STATE COLLEGE. 211 



July 2, 1868, M. C. Fernald, A. M., was elected to the position of 

 Professor of Mathematics, and Samuel Johnson of Jackson, was 

 elected Farm Superintendent. The necessary arrangements hav- 

 ing been made, and with these two instructors. Prof. Fernald 

 acting as President, the Institution was opened in September with 

 a class of thirteen students. The erection of a laboratory build- 

 ing was commenced this year, the same being built upon the plan, 

 somewhat improved, of the laboratory at Brown University, 

 Providence, R. I. 



The towns of Orono and Oldtown had given a warranty deed of 

 the farms, in which was inserted the condition that the property 

 should revert to the town of Orono, should the location of the 

 College ever be changed ; the Trustees desired to change the 

 conditions of this deed so that they might have the alternative of 

 paying the present worth of the land, or abandoning the property 

 if the location of the College was changed. Pending the settle- 

 ment of this matter between the Trustees and the town of Orono, 

 a year went by, during which the Legislature refused to make fur- 

 ther appropriations to the Institution till the change was made in 

 the terms of the deed, conveying the land to the State without 

 qualifications. Of course this action suspended all building oper- 

 ations for the year ; but with the giving of a satisfactory deed to 

 the State, the Legislature, in 1870, made an appropriation of 

 $50,000. 



In 1869, the statute concerning the Board of Agriculture was 

 so amended that its Secretary was created a Trustee ex-officio of 

 the Institution ; and one of the two sessions of the Board to be 

 held annually was fixed at the College, or near enough for the 

 students to attend. Through the courtesy of the Presidents and 

 Superintendents of the several railroads in the State, free passes 

 have been obtained for the students to attend meetings in the dif- 

 ferent counties — this being regarded as coming within the require- 

 ments of the statute — and the meetings so held have been very 

 interesting and profitable to the students. Besides, by visiting 

 th« different parts of the State, the students have been enabled to 

 make decided friends for the Institution, and to give a good idea 

 of its course of study and discipline to those who could not well 

 visit it. 



The College, since its establishment, has received the following 

 appropriations from the State : In 1867, $20,000; in 1868, $10,000 ; 

 in 1870, $50,000; in 1871, $6,000; in 1872, $18,000; in 1873, 



