92 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



is to teach such branches of learning as are related to agri- 

 culture, and to include military tactics ; and it seems to us 

 that the course of instruction laid down is eminently in 

 consonance with that object, and that the sciences taught are 

 with pointed reference to the uses of the farm. The theory 

 of scientific agriculture is thoroughly taught, and the appli- 

 cation of such knowledge is made on the farm, under the 

 direction of the professor of agriculture, who is a practical 

 farmer ; and all students are compelled to work at the 

 details of husbandry ; so that manual labor becomes a valua- 

 ble adjunct to mental application. Chemistry, botany, phy- 

 siology, and zoology, are, of course, invaluable to the farmer 

 in regard to the analysis of soils, the use of manures, the 

 food of animals, the growth of grains and fruits, the anatomy 

 and physiology of animals, and the conditions and habits of 

 destructive insects ; and mathematics and civil engineering, 

 in the case of the chain, compass, and level, are almost 

 equally necessary. 



' k Your Committee cannot refrain from alluding to the 

 interest which all the young men take in the drills, and the 

 evident beneficial effect upon their bearing and health, and 

 the value of the accomplished soldiers and officers thus made 

 for the future service of the Commonwealth in the event of 

 another call to send forth her sons for herself or the nation. 

 Were no other result accomplished by this institution, the 

 money of the Commonwealth could be no more judiciously 

 expended ; and yet this instruction is but an incident to the 

 regular course." 



The Examining Committee of 1871, of which Professor 

 Agassiz was still the chairman, after visiting the College 

 several times, and a careful inspection of all its details, state 

 in their report that " the graduating class, consisting of 

 twenty-seven members, acquitted themselves with great 

 credit in their several examinations, and graduating exercises. 

 Their uniformly gentlemanly bearing and manly appearance 

 were noticeable in a marked degree. No one could look upon 

 that company of young men without realizing the wisdom 

 and foresight of those minds that originated the idea of 

 requiring ' military tactics ' to be taught in agricultural 

 colleges. The influence of their military training was so 

 manifest, not only upon their general physical health and 



