xxxii Report of the Director. 



be the home of our Rural Art Department, from which should radi- 

 ate the best ideas on the improving of country surroundings. 



9. In this connection I desire to call attention to the fact that on 

 our University farms there should be model farm houses of differ- 

 ent sizes and costs. These houses should be used for our farm 

 workmen and others employed by us, the extra rooms, if any, to 

 be rented to students. These houses should represent the best 

 art and practice in rural architecture. Within a generation, prac- 

 tically all the farm buildings in New York State must be rebuilt 

 or remodeled, not only because they are largely old or in poor re- 

 pair, but also because they must be adapted to new conditions. I 

 do not know of any other agency than this College of Agriculture 

 that shall lead in giving advice on this very important subject. I 

 would not invade the field of the practicing professional architect ; 

 but the practicing architect is not likely to take up farm architecture 

 as a business because the fees are too small to make it attractive 

 to him. This work, like that of Rural Art, must arise from some 

 institution maintained by the people. The discoveries and applica- 

 tions of science demand wholly new conceptions in the construc- 

 tion of barns, stables, and other farm buildings; and rural dwell- 

 ings need to be reconsidered. All this naturally demands a De- 

 partment of Rural Architecture in this College of Agriculture. 



10. I wish also to call attention to the very unsatisfactory con- 

 dition of our Agricultural Chemistry so far as facilities are con- 

 cerned. We have only one professor in this great field and he is 

 housed in rooms that are entirely insufficient for the best work and 

 the smallness of which prevent any adequate growth of the Depart- 

 ment. As compared with the leading colleges of agriculture and 

 with the necessary demands of our work, our agricultural chem- 

 istry needs to be at least trebled, together with provision for its 

 steady growth in the future. What policy should obtain in con- 

 necting this work with the chemical department of the College of 

 Arts and Sciences is also a question that should now be considered. 

 I feel that we cannot long maintain our standing without developing 

 our chemical work far beyond its present extent and scope. 



The above statements show that, notwithstanding the rapid de- 

 velopment of the New York State College of Agriculture in recent 

 years, the institution is only beginning to grow and to meet the 

 needs of the State. The proposition to double the present buildings, 

 equipment, and capacity of the College should be at once placed 

 before the people. 



