DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. 



To the Honorable State Board of Agriculture: 



I have the honor to submit herewith my annual report as president of 

 the Michigan State Agricultural College for the rear ending June 30, 

 1900. 



While some of the departments were overcrowded, yet on the whole 

 very satisfactory work was done. There was no serious interruption 

 during the year. Faculty and students WTre enthusiastic, and worked 

 together with gratifying results. 



The attendance was nearly one hundred more than the preceding year. 

 The largest increase was in the Mechanical Department. This was no 

 doubt partially due to the adoption in this department of a five-year 

 course. There is, however, a strong and increasing demand for instruc- 

 tion along mechanical and engineering lines. This feeling is not con 

 fined to the cities. It is a notable fact that during the past year a 

 majority of the boys coming from the farm entered one of the mechanical 

 engineering courses. If in the future the College should develop more 

 rapidly along mechanical than agricultural lines, it will be brought 

 about in response to the demand made by the farmers of the State. 

 Today the majority of the bright boys of the country are being educated 

 in city and village high schools. The courses of study in these schools 

 are not such as to keep a boy in sympathy with farm life, and when he 

 enters college he naturally selects a line of study and work that Avill 

 prepare him for some other pursuit than that of farming. There are 

 also other reasons for the large increase in attendance in the Mechanical 

 Department. The bright boy can see that there is likely to be a great 

 demand for well trained men in mechanical and electrical engineering. 

 Steam and electric power will be utilized to a greater extent in the 

 future, and there will be a constant demand for well trained men in 

 these lines. 



