50 



to heredity, variation and practical breediiiii", .seed o'rowino- as a farm 

 l)usine.s8, seed inercliandisin<^-. 



Elective practicums irive opportunity to gain practical experience, 

 to acquire jjfreater manual dexterity in doing farm work, to secure 

 practice in conducting experiments, and to gain experience in teaching 

 agricultural subjects. 



Agronomy is taught in dairy hall (PI. VII, lig. 1) in temporary 

 quarters which include one good recitation room, offices, and la])oratory 

 room. There is also a seed-])reeding laboratory which furnishes 

 facilities for special instruction in tield seeds and iji lal)oratory work 

 in plant breeding. The college possesses a stereopticon with several 

 hundred lantern slides, including illustrations of crops, imphnnents, 

 machinery, processes of drainage, etc. ; imported models of wheat and 

 of clover flowers and seeds; many charts of root systems and illustra- 

 tions of floral organs which have been drawn at this institution; also 

 maps and designs of farm plans, both for laying out new farms and 

 for reorganizing old ones. Several iiundred pasteboard boxes 2-i 

 inches long, 13 inches wide and 5 inches high, such as tailors use for 

 suit boxes, are annually filled with bundles of weeds, grasses, and forage 

 crops. These serve in the classes for material to tear apart, examine 

 the seeds, and get acquainted with the general appearance. Seeds are 

 also preserved in bottles. The collection of farm machinery in use at 

 the university farm is supplemented by collections on exhibition at the 

 State fair grounds, adjoining tlie farm, and at warehouses in St. Paul 

 and Minneapolis. 



One uni(jue feature of the ofiice eciuipment is a special index filing 

 case. Here are collected newspaper clipi)ings, manuscripts, and 

 references to literature in the library. These arc put on sheets, 

 5i by 8i inches, separated by division cards, and arranged under a 

 scheme similar to that used l)y the Office of Experiment Stations in 

 classifying special index cards of the station literature. This filing 

 case now contains much material and is referred to constantly by stu- 

 dents in the college course in writing essays and theses in connection 

 with their class work. Each student who writes a thesis on a farm 

 crop or other subject is required to furnish a copy for this tiling case, 

 and to include any bibliography he has been able to collect on that 

 subject. Thus the students are assisting in l)uilding up the contents 

 of this filing case and it is recognized by them as very valuable. 



No text-books are as 3"et in use, instruction being given almost 

 entirely by lectures. The agricultural library now contains 6,000 

 books and about 6,000 pamphlets, including reports and Imlletins. 

 Aside from the large numlxn- of pamphlets and other ])ublications of 

 the difierent agricultui'al institutions and societies, a large number of 

 the more important technical and agricultural magazines are kept on 

 file, bringing together all the agricultural literature of any importance. 



