AGRICULTURAL WANT OF EDUCATION. ' 81 



Now ill trying to account for this surprising fact, no man can 

 trutlifully affirm that the education there given is not suited to 

 the wants of a practical farmer ; or that it is inferior to that 

 offered at any other agricultural college in the country ; or that, 

 under all the circumstances, it could reasonably be expected to 

 be better than it is. The college is by no means perfect, but its 

 warmest friends are found among those who are most familiar 

 with its history and operations. The thirty young men who 

 have been there three years, and are now engaged in the studies 

 of the fourth year, are too intelligent and shrewd to be deceived 

 in regard to the character and value of the education they are 

 securing. The truth about the matter is simply this : — the 

 farmers do not realize that the greater includes the less ; and 

 the very men who would be most enthusiastic over a new cliurii, 

 or a seedling potato, or a recipe for some patent fertilizer, fail 

 to see that the direct road to all possible improvement lies in 

 the development of mental power, and the acquirement of 

 scientific knowledge. This manifest disregard of the agricul- 

 tural community for their college, affords the most unanswerable 

 argument to those who for any reason wish to defeat the legis- 

 lative appropriations necessary for its development and support. 

 Even those who admit the propriety of special governmental aid 

 to promote the farming interest, and who believe great good 

 might result from such an institution properly patronized, must 

 soon become disheartened in the vain attempt to help those who 

 will not help themselves. Time-serving politicians, and unprin- 

 cipled newspapers, seeking only to float on the tide of public 

 opinion, will, of course, readily unite in an opposition, which 

 appears to be popular, and eagerly seize every opportunity to 

 prejudice the people against the enterprise and its friends. 



Massachusetts promptly accepted the generous grant of the 

 national government and in good faith provided an independent 

 school for the special education of young farmers. No other 

 preparation is required for admission than can be obtained in 

 every town at the public expense. The students all reside on 

 the State farm, and are every day engaged in the study and 

 practice of agriculture. The course of instruction has been 

 adopted after the most careful investigation into tlie organiza- 

 tion of similar institutions in other countries, as well as in the 

 United States, and after five years of discussion and trial by the 

 11* 



