36 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Dr. Blaisdell rendered the college very valuable service and while 

 we are glad to be able to furnish a leader for a neighboring and worthy 

 institution, it is with great reluctance that we relinquish our claim 

 upon him. 



Professor W. W. Johnston of the Agricultural College of Oklahoma 

 has accepted the place made vacant by the resignation of Dr. Blaisdell. 

 Professor Johnston has a fine record both as a student and teacher and 

 it is believed that he will be able to maintain the fine record made by 

 his predecessor in this department. 



Dr. Blaisdell is the third person to be called from the head of this 

 department to the presidency of another college. 



It would seem scarcely necessary to repeat again the statement made 

 in previous reports concerning the necessity for more buildings. Each 

 year as the number of students increase the situation becomes more 

 acute. The college is verA^ much in need of at least half a dozen addi- 

 tional buildings. One-half million dollars could very properly be ex- 

 pended at once on new buildings without any show of extravagance or 

 possibility^ of exceeding our pressing needs. But the necessity for more 

 buildings is not the only serious difficulty confronting the Board. The, 

 widespread and persistent demand on the ])art of the farmers for assist- 

 ance from the college makes it very desirable to employ more field men 

 and to widen and extend the scope of the extension work. In short if 

 the college is to meet the legitimate demands made upon it by the people 

 of the state it must have at once a large increase in its financial support. 



The onl}^ building constructed during the past year was the addition 

 to the Chemical Building. The added laboratory and class room space 

 thus made available has relieved, to a large extent, the congested con- 

 dition of this department. This addition is a substantial two-story, fire- 

 proof structure of pressed brick, and is modern in every particular. It 

 contains a model lecture room with a seating capacity for 250 students, 

 and laboratory space for 286 different students at the same period. 

 Under the report of the Department of Chemistry is given a complete 

 description of this addition, together with floor plans and interior and 

 exterior views of the building. 



For information concerning the work of the various departments of 

 the college, please consult the reports in the following pages. 



JONATHAN L. SNYDER, 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1912. President. 



