22 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tural Land Grant Board, consisting of the Governor, Auditor General, Secre- 

 tary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and Commissioner of the 

 State Land ollice. Any information in regard to these lands may be obtained 

 by fvpplyiug to the Commissioner of the State Land Office. 



The income from the College lands will increase as the sales of these lands 

 increase. Tlie State is forbidden bv LTnited States enactment from snfferino- 

 this fund to be diminished, from making any charge for its management, and 

 from using it, or the interest of it, for the erection or repair of buildings. 



2. The income derived from students is small. Tuition is free, and board 

 is furnished at cost; any balance at the close of one term's board account is 

 carried to the next term's account. The fees for matriculation and diplomas 

 go to the increase of the library, while the fees for room rent and incidentals 

 are designed to cover the expense of small rejiairs, care of the halls, printing 

 of work bills, blanks, and the like. 



3. The Legislature has made from the lirst, appropriations of money, both 

 for current expenses, and for buildings. Tlieso have been made with the 

 liberality for which the State is noted in its dealings with its educational 

 institutions. The sum appropriated for 1878 was $11,830.80. The same was 

 appropriated for 1877, witli an additional $25,U00 for a new hall. 



THE GOVERNING DEPARTMENT. 



Board of Agriculture. 



The Board of Agriculture to whose care the College is committed, is com- 

 posed of two members ex-officio — the Governor of the State and the President 

 of the College, and of six members appointed by the Governor and confirmed 

 by the Senate. One-half of the appointed members must be practical agricul- 

 turists. Their term of service is six years, two going out of office every second 

 year. They receive no compensation for their services. 



It may not be improper in me to speak of the members of this Board. At 

 its head is the Hon. II. G. Wells, of Kalamazoo, whose late services as ]n'Gsiding 

 judge of the Court of Commissioners of the Alabama Claims have had the rare 

 fortune to be universally approved and appreciated. Judge Wells has been on 

 our Board since its organization in 18(51. and has sometimes given several weeks 

 successively to the interests of the College. lie rcin-csents tiie College on [)ub- 

 lic occasions, and in its relations to the government and otiier institutions; 

 authorizes the receiving of its funds from the State; draws u\) all deeds, con- 

 tracts and other important papers, and negotiates the sale of the larger tracts 

 of swamp lands. Mr. Wells was once President of the State Agricultural 

 Society; is familiar with fruits and their cultivation and has a wide and varied 

 knowledge of horticulture and iloriculture, and of trees. He is a member of 

 the Horticultural Committee of the Board, lie was, in 1817, reappointed 

 by Gov. Croswell for six years more of service. 



Mr. J. AV'ebstcr Childs, of Ypsilanti, is now in the 0th year of his service ou 

 the Board. Ue is too well known as a farmer and orchardist and for his long 

 continued services in the Senate and House of Ilei)resentatives to need any 

 mention here. His inilucncc was given — rather his unremitting work in behalf 

 of the College was given to it long befure he became a member uf its Board. 

 After being for some years at tiie head of the Committee on Farm Manage- 

 ment, he is now the chairman of the Committee on Buildings and College 

 property. 



