52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Now, I tried, very early, by correspondence with the governors 

 of the other States, to effect an arrangement with all the States 

 by which this land scrip should be reserved, and not thrown 

 upon the market at a less price than a dollar an acre, believing 

 that all the public lands available were worth, and would turn 

 out to be worth, a dollar an acre. You know that $1.25 an 

 acre is the price at which lands that have been surveyed can be 

 acquired ; and land warrants representing land which had not 

 been surveyed could be bought, at tliat time, for about a dollar 

 an acre. I thought that the people of the States, being inter- 

 ested in keeping up the price of the lands to a fair minimum, 

 ought to be willing, at home, in their own States, to purchase 

 the land scrip, giving their State governments, which were 

 made, by Act of Congress, the trustees of this school fund, a 

 fair price like that ; then, after individuals or companies had 

 purchased the land scrip they would be free to enter it upon 

 any surveyed lands which were open for entry. The State 

 could not enter ; she could only sell the scrip. 



No State, under the Act of Congress, can be the holder 

 of any land lying outside of its own borders, and as we have no 

 public land within our borders, we could enter none. The 

 State of Massachusetts could sell its land scrip, and the persons 

 who bought could then enter and occupy the land. I found, 

 however, very little response from the other States, and within 

 a very short time after, the State of New York actually put 

 their land scrip upon the market, and brolvC down the price at 

 once to eighty cents, and other States began to follow on. Last 

 winter, I talked with various gentlemen whom I knew, — public- 

 spirited men, men of means more or less ample, — and various 

 gentlemen interested in agriculture as practical farmers or 

 otherwise, who I knew possessed more or less available means, 

 urging upon them the importance of creating a working fund 

 for the Agricultural College, and endeavoring to show to them 

 that it would not involve much outlay of money, considering 

 the large number of people and the large amount of means 

 which they controlled who were interested in the subject, if they 

 would take all our scrip at a reasonable price, or at a price a 

 little liberal, and take the chance, if necessary, of a small margin 

 of loss. But there did not appear to be any interest in tliat 

 particular view of the subject which was intense enougli to 



