X AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL AND 



An experimental farm of not less than 200 acres, compose<l of va- 

 ried soil, on which suitable dwelling houses should be erected, may 

 be purchased by the persons selected to carry out the object, in fee. 

 The investment should be judicious. No attempt to imitate some 

 of our higher schools that have had private endowments and legis- 

 lative bounty vested in brick and mortar, a fatal mistake for those 

 who have had the guidance of our first and most celebrated colleges. 



Your committee cannot, without deep solicitude, leave this part 

 of the subject, without adverting to the fact that the greatest uni- 

 versities in Europe are renowned for their refined taste and generous 

 zeal for science, but are destitute of stately palaces and expensive 

 structures. 



The trial farm may be under tht* superintendence of a scientific 

 and practical farmer, whose duty shall be to watch over the moral 

 and physical conduct of the pupils residing within the precincts of 

 the department. He should be very conversant with rural economy, 

 and teach the pupils the practical operations of farming, and keep 

 a vigilant eye on them in the refectories and dormitories, and go- 

 vern this little commonwealth in like manner as a prudent father di- 

 rects his household. Let him keep an accurate account of the in- 

 comes and expenditures of the establishment. 



A matron who is familiar with domestic economy and the various 

 operations of a dairy, and who is estimable for her general informa- 

 tion and amiable and motherly deportment, may take charge of the 

 household and dairy department. 



The time of the pupils should be divided between manual farm la- 

 bor and study. The superintendent here has a theatre on w^hicb to 

 display his precepts and examples. The field is after all the great 

 laboratory on which theory and practice may be successfully com- 

 bined. 



The experimental farm, if cultivated upon the best principles of 

 agriculture, and with a view to profit, will attract the attention of 

 the public. Here new and improved farming utensils will be receiv- 

 ed on trial, and their merits and defects duly appreciated. A mu- 

 seum and general depot will here unfold its rich treasures, and valu- 

 able specimens congregated from every part of the habitable globe. 

 A collection of seeds, grain and roots, both foreign and indigenous, 

 nay more, those in the process of acclimation, should be stored in the 



