112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Puh. Doc. 



own farms. They must turn themselves for a time, at least, 

 to some employment which will give them a sure and prompt 

 means of paying off their college debts, or helping to clear 

 off a mortgage on the old homestead (which in many cases 

 has been placed on it for the sole purpose of giving the 

 promising boy a chance to make the most of himself), or 

 getting together a little capital with which to make a start 

 in life. Making allowance for special cases, they will, of 

 course, seek and find employment in those branches of in- 

 dustry in which there is tlie greatest and most constant 

 demand. Where will that be in Massachusetts? Accord- 

 ing to the census of 1890, 81,100 persons were engaged 

 in agriculture, fisheries and raining in the State of Massa- 

 chusetts, while 672,159 were engaged in trade and trans- 

 portation and in manufacturing and mechanical industries. 

 That is, 10.76 per cent of the industrial population were 

 engaged in agriculture and 89.24 per cent in manufactur- 

 ing employments ; so that the young man in Massachusetts 

 who sets out to seek employment finds practically nine 

 openings in other directions to one in agriculture, leaving 

 wholly out of view the additional openings in domestic and 

 professional service. 



Taking the Xew England States together, including Massa- 

 chusetts, the percentage of those engaged in agriculture is 

 nearly twice as great as in Massachusetts, being 21.04; so 

 that the average New England boy, looking out for some- 

 thing to do, finds about four openings in other directions to 

 one in agriculture. The proportion varies greatly, of course, 

 in the different States, but in only one of them, Vermont, 

 does the number eno-asfed in ao-riculture exceed that engaged 

 in the other employments. I cannot but think, therefore, 

 with all due respect to the judgment of those Avho may differ 

 from me, that an agricultural college, as such, is precluded, 

 by the very nature of the case, from playing any great part 

 in the education of those who intend to engage in the actual 

 toorh of farming, especially in the industrial States. The 

 name itself is a misnomer. The law of Congress granting 

 the public lands on which these institutions were founded 

 indicated their true purpose in the clearest and most com- 

 prehensive language. It declares that "the leading object 



