198 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



April 



eral management or course of study tends to sliut 

 out the sons of small farmers or those in limited 

 circumstances," &c. 



We have also received a reply to these strictures, 

 in a letter addressed to the Detroit Advertiser aiid 

 Tnbune, by T. C. Abbott, President of the College, 

 together with his Annual Report on the state of the 

 College, addressed to the Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction of the State. 



In his annual report Presid ent Abbott congratu- 

 lates the Legislature of Michigan on having adopted 

 a wiser course than many other States in giving 

 the control of the College to a Board of Managers 

 of only eight members. But if the harmony of 

 action on the part of this board, which' it is claimed 

 has always existed, has been the result of this 

 small number, are we justified in the conclusion 

 that the want of co-operation on the part of a vol- 

 untary association of the farmers of the State, which 

 is popular enough to have received ^'16,000 during 

 the past year, is owing to the same cause ? It is • 

 certainly very desirable that there should be no 

 antagonism between the Agricultural Society and 

 the Agricultural College of any State, and we 

 should deem almost any compromise justifiable 

 which might be necessary to secure co-operation 

 between these two bodies. 



With no disposition to intermeddle with the 

 controversy which has existed for some years be- 

 tween these two institutions in Michigan, we have 

 gleaned the following facts from the report of the 

 President of the college, for the purpose of show- 

 ing what this pioneer institution has done, and 

 what it is now doing. 



The number of students the past year has been 

 32, with an average attendance of 80 ; viz. : in the 

 Senior class 10 ; Juniors 13 ; Sophomores 23, and 

 Freshmen 34. There has been no preparatory de- 

 partment the past year. The average age of the 

 Seniors is stated at 216-10; Juniors and Sopho- 

 mores, 20 4-10 ; and Freshmen, 18 8-10. During the 

 past seven years 34 students have been graduated, 

 10 of whom received their diplomas at the last 

 commencement — showing an average of four grad- 

 uates per year for the six years preceding the 

 present. 



Of these 24 graduates, 8 are farmers, another 

 owns a farm which he is clearing from his earn- 

 ings as a teacher, and which he expects to work 

 himself. Four are instructors in other agricultu- 

 ral colleges, and a fifth was for four years a pro- 

 fessor in this college, but is now engaged in other 

 pursuits. One graduate is a machinist, one a sur- 

 veyor, two died in the United States service, and 

 the remaining five are engaged in teaching or other 

 callings not considered industrial. Three of the 

 graduates named as professors have charge of 

 farms, gardens, teams, &c., and should perhaps 

 be classed as farmers. The occupations that will 

 be chosen by the ten graduated this year are not 

 yet known. Many students have taken only a 



partial course. Of the 82 students, 60 were sons 

 of farmers. 



There has been no unruly conduct, no rowdyish 

 noises or pranks, or occasion for discipline for 

 such conduct during the year. The students have 

 had free and unwatched access at all times to the 

 ripening grapes, muskmelons, watermelons and 

 other fruits, and no instance of meddling with 

 them has been known. 



All the students labor, except when exempt for 

 physical disability. Consequently there is no 

 caste in the college arising from difference in this 

 respect. The regular hours of labor are from half- 

 past one to half-past four each afternoon, Saturdays 

 excepted, when labor is furnished only on request. 



The ofBcef s of the college work with the students. 

 The professors of agriculture, and horticulture, 

 and of Chemistry are often seen in the college 

 fields and shops, with implements, teams, tools, in 

 almost every variety of labor. The President 

 says : — "I believe there is not an officer of the 

 college who has not been used from childhood to 

 labor in gardens and orchards, and to have the 

 care of horses and cattle, and all but two of them 

 were reared on farms." Lectures are not infre- 

 quently given in the field, or yards where the stock 

 is kept. The students work cheerfully, as most of 

 them were accustomed to labor before entering 

 the college. Good workers receive from 7 to 7>a 

 cents an hour. The great variety in the labors re- 

 quired, and their relation to their studies, serve to 

 interest them, and they often manifest a strong in- 

 terest in furthering the work to be done. The best 

 scholars are almost always the best workers. 



The farm, gardens and lawns cover an area of 

 676 acres ; the apple orchard 16 acres ; four farm 

 fields 67 acres ; pasture 20, and nearly 80 acres 

 contain the lawn, buildings, gardens, &c. The soil 

 is exceedingly various. Additional buildings are 

 needed for the students and for the farm. 



This college went into operation in 1857, long 

 before the congressional grant ; has not as yet re- 

 ceive d any income from that grant, but has been 

 supported by legislative appropriations. Its share 

 of public lands is 240,000 acres. The subject of 

 their disposition is now before the legislature. 

 We are also told that the House of Representa- 

 tives of the Legislature now in session have a 

 Committee on the Agricultural College, A ma- 

 jority are said to be farmers, and the chairman to 

 have been raised on a farm. This committee lately 

 made a report to the House highly commending the 

 College. 



HEBEFOKDS IN MAINE. 

 Mr. Sanford Howard, of Lansing, Mich., 

 having noticed the purchase by Messrs. Bur- 

 leigh and Shores, of Fairfield, of Mr. Coch- 

 rane's herd of Herefords, says in the Maim 

 Farmer : — 



I think the farmers of your State may be 

 congratulated ou this acquisition. In some 



