PLAN OF AN AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTION. 247 



should be kept for every pupil, and another by every pupil, of 

 the labor performed by him, which should be passed to his 

 credit. The farm account should be kept with faithful exact 

 ness, and be always open to the inspection of the pupils ; and 

 after the deduction of the rent, and the necessary burdens and 

 expenses, and some small amount kept as a reserve or accumulat 

 ing fund for the benefit of the institution, the remainder should 

 be divided among the pupils according to the labor performed. 



Their board and lodging should be settled for by themselves, 

 without any interference on the part of the directors of the insti 

 tution, beyond keeping the charges within a stipulated price ; 

 and the keepers of the boarding-houses should be required to 

 purchase, at reasonable rates, from the farm, whatever supplies 

 they might require, which the farm would yield. A tax should 

 be levied upon the students for the payment of all the instructors 

 and lecturers, and the use of the library, and chemical and phil 

 osophical apparatus ; and likewise to meet any extraordinary 

 experiments made upon the farm, with a view to the instruction 

 of the school. Whether it would be advisable for every pupil 

 to have an allotment for himself, either for the purpose of 

 experiment, or for the profit, and in aid of his subsistence, would 

 be worth considering remembering always how important it is 

 to give to every man an immediate interest in the result of his 

 labors. 



Such, in my opinion, is a plan for agricultural education 

 which demands no great advance, and involves no risk. But 

 the project is even much more feasible than I have already 

 stated. Why, for example, should not such an institution be 

 connected with the college at Williamstown, or Amherst, in 

 Massachusetts, or with Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, 

 or Burlington College in Vermont, or the college at Hartford in 

 Connecticut, or Geneva in New York, where all the facilities for 

 scientific instruction are at hand, residences for the students 

 attainable, and suitable farms to be had, either on purchase, or 

 lease, at very reasonable rates? I throw out these hints to my 

 countrymen, not with a view of dictating to their superior judg 

 ment, but to show that an institution for a practical and scientific 

 education in agriculture may, without any hazardous expend 

 iture, or any large investment, be made almost immediately 

 attainable, and under every practicable advantage. 



