than California, has 13 experimental sta- 

 tions and 33 agricultural colleges. 



Do you wonder that they can make improvements and peddle them over 

 here ? 



I speak thus because many think much money has been spent on this 

 College. But I can tell you that but for it you would have less money value 

 in your State to-day. 



Michigan, when she founded her common school system, founded broad and 

 deep, and stands to-day in educational matters the peer of any State. She 

 was the first State to see that an agricultural college should be an institution 

 by itself. You remember the fight that was made to attach the Agricultural 

 College to the University. But those who advocated that plan forgot one 

 thing. 



While it is true that we teach many of the same things that are taught at 

 the University, yet we teach them differently. Our illustrations and appli- 

 cations are all different. Dr. Kedzie teaches chemistry the same as Prof. 

 Prescott, but his application is largely agricultural. 



I found that the agricultural colleges which had been kept separate were 

 prosperous and that where the United States' land grant had been given to a 

 university the agricultural addition, as far as attendance was concerned, was a 

 failure. Take for instance Cornell University, the principal part of whose en- 

 dowment is from the United States Land Grant for the advancement of agri- 

 cultural education. Of this grant they have already sold lands amounting to 



