356 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AQRICULTURE. 



laboratory, cabinet of natural history and agriculture, and numerous 

 other rooms mentioned in a previous report. It is heated by steam, and 

 has a system of water- works from which the same power that operates 

 the machinery used for instruction in the mechanical shops supplies an 

 abundance of water for its own use and Ladies' Hail, and for the 

 hydrants which are in connection with all the principal buildings. 

 There is also an ample system of sewerage connecting Science Hall and 

 Ladies' Hall with Lake Mendota, by which cleanliness and health are 

 secured. 



The department of agriculture is reported as in successful opera- 

 tion, and its scoj^e and benefits as appreciated by the people. The 

 experimental farm contains 196 acres, and is valued at $40,000. The 

 university grounds occupy 40 acres, which are not included in the area 

 of the farm as now given. The professor of agriculture and chemistry, 

 W. W. Daniells, M. S., has conducted experiments on the iarm with 

 four varieties of winter-wheat, ten of spring- wheat, one of rye, four of 

 barley, six of oats, five of corn, and thirteen of potatoes. The yield of 

 winter-wheat was about double that of the summer varieties. Experi- 

 ments have also been made with soils to test the effects of different 

 depths of plowing, which varied from 5 to 20 inches. The largest yield 

 of corn was obtained on land plowed at a medium depth of 12 inches. 

 Extensive meteoroJogical observations have been made several times 

 each day throughout the year on the temperature of the atmosphere, 

 barometrical changes, relative humidity, direction and force of wind, 

 kinds of clouds, and fall of rain and snow. The annual interest derived 

 from the proceeds of the congressional laud-grant is $13,490. There 

 have been sold •f this grant during the fiscal year 6,218 acres, at an 

 average price of $7.34 per acre ; and 51,635 acres remain unsold. 



Professors in the agricultural and mechanical college, 10; assistants, 

 6 ; sudents, 124 ; professors in all the departments, 20 ; assistants, 7 ; 

 students, 316, 77 of whom were ladies. The board of visitors, in their 

 report, say that " in the present senior class the percentage of young 

 women to be graduated with honor in respect to higher scholarship is, 

 relatively to their whole number, decidedly larger than that of the 

 young men ; and this disparity is emphasized by the loss to the latter 

 of the first honor." 



The report of the board of regents thus refers to the female depart- 

 ment : 



The act to re-orp;anizo the university, enacted in 18()fi, requires tbat " the university 

 shall bo open to female as well as male studcuts, under such regulations aud restric- 

 tions as the board of regents may deem proper." lu pursuance of this requirement, 

 the edncational privileges of the university are extended to students of both sexes 

 ■without discrimination, thus far with no reason to regret tho obligations imposed by 

 the law. But the regents do not understand that tlie iaw, in providing an equality of 

 educational privileges, contemplates any special cKpenm«nts in the matter of educa- 

 tion, or the adoption of any rules or regulations founded upon any novel or theoretical 

 view of the personal and social relations of tho sexes. Tho law assumes that youug 

 ladies possess tho capacity and the disposition to acquire that degree of lioowledgo 

 and mental discipline in the study of tho arts and sciences which is imparted by a 

 course of collegiate instruction. It assumes no more. It certainly docs not assume to 

 approve any method of instruction or discipline contrary to the current and accepted 

 views of tho parents who have children to educate. And while tho board is responsi- 

 ble to the law for the fullilhnent of all tho obligations i!n])05ed in this respect, it i.s 

 equally responsible to tho public, and especially to tho parents and guardians of .stu- 

 dents coulided to their charge, for tho enforcement of such prudent rules of discipline 

 as tho circumstances render oljviously judicious and appropriate. Parents, therefore, 

 should feel assured, and possess positively good reasons for tho assurance, that those 

 young ladies who by their presence at tho university contribute equally to the honor 



