322 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



labor of becoming such, so far as his professional position is 

 concerned, is strictly gratuitous." 



It may be, that if, in the record of the services of the 

 College, those services directly related to instruction and 

 those having the nature of research, were considered apart, 

 and a certain separation of funds recognized, the institution 

 as a whole would be strengthened. Were it generally known 

 that we have at Amherst an organization enthusiastically 

 willing and of ability to augment our knowledge of agricult- 

 ure, by experiment and observation, some persons might be 

 found willing to aid in the work, who are not ready to bestow 

 their generosity directly upon the College. 



In that department of instruction presided over by the 

 professor of agriculture, and deservedly regarded of prime 

 importance, we note improvement. We think the later 

 classes are being better taught than were the earlier. 



The occasion of the examination of the graduating class, to 

 mark who 'should be the recipients of the Grinnell agricultural 

 prizes, was of much interest. , The young men, as they re- 

 plied to the questions addressed to them, in language lucid, 

 unconventional and thoughtful, showed that they carried with 

 them from the College something of real value. We think 

 of no occasion when the College appeared to so good ad- 

 vantage. 



The utility of the branch of knowledge in the keeping of 

 the veterinarian professor is acknowledged ; but so seldom 

 have high training and scholarship graced the calling, and, 

 frequently, so inadequately are its subjects understood, that 

 real culture and industry in this field are likely to be early 

 appreciated and amply rewarded. The young men display a 

 familiarity with the bones of our domestic animals, applying 

 to each the proper name. If they were equally familiar in 

 the domain of the interior animal economy, enabling an ex- 

 planation of the organs and functions to which the bony 

 framework is largely a shield, the knowledge would prove 

 exceedingly useful. The dissection of an animal by the class, 

 under the guidance of the professor, as a part of examination 

 exercises, and at other times open to all interested, would at 

 once give confidence, in our opinion, to the student, aside 

 from instruction, and strengthen in the public, appreciation 



