384 ANNUAL REPOKT. 



railroad, and makes his computations of elevation, embankment, masonry and 

 superstructure, as though in actual construction, so that when he leaves the school 

 he is prepared to enter upon the practice of his profession. 



Our object is to make this farm the work-shop of the College of Agriculture, 

 and to give a practical illustration of the subjects taught in the class-room, such as 

 the student of chemistry may get in the laboratory, so that when we talk about 

 soils and the adaptability of certain crops to particular soils, the student comes out 

 there and sees a practical illustration under his own eye. He has read about clay 

 and sand and loam, and his season's work oa the farm with their soils makes him 

 practically familiar witli their properties. This method of reaching these practical 

 results is going to be of great service to the agriculture of this State; but we haven't 

 the number of students that the State should send us; we are ready to furnish the 

 instruction and the appliances if you will only furnish the boys. 



On the first day of May we expect the students in our department to come out to 

 the farm, and we will give them good, comfortable quarters, plenty to eat and 

 plenty to drink, and a plenty to do. At five o'clock the bell will ring for them to 

 get up, dress, feed the stock, clean the stables, harness the horses and milk the 

 cows; at half-past six breakfast is ready; at seven every man and every team is 

 ready for the field. There are no books except for reference and recreation. The 

 text-books have all been left down at the University. 



The student wants his dinner, I claim, about twelve o'clock; it will take him 

 fifteen minutes to get into the house, take off his soiled overalls, put on something 

 else and get ready for dinner; the dinner bell will ring at a quarter after twelve, 

 and the boy will go to work at one o'clock. We stop work in the summer at six; 

 have supper a quarter past six. That has been our custom for two years past. On 

 the first day of October his work ceases at the farm. After that date we do not ex- 

 pect him to do any more work in the field that year. The young man lays down 

 the shovel and the hoe and takes off his cowhide boots and puts on his dress suit,, 

 and he goes into the class-room of the university. He is now a theoretical student. 

 There he will have access to the laboratory, the work-shop and foundry, the muse- 

 um and libraries, and receive instruction Irom a corps ot instructors who will en- 

 deavor to do their duty and give him all the theoretical knowledge that is possible^ 

 and in the spring he will be ready to go back and take a dose of the practical again. 



How are we going to train students in practical horticulture? Well, when the 

 students come to the farm I propose to place one band in the horticultural work^ 

 and I expect to familiarize them with all the details of planting, care and cultivation 

 that can be given in the line of horticulture; others will learn how to clean the 

 stables, how to feed the horses, put the harness on, and know when the horse is 

 harnessed rightly, and taught the use and care of farm implements and farm 

 machinery. Another set of these boys will be detailed to stock farming; they will 

 milk the cows, take care of the milk, clean the animals and take care of the stables 

 and be made acquainted with the breeding and rearing of all kinds of domestic 

 animals. In that way each one will be familiarized with all the details of every 

 department of farm work; they will be changed off from one kind of work to 

 another so that in the course of the season the young man will have a thorough 

 drilling under the best instructed in all departments. 



We expect to grow on that farm every variety of fruit and flower and grain and 



