1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIVIER. 



145 



cultivation of small fruits. This Ligh culti- 

 vation is what each one of you declares by his 

 acts that he wishes to attain. This is what 

 keeps up so lively an interest in this club. 

 We do not naeet to while away an evening 

 pleasantly. I trust not. It is an earnest de- 

 sire for more information in regard to our 

 business ; a desire to know and practice the 

 best methods, and this is the first step towards 

 securing wLit we want, — a better and higher 

 cultivation of the soil. And not only a higher 

 cultivation of the soil, but of ourselves also, 

 and this would imply a more intelligent, and a 

 more highly cultivated farmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MASSACHUSETTS AG'L COLLEGE. 



Called to Amherst, to-day, on business of a 

 Bomcwhat personal character, I improved the 

 opportunity for a brief examination of the 

 Massachuietts Agricultural College estab- 

 liihment, and an inspection of its buildings ; 

 the result b'dng that I came away much pleased 

 with what I saw and heard. From the neces- 

 sary briefness of my time I was unable either 

 to question or examine so thoroughly as I 

 could wish, and in what follows I speak en- 

 tirely from memory, — a heavy great coat and 

 winter fixings not being peculiarly convenient 

 for note-taking. 



Since I was here in the spring of 1868, there 

 have been some marked alterations. The old 

 laboratory, which then stood on aline with the 

 other buildings, has been moved back some 

 100 feet, and entirely remodelled, making it a 

 handsome building, and very convenient for 

 the purposes to which it is devoted. The 

 class in chemistry, after a course of study in 

 the rudimentary principles of the science, is 

 set to practical application of what they learn, 

 and their class room is very conveniently ar- 

 j"anged and provided with suitable apparatus. 

 One large room in this building is used as a 

 cbapel. The attic forms a large hall, the roof 

 being supported by a strong truss, and is u.sed 

 for a drill room, where the students are thor- 

 oughly trained in military tactics by an army 

 officer, detailed for the purpose by the Gov- 

 ernment. By the way, I am informed that 

 this is the only Agricultural College that has, 

 as yet, established military instruction as apart 

 of the regular course, although that is made 

 one of the conditions of the grant by Govern- 

 ment. The College now has a complete 

 equipment of arms, which are kept in an ar- 

 mory on the same floor with the drill room. 

 Two cannon are also promised by the State, 

 which will be used in artillery instruction. 



Immediately south of the laboratory stands 

 a fine building erected in 1868, as a dormitory. 

 Of this I had only an exterior view, as the 

 students were all absent, and my time limited. 

 With the increase of students, and the neces- 

 sity of providing for a new class next fall, the 



faculty will urge the erection of a similar 

 building at once, to meet the want. 



North of the laboratory, and next to the 

 house formerly used as a boarding house, is a 

 story and a half building erected the past season 

 and used as a boarding place by the students. 



Last, but not least, of the improvements, I 

 come to the barn erected the past season ; a 

 building of which there was much need at my 

 previous visit. This stands some little dis- 

 tance south of the other buildings, and is about 

 50x100 feet, with a shed on the southwest end, 

 26x75 ft. Standing on a gentle slope, a barn 

 cellar under the whole building gives ample 

 room for the manure, and can be entered on 

 a level by the teams to cart out the manure. 

 This cellar is about eleven feet in height. The 

 next floor, also entered on a level from the 

 upper side of the yard, is suitably divided into 

 stalls for the stock. Here were handsome 

 specimens of the Jersey, Durham and Devon 

 cattle, and Ayrshire are to be added. On the 

 same floor is a large and commodious room 

 for root crops, where they are securely pro- 

 tected from frosts. The arrangement of the 

 tie-ups and the ease with which the manure 

 and the refuse fodder can be cleaned out and 

 disposed of were noteworthy. The main floor 

 of the barn has a drive- way running the entire 

 length, and is entered by a gentle rise of 

 about six feet in a distance of sixty feet, on 

 the east. At the opposite end the grade wiU 

 be longer, as the land falls off to the rear. 

 Near the centre of the barn, are two recesses, 

 about the width of the drive-way, dividing it 

 into four equal parts, which are used as bays, 

 and which are capacious enough to meet any 

 immediate want of the farm. One of the re- 

 cesses is to be used as a room for a horse 

 power, by which to cut fodder, and do other 

 farm work. Opposite to it will be placed the 

 meal chests. The same general convenience 

 of arrangement is to be noticed on this floor 

 as in other parts of the building. Ventilation 

 is provided for by four ventilators, one in each 

 corner from the first floor, and a large one in 

 the centre of the roof, and I was informed that 

 they work satisfactorily. As the State barn, 

 this will doubtless be regarded as a model, and 

 I hope you may at some other time, give a 

 fuller description of it than I have space for.* 

 The neatness and complete order in which ev- 

 erything was kept impressed me farcibly, and 

 I thought that every farmer might obtain some 

 useful hints in this direction, if no other. 



In the yard, running water is furnished the 

 cattle, brought from a spring on the hill, some 

 fifoy or sixty rods distant. 



The only other buildings which I found time 

 to visit were the Botanical Museum and the 

 Plant House. In the former is the valuable 

 herbarium, comprising some 16,000 varieties 



*NOTE, — Our correspondent will perceive, on another 

 page, that we have lollowed hi-i euggestion, and at 

 ilie game time will understand why his communication 

 has been poetponed for a few weete. — Ed. 



