SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 357 



A GREETING TO THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL 

 COLLEGE 



FROM DOCTOR E. W. HILGARD 



Professor of Agriculture in the University of California and Director of the 

 Experiment Station 



Greatly regretting my inability to be personally present at the 

 Semi-Centennial Celebration of the founding of the oldest 

 agricultural college in the United States, I have requested 

 President Wheeler to convey to the Michigan College my greet- 

 ings and congratulations upon this auspicious occasion, which 

 representatives of all colleges in the country have come together 

 to celebrate. I hail it as one of the manifestations of growing 

 interest in the commemoration of anniversaries of victories 

 unconnected with the marshaling of armies or with civil strife. 



I know I am but one among the hundreds engaged in pro- 

 moting the progress of the fundamental industry, which is now 

 emerging from the eclipse of ages into recognition as a profession 

 worthy of the highest efforts of the best intellects. I am, how- 

 ever, led to ask a hearing at this time, as one of the relatively few 

 survivors of the first general meeting of agricultural college men, 

 held in Chicago in August, 1869, when the Michigan College 

 was already twelve years old. The call to that early conven- 

 tion was for the discussion of the proper organization of, and 

 subjects and methods of instruction in, the new institutions, 

 regarding which there was a wide divergence of opinion. If I 

 remember rightly, several of the charter members of the Michi- 

 gan College, whose names are on the program of this meeting, 

 were also present ; and among the eastern delegates was Daniel 

 C. Oilman, then librarian of Yale College. It was remarked by 

 those attending that the Michigan College alone had placed on 

 the program several strictly technical papers, the first of these 

 being one by Professor Manly Miles, on "Pig Feeding." On 

 my arising to a point of order, claiming that the object of the 

 meeting was to discuss the education of men and not animals, 



