EDTTORTAL. 903 



the soil to :i liiiiln'i- level of ellicieiicv as a i)roducer and a citizen." 

 lie declared thai these colleocs have broadened the minds and 

 stren<2:thened the anus of the farniei's, lieli)ed thoni into a class by 

 themselves amon<^ tillers of the soil, and di<2:nified tiieir calling. 



Commissioner Brown, of the Bureau of Education, expressed his 

 hiirh appreciation of the land-fjrant colleges and emphasized their 

 importance in the general educational system of the country. 



Similar utterances by other speakers assigned to the agricultural 

 college a high place among the influences which have been active in 

 developing technical education ; and Doctor Jordan said : " It is gen- 

 erally conceded that no instance is on record where technical knowl- 

 edge has been brought into such close and practical touch with the 

 people as has been done for our agriculture during the past tw^enty- 

 five years." 



The boldness and novelty of the undertaking become more apparent 

 when the conditions of the times are remembered. In 1850 Michigan 

 was in things cultural still the frontier — a pioneer country. Its 

 population had not yet readied 800,000, less than the present popula- 

 tion of a single city within its borders; and its farms numbered 

 34.000. embracing only about 4.000,000 of its 37,000,000 acres. 



At that time tlie public school system of the country was but feebly 

 develoi)od. and the resi)oiisibilitv of the States for education was only 

 recognized to a quite limited extent. The teaching of natural science 

 in the higher institutions Avas quite restricted, and opposition to its 

 introduction had hardly begun to be overcome. Technical schools for 

 other brandies were almost unheard of, and manual training as a 

 branch of the educational system had not begun to receive considera- 

 tion. "Without the example of a successful agricultural college in 

 America, and without the prestige of precedent as an argument for 

 such action, the constitution adopted in 1850 committed the State to 

 the policy of establishing and nuiintaining an agricultural college 

 where the natural sciences in relation to agriculture should be taught. 

 And five years later the State appropriated $5(5,000, a large sum for 

 that time, to carry this provision into etfect. 



The question naturally arises as to the source from which the in- 

 spiration came for this action, the influences which had been working, 

 and what supplied the courage and conviction essential to such an un- 

 precedented step. There seems to have been a prevalent idea even 

 at an early day that science was to be of great aid and value to the 

 fundamental industry of agriculture. There had been considerable 

 agitation of agricultural instruction and agricultural schools in the 

 East, and the experience of (iermany had been given considerable 

 publicity in this country. There were many who believed in agri- 

 cultui-al instruction, and it appealed to the ]:»ublic generally as being 

 a practical form of education whose benefits could be readily appre- 



