50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



single life interest, which could, no doubt, be easily purchased. 

 Now, it was supposed that arrangements could be made with the 

 corporation of Harvard College, by which tliat farm could be 

 placed under the control of the present board of trustees of the 

 Agricultural College, Harvard College reserving to itself only so 

 much control, by the way of visitation and the appointment of 

 trustees as to comply with the terms of the will. Now, it will 

 be seen that in case the agricultural population of the Common- 

 wealth had the right eventually to decide this question, and if 

 they could see it for their interest to unite the national fund 

 with the fund left by Mr. Bussey, there would be an income of 

 twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars, which might be applied to 

 the support of this agricultural institution almost immediately. 

 I think that nobody will say that an annual fund of twenty- 

 five or thirty thousand dollars would not have made such an 

 institution a success, because that would have secured the 

 liighest scientific talent in the world. 



But the popular sentiment seemed to be, that the farmer 

 should have an institution by himself; that there should be an 

 Agricultural College established for the express purpose of edu- 

 cating farmers' sons alone ; and the general opinion seemed 

 to be tliat that institution sliould be isolated, should be devoted, 

 to a large extent, to practical agriculture, and if practical agri- 

 culture were to form a large element in it, it would be desirable 

 that it should be located further inland. There are evidently 

 two sides to the question. There are some objections, perhaps, 

 to a location in the immediate neighborhood of a large city, or 

 another collegiate institution. The question before tlie people 

 was, really, whether the advantages of that large fund, with the 

 farm connected with it, and the incidental advantages of the 

 Institute of Technology and of the institutions in that immediate 

 neighborhood, were not so great as to make it very important 

 that the location should be fixed there. I will not attempt to 

 enter at any length into the discussion of that point, because 1 

 suppose the question is now fixed beyond any change, whatever 

 may be the opinion of any one individual in regard to it. 



The discussion was continued by E. W. Stebbins, of Deer- 

 field, Levi Stockbridge, of North Hadley, Alured Homer, of 

 Brimfield, Velorous Taft, of Upton, C. 0. Perkins, of Becket, 

 and Dr. Geo. B. Loring, of Salem. 



