394 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



varieties of field and horticultural plants, 

 fertilizers, methods of culture, etc., feed- 

 ing experiments with animals, soil inves- 

 tigations, etc. 



"The laboratories of the different scien- 

 tific departments are well equipped with 

 apparatus for experimentation and demon- 

 stration and with illustrative material, 

 such as specimens of plants, insects, ani- 

 mals and machines, particularly those of 

 importance in their relation to agriculture. 

 The library of 18,000 volumes has been 

 carefully collected with reference to the 

 needs of an agricultural college, and is 

 thoroughly catalogued and managed with 

 a view to providing the students every 

 facility for obtaining the information they 

 desire to gather from books. It is one of 

 the most extensive and valuable collections 

 of books on the science and practice of 

 agriculture to be found in this country. 



"The instruction is given by a corps of 

 eighteen professors and assistants. The 

 chairs include botany, chemistry, agricul- 

 ture, horticulture, zoology, veterinary sci- 

 ence, mental and political science, English 

 and Latin, modern languages, mathematics 

 and civil engineering, and military science 

 and tactics. There is also a lecturer on 

 farm law. The student is required to fol- 

 low a definitely prescribed curriculum dur- 

 ing three years, and in the last year of the 

 course he is allowed wide latitude of choice 

 among numerous specialties, English and 

 military science being the only required 

 studies." 



For a time the college was open to men 

 only, but women may now attend special 

 elective courses in such branches as bot- 

 any, entomology, Horticulture, fruit cul- 

 ture, market gardening and dairying. 

 Candidates for admission must be at least 

 16 years old and are required to pass exam- 

 inations in English grammar, geography, 

 United States history, physiology, physi- 

 cal geography , arithmetic, the metric sys- 

 tem, algebra (through quadratics), geom- 

 etry and civil government. The students 

 as a rule room in the college dormitories, 

 and are boarded in clubs or private fami- 



lies. The expenses for room rent, board, 

 fuel, washing and military suit for the col- 

 lege year are estimated to range from $159 

 to $300, Students performing labor at 

 the college are paid by the State, and there 

 are small endowment funds for the assis- 

 tance of needy students. The students 

 have their athletic associations and glee 

 clubs and social amusements the same as 

 at Harvard and Yale, and they are required 

 to attend prayers and worship in the col- 

 lege chapel. 



The Michigan State Agricultural College 

 is the oldest in the country. It was estab- 

 lished by an act of the Michigan Legisla- 

 ture in 1855, and for thirty years, like the 

 Massachusetts college, had only an agri- 

 cultural course. In 1890, under a materi- 

 ally increased income, a mechanical course 

 was added, and later a woman's course. 

 The laws of the State prescribe that it 

 shall be a "high seminary of learning, in 

 which the graduate of the common school 

 can commence, pursue and finish a course 

 of study terminating in thorough theoretic 

 and practical instruction in those sciences 

 and arts which bear directly upon agricul- 

 ture and kindred industrial pursuits." 



The college land, comprising 676 acres, 

 is divided into the farm of 230 acres, de- 

 voted to field crops grown under a system 

 of rotation, forty-five acres of woodland 

 pasture, 114 acres of lawns, gardens and 

 orchards, 240 acres of forest, and forty- 

 seven acres of experimental fields and 

 plats. The farm is equipped with cattle, 

 sheep and swine of the principal breeds. 

 There are an arboretum of 150 species of 

 trees, a botanic garden containing 1200 

 species of native and foreign hardy herba- 

 ceous plants, with some shrubs, a grass 

 garden of 200 species of grasses and clo- 

 vers, and a weed garden of 100 species of 

 the most troublesome weeds. The stu- 

 dents in agriculture are required to work 

 two and one-half hours a day on the farm 

 or garden. The annual average expenses 

 of students for board, room rent, heat, 

 light, books, laboratory, and other fees are 

 estimated at $125. These expenses are 



