VALUE OF THE TRAINING GIVEN AT THE 

 MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



BY ALBERT X. PREXTISS, PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE IX CORXELL 



UXIVERSITY. 



[The following acltlress was delivevecl before the Alumni of onr Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College at the la?t triennial meeting, and was kindly furnished by Profl Pren- 

 tiss at the request of our society for tliis volume. — Seckktauy.] 



Fellow Ahimni, Ladies and Gentlemen : 



Our worthy President has Ciillod upon inc for uu oration, but I need hardly 

 assure yoti that I shall make no effort in tlie direction of oratory. Oratorical 

 gifts are rarer even than angel visits ; and for one to attempt an oration whose 

 genius, if he have any, is not at all in that direction, is scarcely more prom- 

 ising than a song from him whose most conspicuous minus qualities are time 

 and tune and melody. But after all, in this gathering, it is not so much an 

 oration, if this were possible, that we desire, as to meet simply in social inter- 

 course, to clasp the friendly hand, to renew the bonds of friendship, and to 

 freshen those earlier memories which grow dearer as the years go by. 



It is now fifteen years almost to a day since there went out from this institu- 

 tion the earliest of its graduating classes. We were few in number, only seven 

 all told ; but this distinction was ours, to be lirst to receive from our alma mater 

 such training, such a fitting for the duties and responsibilities of life as she 

 could give in those earliest years of her history. And now as we are met in 

 this triennial gathering, I know of no subject which seems more appropriate 

 for a brief consideration, than an inquiry as to tlie value of the training, which 

 we of the earlier classes received from the hands of this institution, — as proved 

 by the experience of the years which have since passed away. It is true 

 enough that we went forth in exceptional times; Sunipter had just fallen, and 

 the mar.-halling of armed men was seen in every village and hamlet through- 

 out the land. Our first duty seemed plain enough — to enter the conflict and 

 uphold the right (as we saw it), with such ability as we possessed. But sooner 

 or later we returned to the ordinary affairs of life — all but two ; these as we 

 know gave up their lives amidst the tumult and carnage of the battle's front. 

 And here we pause to weave once more a wreath of laurel and place it, with 

 fragrant flowers and loving memories upon their honored graves. 



The first three or four classes have now had a dozen years of experience in 



