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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



general government established these 

 Experinaent Stations in the several 

 States and Territories, and appropriated 

 the sum of $15,000 annually for the 

 use of the Agricultural colleges. Here 

 are four sections of the "Act of Congress:" 



THE LAW OF CONGRESS ESTABLISHING AGRI- 

 CULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



An Act to establish Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Stations in connection with the col- 

 leges established in the several States un- 

 der the provisions of an Act approved July 

 2, 1863, and of the Acts supplementary 

 thereto. 



Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate aiid 

 Hou.se of Heprexentatives of the United States of 

 America in Congress ansemhled. That in order 

 to aid in acquiring and diffusing among the 

 people of the United States useful and prac- 

 tical information on subjects connected 

 with agriculture, and to promote scientific 

 investigation and experiment respecting 

 the principles and applications of agricul- 

 tural science, there shall be established, 

 under direction of the college or colleges or 

 agricultural department of colleges in each 

 State or Territory established, or which 

 may hereafter be established, in accord- 

 ance with the provisions of an Act approved 

 July 2, 1862, entitled, " An Act donating 

 public lands to the several States and Ter- 

 ritories, which may provide colleges for 

 the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic 

 arts," or any of the supplements to said 

 Act, a department to be known and desig- 

 nated as an " Agricultural Experiment 

 Station:" Provided, That in any State or 

 Territory in which two such colleges have 

 been or may be so established the appro- 

 priation hereinafter made to such State or 

 Territory shall be equally divided between 

 such colleges, unless the legislature of such 

 State or Territory shall otherwise direct. 



Sec. 2. That it shall be the object and 

 duty of said Experiment Stations to con- 

 duct original researches or verify experi- 

 ments on the physiology of plants and ani- 

 mals; the diseases to which they are 

 severally subject, with the remedies for 

 the same ; the chemical composition of use- 

 ful plants at their different stages of 

 growth ; the comparative advantages of 

 rotative cropping as pursued under a vary- 

 ing series of crops; the capacity of new 

 plants or trees for acclimation ; the analy- 

 sis of soils and water ; the chemical compo- 

 sition of manures, natural Or artificial, with 

 experiments designed to test their com- 

 parative effects on crops of different kinds : 

 the adaptation and value of grasses and 

 forage plants ; the composition and digesti- 

 bility of the different kinds of food for 

 domestic animals; the scientific and econo- 

 mic questions involved in the production of 

 butter and cheese; and such other re- 

 searches or experiments bearing directly on 

 the agricultural industry of the United 

 States as may in each case be deemed ad- 

 visable, having due regard to the varying 

 conditions and needs of the respective 

 States or Territories. 



Sec. 3. That in order to secure, as far as 



practicable, unifority of methods and re- 

 sults in the work of said stations, it shall be 

 the duty of the United States commissioner 

 of agriculture to furnish forms, as far as 

 practicable, for the tabulation of results of 

 investigation or experiments ; to indicate, 

 from time to time, such lines of inquiry as 

 to him shall seem most important ; and[, in 

 general, to furnish such advice and assis- 

 tance as will best promote the purposes of 

 this act. It shall be the duty of each of 

 said stations, annually, on or before the 

 first day of February, to make to the Gov- 

 ernor of the State or Territory in which it 

 is located a full and detailed report of its 

 operations, including a statement of re- 

 ceipts and expenditures, a copy of which re- 

 port shall be sent to each of said stations, 

 to the said commissioner of agriculture, and 

 to the Secretary of the Treasury of the 

 United States. 



Sec. 4. The bulletins or reports of prog- 

 ress shall be published at said stations at 

 least once in three months, one copy of 

 which shall be sent to each newspaper in 

 the States or Territories in which they are 

 respectively located, and to such individ- 

 uals actually engaged in farming as may 

 request the same, as far as the means of 

 the station will permit. Such bulletins or 

 reports, and the annual reports of said 

 stations, shall be transmitted in the mails 

 of the United States free of charge for pos- 

 tage, under such regulations as the post- 

 master general may from time to time pre- 

 scribe. 



From the reading of these sections, 

 stating the purposes of the experiment 

 station, you see we are as much entitled 

 to recognition as the cattle, sheep and 

 hog brieders of our State. Why should 

 we not ask and insist upon recognition ? 

 I say, let us do it. 



I am a public school teacher as well 

 as a bee-keeper, and as a progressive 

 teacher I am a strong believer in the 

 "new education" of which you now 

 hear so much. What Is the new educa- 

 tion ? I will tell you. It consists in 

 educating the hand as well as the brain. 

 It teaches the boy to use the tools with 

 which he constructs with material the 

 conceptions of bis mind ; to build the 

 house as well as to plan the architecture 

 of it. It teaches to do as well as to 

 know. 



This is the grand forward movement 

 in education, and I know of nothing 

 that so opens the eyes of the student to 

 the practical side of life, like this pur- 

 suit of bee-keeping. There is nothing 

 like the little busy bee to teach him the 

 practical industry of a useful life. 

 Therefore, this subject ought to engage 

 the attention of the directors and cura- 

 tors of our experiment station, as well 

 as the teachers in our mechanical and 

 scientific college. 



Let us go away from this meeting 



