and yet it is fundamental, and needs to be impressed upon all 

 those who wish to see the Island prosper. 



A brief review of what the United States has accomplished 

 in the past few years in education in agriculture and the 

 mechanic arts, in research work, and spreadirg of theknow- 

 ledge thus obtained among the people will serve the purpose 

 of calling attention to one of the great needs of Cuba. 



The education of the farming people and research in 

 matters pertaining to the soil and its products have been 

 accomplished chiefly through three agencies, namely, 



(i) — The Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges. 



(2) — The Kxperiment Stations. 



(3) — The United States Department of Agriculture. 



THE AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGES 



In 1862 a bilí knowa as the Morril Act passed the United 

 States Congress, granting to the several States an amount of 

 public land, to be apportioned to each State a quantity equal 

 to thirty thousand acres (approximately 900 caballerias) for 

 each senator and representative in Congress to whichthe Sta- 

 tes were respectively entitled. This land, or the money de- 

 rived from the sale of it, constitutes a permanent fund, the 

 capital of which caunot be reduced, and the interest of it is 

 used "to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at 

 least one college where the leading object shall be, without 

 excluding other scientific and classical studies, and inclu- 

 ding military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as 

 are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such 

 manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively 

 prescribe in order to promete the liberal and practical educat- 

 ion of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and pro- 

 fesions in life. " 



Under the provisions of the bilí no portion of the fund, 

 ñor the interest thereon, can be applied to the purchase, erec- 

 tion, preservation, or repair of any buildingorbuildings. The 



