26 HE CO ED OF THE ALUMNI 



education for the industrial classes. Perhaps his point of view 

 may be briefly stated by the quotation of a paragraph beginning on 

 page 65, as follows: 



"The difference between our line and that of other agricultural 

 colleges seems to be this: They take as an objective point the 

 graduation of agricultural experts, who shall act as missionaries 

 to working farmers. We take as an objective point the graduation 

 of a capable farmer, able to make his living by farming. Their 

 theory is that of the normal school, training teachers who shall 

 instruct scholars; our theory is that of training the scholar. Along 

 the mechanical branch, they seek to graduate master builders 

 or superintendents of machine shops; we seek to graduate intelli- 

 gent and skillful carpenters, masons, or blacksmiths. They strike 

 directly for those industries considered the highest, and believe 

 that in reaching them they include all below; we strike for the 

 industries most commonly followed in this State, and by success- 

 fully mastering them expect to climb up to the very rarest. Their 

 mode may be best for them, and we are not in the least criticizing 

 it; ours seems best for us. Kansas is neither New York, Massachu- 

 setts, nor Ohio; and we shall not endeavor to reproduce their 

 agricultural colleges. With us, where five agricultural scientists 

 can make a living as such, five thousand capable farmers can far 

 more than make a living; and where five architects or master 

 mechanics can obtain employment, five times as many mechanics 

 can command wages. We aim to provide a Kansas State Agricul- 

 tural College for the practical education of those who desire to fol- 

 low industrial vocations. In so doing, nothing of educational 

 experience that is useful will be rejected because it is old; nor any- 

 thing retained simply because it is practiced by literary colleges in 

 educating for the professions. That which upon fair trial best 

 serves our purpose will be employed; and that which does not 

 will be discarded, though it were baldheaded with antiquity." 



Three courses of study, designated as farmer's, mechanic's, and 

 woman's, are formulated in the Handbook. Those were six years 

 long, but the last two years of the mechanic's course were not 

 worked out. The most characteristic features of the courses were 

 the exclusion of the classic languages, and the requirement of an 

 "Industrial" each term. "Household economy" appears in the 

 curriculum for the first time. 



The course of study during most of the Fair-child adminis- 

 tration was given as one, but included some adaptations indicated by 

 differences in the requirements of young men and young women. The 

 entrance requirements, though raised somewhat from time to 

 time, remained low, in harmony with the view that connection 

 should be maintained with the country schools. Toward the end 

 of the administration, a fifth year was added, for such as wished 

 to take it, in which there was opportunity for considerable speciali- 



