public attention, a standard agricultural litera- 

 ture has grown up quietly, but not the less ef- 

 fectively done its educational work. Such 

 books as Youatt's on "Domestic Animals and 

 Their Diseases," and Liebig's on the "Appli- 

 cation of Chemistry to Agriculture," have been 

 of inestimable service in the past, and hundreds 

 of volumes are now accessible to the farmer, 

 covering the whole range of agricultural sub- 

 jects. The extent of this literature may be in- 

 ferred from the fact that a single house in New 

 York, that of Orange Judd & Co., advertise 

 more than three hundred agricultural works, 

 mostly of tneir own publication. 



The periodical literature of agriculture, is not 

 less important as an educational agency, sixty 

 or more agricultural weeklies, as many month-- 

 lies, and a few semi-monthlies and quarterlies, 

 are published in the United States; some of 

 these do find, or ought to find their way to every 

 farm house in the land for the instruction and 

 entertainment of the farmer, his wife and chil- 

 dren. Such journals preserve and transmit the 

 lessons of the times, answer, or at least echo 

 every question as it arises, and serve as a means 

 of communication between the individual 

 farmer, and the great interest with which he is 

 identified. 



The Agricultural Bureau established in Wash- 

 ington in 1863 has already done good service, the 

 collection and timely publication of agricultural 

 statistics serves as an index to the desirableness 

 of increased or diminished production in given 

 directions, and is alike indispensable to farmers, 

 capitalists and statesmen. The contributions to 

 economic entomology, and other topics of ab- 

 sorbing interest, make its monthly and annual 

 reports more than welcome in every part of the 

 country. 



Last, but evidently not least, is this Centennial 

 Exhibition ; of its educational character and in- 

 fluence there can be doubt. If we learn mainly 

 by comparison, and if our state and county ex- 

 hibitions are valuable because they furnish op- 

 portunities for its exercise, here we have an un- 

 paralelled opportunity of comparing, not the 

 products of a county or state merely, but the 

 methods, skill and productions of almost the 

 whole world. 



The educational value of all such agencies may 

 be fully acknowledged and still there is seen to 

 be lacking opportunities for that systematic and 

 thorough training of the young which only a well 

 equipped college can afford. This had become 

 apparent to thinking men all over the country, 

 and prompted them to efforts to secure the es- 

 tablishment of such institutions, encouraged not 

 a little by what many of them had seen or heard 

 of their utility in various parts of Europe. 



Before Congress made any provision for the 

 scientific education of the people, a few private 

 or local enterprises with that object had entered 

 the field. In Northern Ohio, first at Oberlin, and 

 then at Cleveland, the Ohio Agricultural College 



was opened for students in the fall of 1856. At 

 Ovid, N. Y., a similar institution was started 

 about the same time. Michigan Agricultural 

 College began in 1857, and the Maryland Agri- 

 cultural College in 1858. At Mt. Airy, Pa., the 

 Farmers High School was opened in 1853; what- 

 ever its beginnings it finally grew into a State 

 Agricultural College. 



In this country there has not been a just ap- 

 preciation of the value of schools of veterinary 

 medicine. With few exceptions, farmers are sat- 

 isfied to prescribe for sick animals without com- 

 petent knowledge of the nature or course of 

 their ailment; they administer what custom or 

 superstition dictates. In this country qualified 

 veterinarians have been unable to earn a liveli- 

 hood by their profession, except in a few of the 

 larger cities. This is the more remarkable in 

 view of the fact that we have in the United 

 States domestic animals of the value of two 

 thousand millions of dollars ($2,000,000.000), which 

 are probably subjected to an annual loss of some 

 six per cent from diseases that are preventable 

 or cureable by good treatment. A loss so enor- 

 mous if it could be prevented would much more 

 than sustain a well appointed veterinary college 

 in every state. Such colleges have been estab- 

 lished in Philadelphia and New York but with- 

 out government aid or endowment, they have 

 invariably proved a heavy burden upon the 

 shoulders of their founders, and have not met 

 the encouragement and success they have de- 

 served. 



It would not be right to ignore the benefits that 

 have accrued to agriculture from the regular 

 medical schools of the country. These have been 

 in the past the chief nurseries of science, and to 

 them we are indebted for whatever of chemistry, 

 botany and zoology has been brought within the 

 reach of the farmer. At present the Agricultural 

 Colleges are able to return this service with in- 

 terest, the chemical, botanical and zoological 

 courses in many of the agricultural colleges be- 

 ing much more complete than in any of the med- 

 ical schools. They therefore afford to young men 

 who propose to enter the medical profession the 

 best opportunities of acquiring an important 

 part of their preliminary education. 



In 1862, Congress made a grant of land from 

 the public domain to each of the states in aid ot 

 agricultural education ; the amount to each state 

 was in proportion to population, and was 30,000 

 acres for each representative and senator in the 

 national legislature. The conditions of the grant 

 were such that each state which should accept 

 was required to put into operation one or more 

 colleges, having for their leading object to teach 

 such branches of learning as relate to agricult- 

 ure and the mechanic arts. A further condition 

 required the safe investment of this fund in trust, 

 so as to secure to these colleges an adequate and 

 permanent income. 



This action on the part of Congress had the ef- 

 fect to arrest public attention at once ; but as 



