AGRICULTUEAL COLLEGE. 421 



of those who were graduated at our older colleges, and who 

 appreciate the culture there gained, prefer for their sons the 

 more practical course at the State College. This college, as 

 now organized, fills a place in our general system of eduai- 

 tion that no other of our colleges can fill. It meets the 

 wants of those w^ho have been trained in our common schools, 

 our high schools and our academies ; but who have not 

 pursued a course of preparatory study in Latin and Greek. 

 It supplements the work in the English department of our 

 high schools, as the older colleges supplement the work of 

 the classic department. 



It is evident that the State College must lack that oro^anized 

 support which the older colleges are able to secure through 

 their graduates. Owing to the brief period during which the 

 college has been established, its graduates are yet young 

 men and comparatively few in number. They have not 

 acquired that wealth and influence which will be theirs at the 

 close of another decade, yet they have evinced a deep 

 interest in the welfare of the college. They have begun to 

 contribute liberally toward the establishment of a library 

 fund for the college. The success of the graduates in their 

 several fields of labor, and. their zeal for the welfare of the 

 college, augur well for its future. 



But the college is not a private institution, and neither the 

 alumni nor the trustees can so regard it. Its appeal must be 

 to the people of the State, and this is just, for it is organized 

 to meet their wants. It is not organized upon the basis of 

 any medieeval models. It is a State college, organized to 

 serve the present interests of the people, by providing prac- 

 tical instruction for a large and increasing number of young 

 men. It should be so liberally sustained, and the expense 

 of attendance should be so reduced, that everj^ boy in the 

 State will consider it possible for him, by industry, frugality 

 and faithful study, to find a path through it to competence 

 and usefulness. It must be steadily adapted to meet the 

 wants of our young men, especially of those who are to 

 engage in the productive industries. 



The question may here be put, " By thus broadening the 

 field and the work of the college, will it not lose its value as 

 an ' agricultural ' college ? " In answer to this we may say. 



