AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 201 



THE AGKICULTUEAL COLLEGE. 



The State Constitution, Article 13, Section 11, provides that *'The Legis- 

 lature shall encourage the promotion of intellectual, scientific and agricult- 

 ural improvement, and shall, as soon as practicable, provide for the estab- 

 lishment of an agricultural school." 



The executive committee of the State Agricultural Society at its annual 

 meeting in December, 1853, memorialized the Legislature, asking the passage 

 of a law for the establishment of an agricultural school in connection with 

 the experimental farm. The memorial was favorably received, but failed to 

 elicit any action on the part of the Legislature. 



The cause of this non-action on the part of the Legislature may be inferred 

 from the fact that very soon after the presentation of the memorial, the 

 regents of the University provided for giving, at that institution, a course of 

 free lectures upon agricultural science, and the appointment of Eev. Charles 

 Fox, professor of theoretical and practical agriculture, with the expressed 

 purpose to make such lectures and professorship a permanent feature of the 

 University. 



At the session of the legislature held in 1855, a law was passed and approved 

 by the governor on February 12th providing for the selection and purchase 

 of a farm and the organization of the proposed college. 



By the provisions of the law, the executive committee of the State Agricult- 

 ural Society were charged with the duty of determining the location of the 

 college farm, which by the terms of the law, was to be within eight miles of 

 the State capitol at Lansing. The location was determined on the 16th of 

 June, 1885. 



The location selected includes six hundred and seventy-six acres of land. 



The law as originally enacted placed the college under the control of the 

 State Board of Education, who proceeded to construct such buildings as were 

 deemed immediately necessary, and the institution was opened in May, 1857, 

 with J. K. Williams as president and J. 0. Holmes, so long secretary of the 

 State Agricultural Society, as secretary and professor of horticulture. 



There were doubts expressed in many quarters respecting the propriety of 

 placing the management of an agricultural institution in the hands of a board 

 having no direct affiliation with the class for whose more immediate benefit it 

 had been provided ; at the same time imposing an enormous burden upon a 

 board whose previous duties fully engrossed their time and energies. 



So obvious had this difficulty already become that in their report respecting 

 the college it was recommended that a Board of Agriculture be created, and 

 that the college and farm be placed under its supervision. This change was 

 accordingly effected in 1861. 



President Williams very soon retired from that position, and, pending the 

 selection of his successor. Professor Fiske of the chair of chemistry performed 

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