204 GENERAL HISTORY. 



come so impressed upon the students who may here receive a preparation for 

 intelligent and progressive labors in the field of honored and productive in- 

 dustry, that it will attend them to the enchanting woodlands and lovely lake 

 sides which so proudly distinguish Michigan, and find free scope in the 

 founding of tasteful homes which shall still farther beautify ''the land we 

 love." 



In attempting an inspection of the greenhouse included in these entries 

 your committee are conscious of their lack of qualification for the purpose, 

 and therefore content themselves with a brief description of the buildings 

 and their contents, mainly derived from the statements of Prof. Beal. The 

 greenhouse was erected in the winter of 1873^ and cost about 88,000. The 

 conservatory is twenty-five by fifty feet, and is ten feet six inches high. The 

 southern wing projects from the middle of the conservatory and is twenty-five 

 by siity- three feet, divided into a rose house and a small grapery. West of 

 the conservatory is a wooden building in the American Swiss style, about 

 twenty-seven feet square, containing a potting, a gardener's and a waiting 

 room for visitors, and beneath a cellar for the boiler an,d fuel. Above is a 

 large garret for storing boxes. Two cisterns, each of the capacity of two 

 hundred and seventy barrels, are arched over beneath the surface. The roof 

 is curvelinear, the glass is double, bedded in putty and held in place by zinc 

 nails. No putty is used on the outside, the cracks being filled with a coat 

 of thick paint. 



The rooms are heated by a boiler, from the upper part of which passes a 

 flow pipe to all parts of the house. The whole establishment seems to have 

 been constructed with intelligence and care, and yields the satisfaction 

 expected. It is now quite well filled with rare and beautiful plants, worth 

 from 50 cents to $1.50 each. The greenhouse now contains four thousand 

 plants, to which two thousand will be added by next spring. There are now 

 in the collection a fine variety of acacias, twenty-one of begonias, nine 

 coleus, six dracaenas, fifty-eight geraniums, many ferns, fifty-eight roses, 

 eight selaginellas, seventy-five verbenas, twenty-five fuchsias, seven cacti, four 

 camellias, six azaleas, etc. At present the sales do not equal the outlay in 

 money and labor, for the reason that plants are not sold except when a 

 variety is in excess of probable needs. Enough are always retained for a 

 good show; but the sales now being made indicate that the establishment 

 could be made profitable if managed for that purpose. It has, however, a 

 higher purpose than mere pecuniary profit. Here students in botany flori- 

 culture and general horticulture receive practical illustrations in those 

 branches and learn the art of plant propagation. Besides, to many visitors, 

 it is the most attractive and interesting place about the institution, and is 

 calculated to beget a love of plants and flowers both refining and elevating 

 to those who may be thus influenced. 



In 1876 arrangements were made for a series of farmers' intitutes during 

 the winter, to be conducted by the Board of Agriculture, assisted by the 

 faculty of the college. These occasions have proved highly interesting and 

 profitable, and have obviously done very much to bring the agriculturists of 

 the State at large into fuller sympathy with the institution and its objects. 

 Provision has been made by law for their permanent continuance. 



On June 25th, 1878, the officers and executive committee of the State 

 Agricultural Society, the State Grange and the State Pomological Society 

 were invited to visit the Agricultural College as its guests, and to examine 



