would have assisted only those who assisted themselves. He was a 

 keen reader of character. He sifted the wheat from the chaff, and 

 no doubt many a boy stayed in college and many a boy went away 

 because of the advice which he gave him, in that kindly way which 

 never offended. Probably there was not in this institution during 

 his day a student who did not at some time consult him. Thus he 

 helped to mould as best he knew — and for the best, as I believe — the 

 life of every man who came under his influence. 



What a work he undertook ! It must be borne in mind that when 

 he came from the Hadley farm to take charge of the College farm 

 and to superintend the erection of the first buildings, it was practi- 

 cally the first agricultural college to be started in this country. The 

 field was absolutely new ; there was not a model to go by. The 

 buildings were to be built and arranged not only for academic but for 

 practical training. Again, when he undertook instruction in agricul- 

 ture there was not another chair of agriculture in the country, and 

 there was no one to whom he could turn for advice. He had to blaze 

 the way, without books and without chart. And how well he did it ! 

 His lectures were to me the most interesting of any I attended. They 

 were clear, concise and always practical. They could not be other- 

 wise, for he possessed a clear, logical mind and a terse form of 

 speech. His English was exceptionally good. 



He had an original and inventive mind. He saw, as others did 

 not see, the necessity of taking what chemists, botanists, geologists 

 and other scientists had worked out, and of applying it to practical 

 ends ; stripping it, as far as possible, of all technicality, and making 

 it plain and simple, not only to the farmer's boy here in the College 

 but to the father at home. He popularized and made assimi- 

 lable the teachings of all the sciences related to agriculture, but he 

 lectured to a larger audience than the students of the College — he 

 spoke to the farmers of the land. 



It is claimed that agriculture is not a science, but an art — that 

 there is no need of a chair of agriculture in any college ; and I 

 sometimes think that it is true, for agriculture is made up of so many 

 collateral branches. Stockbridge realized this, and by his great in- 

 sight and practical training was able to glean from all sources of 

 knowledge that which was essential to the upbuilding of agriculture. 

 As he taught and exemplified agriculture in his day, he demonstrated 

 the value of the chair of agriculture in all our agricultural colleges. 



