37G AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



tliicc "txpenuicntal iarms,'' each coutaiuing 100 acres, luulcr tlio goii- 

 cral snpoivision of the college, on m iiicli model aucj experimeutal larin- 

 iug' is extcusively conducted. ^Numerous experiments have been made 

 upon these farms the present year, but the report of the board of trustees 

 for 1S72, giving- the details and results, has not been received. The " col- 

 lege-farm" contains 300 acres, one hundred of which are occupied with 

 the college-grounds and woodlands ; 15 are in orchard, 72 in mowing, and 

 113 are cultivated with plowed crops. The objects had in view in the 

 cultivation of this farm are to impart instruction to the students in the 

 principles of agriculture taught in the school-room, to afford them exer- 

 cise, and for i^rotit in furnishing agricultual products for the use of the 

 college. The students perform a considerable portion of the labor on this 

 farm, being required to work two hours a day, but there is a sufficient 

 number of hired men to carry on the work efficiently, so that no damage 

 may occur to the crops for want of a sufficient force to finish up the work 

 properly and in season. The general system of farming adopted has 

 been a rotation of crops. In the detail of the cultivation of corn the 

 practice has been to spread barn-yard manure on the soil in the faU, and 

 turn it under, with the crop of clover growing upon it, immediately with 

 the plow. In the case of wheat a light top-dressing of some weU-decom- 

 posed manure is applied to the surface. There have been raised on the 

 farm the present year 2,500 bushels of ears of corn, 100 of rye, 800 of 

 oats, 800 of potatoes, CO tons of hay, and various garden vegetables. The 

 cattle kept on the farm are one Holstein, one Durham, and one Alder- 

 ney bull, eight milk-cows, and some grade-cattle. In winter twenty 

 head of stock are sometimes fed. The Durham breed of cattle is pre- 

 ferred for Pennsylvania by this college. 



The progress of the college, now in the fourteenth year of its exist- 

 ence, is represented as steady and substantial, and the daim is preferred 

 that it has accomplished as much as any other in the direction of carry- 

 ing out the true purpose of this class of institutions, that of imparting 

 a liberal, practical education to the working classes. While full facili- 

 ties are provided for the acquisition of what we know as a liberal 

 education, or course, the president of the college says that here " farm- 

 ing " is not an ad cajytandum branch in the catalogue, but a regular and 

 productive pursuit. Chemistry is jjractical analysis in the laboratory, 

 the text-book being only a basis ; botany is work in the fields, and not a 

 study of pictures only 5 mathematics is carried also into the field, and 

 practical surveyors and engineers arc made. In the study of botany, 

 so important in the agricultural curriculum, at least four hours a week 

 during the entire year are given to the analysis of plants. The botani- 

 cal course extends over one year. 



As recently as 1871 the trustees resolved to admit both sexes upon the 

 same general conditions. Ladies are now, therefore, entering the classes 

 with gentlemen without any distinction as to footing or rules of govern- 

 ment, and on the completion of any particular course are awarded the 

 same certificates and degrees. Several ladies are now in the higher 

 classes. 



Provision has been made for three courses of study, the agricultural, 

 the scientific, and the classical. One of the general principles laid down 

 is, that a knowledge of certain branches is indispensable to all : 1. The 

 studies embraced in what is called a sound English education. 2. A 

 knowledge of the structure and laws of health of the human body. 3. 

 A knowledge of the Constitution and government of the country ; and 

 4. A knowledge of the gieat prmciples of man's relation to the Deity. 

 From the study of these no student is exempted. 



