THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



493 



dreds each year, and all things presage a coming good 

 time, when we shall turn some of our national energy 

 into the development of the science of farming. 



Has it occurred to you that the invention of improved 

 agricultural implements might, under some circum- 

 stijinces, be a positive national evil, instead of a blessing ? 

 We ars really suffering from that cause at present, 

 although our farmers do not seem to realize it, and our 

 journals sing the praises of each new and more efficient 

 tool. If Liebig is riglit, every bushel of earn exported 

 from the farm impoverishes the soil. Now, if wc use 

 tools that increase our crops, and which enable us to 

 remove them more readily, and we do not manure pro- 

 perly, or use a suitable rotation, we shall soon <,a't the 

 over-taxed farm to the verge of sterility. As the Ame- 

 rican farmer does not generally manage so as to main- 

 tain the fertility of his land, and does use the improved 

 implements, he is actually taking to himself assistants 

 to hasten on the day of his want. 



When the peculiarities of our condition are fully 

 understood, you will wonder, not at the little we have 

 done, but that we have done so much. We have four 

 agricultural colleges established, two of which are in 

 actual operation, and, besides several others projected, 

 there are professorships of agriculture in different 

 universities. 



The first effort to found a college of a distinctly sgri- 

 cultural character was made in 1838, by the late Judge 

 Buel, of New York State, who proposed that the Legis- 

 lature should make a fitting pecuniary endowment, and, 

 although this was refused, he continued his philanthropic 

 efforts until his death. 



The project was again agitated by Dr. Beekman, ^ 

 former president of the New York State Agricultural 

 Society, by the Hon. Jno. Delafield, and others, until 

 finally in 1856, through the exertions of Col. B. P. 

 Johnson, Secretary of the N. Y. State Society (nnd 

 known to many of your readers as Commissioner st the 

 World's Fair, in 1851), and his associates, the State 

 Legislature granted the sum of 40,000 dollars as a loan, 

 without interest, provided the like sum should be raised 

 by individual subscription. This requirement was 

 speedily met; a tract of 680 acres, lying on the shores 

 of Seneca Lake, has been purchased, and an imposing 

 edifice in stone is now in process of erection. 



The young State of Michigan, with great enterprise 

 and foresight, has come foiward, appropriated a liberal 

 sum, and actually erected and put into successful opera- 

 tion a College of Agriculture, while the older States 

 were debating the pros and cons in the matter of their 

 Own need for such institutions. The first act was framed 

 in the State Legislature in 1850. In 1855 a bill was 

 passed for the purchase of land, and in 1857, by an 

 amended act, the sum of 55,000 dollars was granted to 

 defray preliminary expenses, and 10,000 dollars for 

 current e.vpenses for the ensuing two years. A tract of 

 676 acres was purchased in the vicinity of Lansing, the 

 State Capital, the college buildings were erected, and in 

 May, 1857, in the presence of the Governor and other 

 State dignitaries, they were formally dedicated. The 



corps of professora had previously been organized, and 

 the first class opened with sixty-one scholars. 



In 1855, the President and officers of the Pennsylvania 

 State Agricultural Society decided to appropriate the 

 accumulated moneys in their treasury to the establish- 

 ment of an agricultural college and experimental farm. 

 An act of incorporation was procured from the State 

 Legislature ; and donations received from various citi- 

 zens in money, and from General James Irvin in land, 

 placed the project in a prosperous condition. A recent 

 legislative appropriation of 50,000 has been procured, 

 one half of which sum is contingent upon the subscrip- 

 tion of an equal portion by private individuals. The 

 trustees have erected some of the necessary buildings, 

 the school edifice being designed to accommodate three 

 hundred pupils, and active operations on the farm have 

 been carried on for two years past. 



The State of Maryhmd passed, a little more than two 

 years since, an act appropriating the sum of 6,000 

 dollars as a perpetual annual contribution towards the 

 maintenance of an a^rricultural college, but conditionally 

 upon the subscription of the sum of 50,000 dollars by 

 individuals. A farm of some 450 acres has been pur- 

 chased near Bladengburg, in Prince George's county, 

 and preparations for the erection of the necessary build- 

 ings are in active progress. 



The soil of the farm is of such a diversified character 

 as will afford ample opportunities for experiments with 

 various crops. For this, as well as (or all the other 

 colleges, importations will be made of animals repre- 

 senting the different improved breeds of cattle, sheep, 

 and swine, and a museum of implements and products 

 of all nations will in due course of time be founded. 



At Cleveland, Ohio, an agricultural college has been 

 in existence for a few years past, but it has met with 

 little support, and is in a languishing condition. 



In 1855, the State of South Carolina made an appro- 

 priation of five thousand dollars, to be expended annu- 

 ally in experiments with seeds, plants, and cuttings, 

 principally received from the agricultural branch of the 

 United States Patent Office. 



An excellent institution has been founded at College 

 Hill, near Cincinnati, Ohio, in which a regular course 

 of general instruction is combined with a thorough 

 practical and theoretical education in agriculture. The 

 name " Farmers' College" has been adopted; it gains 

 its support from a fund of 100,000 dollars, created by 

 the sale of scholarships. 



The State of Ohio is about duplicating the experiment 

 of an agricultural colony for the reformation of vagrant 

 boys, which has met with such success at Mettray, France, 

 and confident hopes are entertained of a good result. 



For ten years past an annual course of thirty lectures 

 on agricultural science has been given in Yale College. 

 The plan was originated by the late Professor J. P. 

 Norton, for some time associated with your Professor, 

 J. F. W. Johnston, and has subsequently been main- 

 tained by Professors J. A. Porter and Samuel W. John- 

 son. Professor Norton, at one time, attempted to give 

 a special course of laboratory practice, but met with so 

 little support as to be led to discontinue it. 



