U BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



its specialty, as a part of a university education. And students 

 are required to be already educated in the important branches 

 of a good English education, before they are admitted into that 

 school which is to prepare them for some special service in life. 

 So it should be in an agricultural college. Young men should 

 come there, learned in whatever the common schools of Massa- 

 cliusetts afford, and ready to receive that instruction which they 

 will require when they go out into the world as farmers. It is 

 a thorough knowledge of the natural sciences, built upon a 

 good rudimentary foundation, which should constitute a 

 farmer's education. In agricultural chemistry the student 

 should be expert. In geology, he should become acquainted 

 with the formation of his own soil at least. In botany, he 

 should learn all that can be known of the life of plants, useful 

 and noxious, in order to deal properly with those which come 

 under his own eye. Ornithology should teach him the habits 

 and character of the birds of his farm. Ichthyology may enable 

 him to convert his ponds and brooks into profitable beds for the 

 increase of fishes. In fact, zoology, in all its branches, should 

 be open to him. The structure and physiology of animals, the 

 proper forces suited to the various purposes of the farm, the 

 organization best adapted to feed, the laws of animal health and 

 disease, should be made familiar to him. And in all this higher 

 range of science he should be instructed by the most competent 

 teachers, assisted by a well-arranged collection of specimens 

 under the various classes. 



Now, when we remember that such teachers as these are to 

 be found mostly connected with our universities and colleges, 

 and that their services are not easily obtained, is it not well to 

 consider how far, under advantageous circumstances, an agri- 

 cultural college should have a connectioo with some such 

 institution ? 



For the study of other branches of education, such as the sur- 

 veying of land, for division, drainage, &c., the preparation and 

 application of manures, the management of the soil for the 

 various crops, the best methods of seeding, cultivating and har- 

 vesting, the selection and care of fruit trees, the use of farm 

 machinery and tools, the process of feeding animals, the rules 

 of breeding, the selection of animals, — for all these and kindred 

 topics, provision should be made for practical teaching. This 



