dbU AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



wliicli are pieseuted for anatomical iuspcctiou or tlic cure of diseases. 

 About oue-tbird of the work on the farm and two-tliirds in the orchard 

 and garden ha\'e been performed by them this year. 



There have been raised on the farm the present season 402 bushels of 

 Italian, "White Michigan, Fife, and Lancaster Ked wheats 1,150 of Sur- 

 prise barley, and Norway oats; 658 of white rye; 5,949 of yellow dent 

 corn ; 735 of yellow and red mangolds, short-leaf turnips, long orange 

 and Belgian carrots ; 952 of Early Eose and Peach-blow potatoes ; and 

 117 tons of wild, timothy, clover, and blue-grass hay. 



The system of farming adopted has been to plow wild prairie deeply 

 in the spring and plant with corn, which, with good cultivation, often 

 yields 60 bushels per acre. Old ground is top-dressed in the fall and 

 winter with coarse or fine manure, and mowed two or three years ; then 

 plowed deep in the fall, planted in the spring with corn, and followed 

 with grain j the next spring, as soon as the crop is removed, plowed and 

 sown with rye or fall- wheat, four quarts of timothy seed being used to 

 an acre, and the same quantity of clover in early spring. Experiments 

 have been made with fall and spring wheat, corn, i)otatoes, grass, fruits, 

 deciduous and evergreen trees, feeding swine, and in breeding nearly 

 all domestic animate. There are kept on the farm 16 short-horn cattle, 

 2 Devons, 5 Ayrshires, 3 Jerseys, 42 grades, and 13 natives, making a 

 total of 81 ; 15 horses of common breed ; 48 swine, composed of Berk- 

 shires, Poland Chinas, and Chestervilles ; and 97 sheep of the Spanish 

 merino. Southdown, and Cotswold breeds. The whole number of ani- 

 mals is 241. The principal object for which these are kept is for practi- 

 cal experiments in testing and improving breeds and furnishing to the 

 farmers of the State animals of superior qualities. This college prefers, 

 for the State of Iowa, the short-horn cattle, Berkshire and Poland 

 China swine ; Spanish merino sheep for large flocks, the Cotswold for 

 small; the Percheron stallion for crossing with large mares, and 

 thoroughbred for roadsters. 



The first class that has completed the four years' course in this col- 

 lege graduated this year, 1872. It contained 26 members, 17 of whom 

 took the agricultural, 8 the mechanical, and 1 the ladies' course. The 

 whole number of students during the collegiate year 1872 is 265, being 

 45 more than last year. 



KANSAS. 



Kansas State Agricultural Collcf/c, at 3IaiiJuitlau, Eev. JosepJi Bcnison, 

 D. I>., president. — Xo essential changes have been made in this college 

 since our last report. The number of students l^as increased. Special 

 attention is given to the operations of the farm and to horticulture. 

 One hundred acres of the farm are cultivated with plowed crops ; 95 are 

 devoted to mowing, and G5 to orchard. The objects kept in view in the 

 cultivation of the farm have been to aflbrd to the students of the college 

 facilities for practice and instruction in practical agriculture; for experi- 

 ments in soils and manures, and in the methods oi" cultivating different 

 crops; for acquiring skill in the use of farm-implements; for learning 

 the different methods of improving breeds of dojtnestic animals; and for 

 testing the adaptability of different varieties of cultivated iilants to the 

 climate of Kansas. All these objects have been attended to during the 

 present season, except the imi)rovement of domestic animals, none of 

 which are at present kept for this purpose. It is expected, however, 

 that the funds of the college will warraat further purchases during 

 the next year. The systems of agriculture pursued on the farm are, 



