24 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



merits of a liberal education. The requirement of manual labor 

 from all the students has its obvious advantages. For physical 

 development and the preservation of health three hours daily toil 

 is none too much. As there is pay for this work according to the 

 faithfulness and ability of the student, industrial habits are fos- 

 tered, and important assistance is furnished in paying the expen- 

 ses of the student. A collegiate course of study without manual 

 labor destroys the inclination, if not the ability, to engage in the 

 hard work of life. Manual toil is an essential requisite to com- 

 bine the practical part of an education with the scientific. While 

 this labor is educational in its character, teaching the pupils to 

 combine the theory of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts with 

 the varied labors of the field and the shop, its effects are also 

 beneficial upon the moral character of the students, and the disci- 

 pline of the institution. True, there may be a lack of fashionable 

 foppery and elegance, but young men trained up under the com- 

 bined influence of physical and intellectual culture are manly in 

 their deportment. The habits of industry and economy formed 

 under such a regime will not so readily allow the manifestation of 

 the wild frolics and reprehensible sports, to which those shut out 

 from profitable bodily exercise are inclined. That self-reliance 

 felt when there is a command of physical energy, resulting from 

 constant practice in useful and intelligent labor, contributes alike 

 to the pleasure and the utility of life. 



"While we do not expect that the forty thousand young men of 

 Maine who are entering upon industrial pursuits will all receive a 

 liberal education, we do wish to do something in breaking down 

 the wall that has so long separated the educated from the labor- 

 ing class of the community ; so that those who labor may have an 

 opportunity to secure a thorough education, and those who are 

 educated will not be unfitted for manual toil. That those who are 

 educated in professional callings will not be considered as the 

 only class of educated men. That the laborer will not look up 

 with envy to the advantages of a superior class, nor be looked 

 down upon by any, as a class inferior in intelligence and culture. 

 We do expect to stimulate the working men of our State to secure 

 for their children that mental culture which will fit them more 

 thoroughly for their varied employments. We desire to contribute 

 some share in the great work of advancing the intelligence and 

 prosperity of the State, the happiness and comfort of individuals, 

 and the true dignity of man. 



