THE ILLINOIS FA.Il]MEIl. 



113 



and these yielded my best potatoes, 

 wLile the eaily planted were little more 

 than a failure. The seasons are not 

 always alike, and therefor we should in 

 such matters try both early and late 

 planting. 



I hero "wish to make a suggestion 

 which I hope you will submit to your 

 numerous readers, namely this : Let 

 every farmer, who has tiny hope of at- 

 tending our next State Fair, reduce to 

 writing any of his observation during 

 the season for discussion in our evening 

 meetings, for I hope these will be con- 

 tinued as long as we have a State Fair, 

 and I also suggest that some suitable 

 provisions will be made for a place to 

 hold these meetings. 



Yours, &c.. 



Old Fikken. 



Agricultural Department to the Normal Univer- 

 sity. 



BLOOMiNQTOJf, Jund 27, 1860. 



The joint comuiittees of the Boards of the 

 State Agricultural and Horticultural Socie- 

 ties met this morning at the Nicholls House 

 and after a general comparison of views, but 

 without any definite action, adjourned to 

 meet with the convention which had been 

 called to meet with them, for a further con- 

 sideration of the subject. 



2 o'clock, p.m. 



The convention called for the purpose of 

 considering the above subject, met in Phoe- 

 nix Hall, and was called to order by electing 

 Capt. J. N. Brown, President, Wm. H. Van 

 Epps of Lee, Benjamin A^ansel of Union, 

 and S. B. Chandler of St. Clair, Vice Pres- 

 idents, and J. P. lleynolds of Marion, 0. B. 

 Galusha of Kendall, and Samuel Edwards 

 of Bureau, were elected Secretaries. Capt. 

 Brown, upon taking the chair, addressed the 

 convention as follows : 



Gentlemen of the Convention : — I 

 scarcely know how to return you my sincere 

 thanks, for the honor that you have confer- 

 red upon me, in calling me to preside over 

 you during your deliberations on so impor- 

 tant an occasion as that before you, the 

 proper training and educating of your chil- 

 dren, so that they may fill with honor their 

 places in the great industrial chisses. We 

 have met for the purpose of interchanging 

 views, and to recommend measures and to 

 carry out and perfect a system of education 

 that shall be of value to the laborer. I 

 hoped that at this convention a ball would be 

 put in motion that shall roll on until an ed- 

 ucation shall be obtained by all. You have, 

 by action of your Legislature, a Normal Uni- 

 versity, and we hope to live, and do not de- 

 spair to see, teachers enough sent out from 

 its halls to teach every child throughout our 

 land. I promise you my co-operation to ad- 

 vance this cause, as that not only our chil- 

 dren, but our children's children shall feel 

 its beuefit. 



Mr, Spencer, moved that the names of 

 delegates be enrolled. 



Mr. Davis said that the members had been 

 taken to task for not making an elaborate re- 

 port, and a programme for the details of the 

 convention, but we have called together the 



people, that they can take the matter in hand 

 and decide for themselves. 



Mr. C. T. Chase, who had, at the request 

 of the members of the committee, visited 

 several of the schools at the East devoted to 

 an Agricultural education, was called out, 

 and read a most able and practical report. — 

 The report itself — too long for our space — 

 but frem all the information he could obtain 

 the whole race of Agricultural Colleges, 

 Schools and Farms, had little of agriculture 

 about them— the colleges and schools were 

 good literary institutions, but taught nothing 

 in 'the line of practical agriculture. The 

 farms were mere reformatory institutions, 

 where wayward youths were put to labor, 

 and taugnt common school branches — that 

 the work cost all it came to. On his return, 

 Mr. C. called at the great Agricultural Col- 

 lege of Michigan, and found it at Lansing, 

 forty miles from a railroad, carved out of the 

 forest by the students, which may be called 

 mastering the first elements of an agricultu- 

 ral educatian — the A B C of the art. The 

 forest walls that girt the institution, are no 

 doubt looked up to as something sublime, 

 and which melts away, as blow by blow the 

 delicate boy, taking his first lesson, cuts down 

 the denizens of the forest in rather a mod- 

 erate manner. 



At Bollsburgh, Pa., the boys in the school 

 done all their own work, cooking, washing, 

 etc. llather practical, on the whole, we 

 should think, and decidedly boyish. 



Here we cast our eye over the audience, 

 and our attention was called to the serene 

 looks of Prof. Capen, the clerk of the weath- 

 er, who, we should judge, had got the 

 weather fixed to his liking for the next two 

 weeks. 



Dr. McChesney said, that in presenting 

 briefly what he had to say, he did not deem 

 it important to discuss the great need of ele- 

 vating the standard of education. The la- 

 borer should receive more and better oppor- 

 tunities of education, and that an agricultu- 

 ral education should be of a grade equal to 

 any other pursuit ; not that the dead lan- 

 guages were necessary; not that all branches 

 should be mastered, but that all those branch- 

 es pertaining to his calling, in as through a 

 manner as those of any other profession. 



In the vicinity of Chicago, there is now 

 already an institution with a charter for a 

 school, and an experimental farm of two 

 hundred acres, which he understood, will be 

 offered for the uses and purposes of this 

 convention. In the University of Chicago, 

 they have a Professorship of Law, of the 

 Modern Languages, and intend to allow stu- 

 dents in agriculture to drop at once, if they 

 choose, into the regular classes ; but if not, 

 to attend the lectures on farming, and to 

 take practical lessons in culture, not only of 

 grains and fruits, but the whole routine of 

 prairie farming. 



Prof. Turner said he was not prepared to 

 make a speech, but he could see an omen of 

 progress. Some years ago, but one farmer 

 could be pursuaded to atteud a meeting of 

 this kind, after all sorts of drumming, and 

 by newspapers and otherwise — but the world 

 moves. At one time he wanted to agitate ; 

 no matter how much he kicked a man, if he 

 but stirred at the kicks. But now is the 

 time for calm consideration and action. All 



of the industrial colleges have been a fail- 

 ure. The college at College Hill, Ohio, had 

 once been a flourishing institution, but«it is 

 now in the hands of a clergyman, and he 

 has made it a clergyman's college, and it is 

 now a failure as an agricultural institution. 

 The Professor's speech was rich and practic- 

 al, and carried the audience withj perfect 

 storm. 



B. Gr. Roots said, that he had listened 

 with much pleasure to the information given 

 by Dr. McChesney, (here some explanations 

 and conversation tood place between the 

 two.) He would speak for Egypt, and took 

 pleasure in saying that Marion, Mount Ver- 

 non, Carbondale and Tamaroa had obtained 

 charters for agricultural schools, and made 

 many good resolves. 



Rev. Mr. Minier made some happy re- 

 marks in relation to the object of the con- 

 vention — it was useless to get up a school 

 without a live, practical man to be at the 

 head of it. At one time he asked a lady 

 what became of all the pins. She retorted 

 by asking what became of all the students 

 from the colleges — they disappeared from 

 our schools as mysteriously as the pins, and 

 we hear no more from them. He had no 

 doubt that if the large farmers would give 

 away half of their land, and put the remain- 

 der in crops, they would be better ofl^. In 

 conclusion, he would say, that the Boards 

 of the State Agricultural and Horticultural 

 Societies should have the appointment of the 

 officers of the proposed institution. 



Mr, Van Epps was no speaker, yet he 

 took a deep interest in the cause. He was 

 for action — for progress. We wanted no 

 great appropriation, but we wanted some- 

 thing practical ; something for the time. — 

 He would ask aid for our common schools ; 

 give them a higher tone. He would pro- 

 pose that the admission fees at the State Fair 

 be fifty cents instead of twenty-five cents, 

 provided that twenty-five per cent, of the 

 gross proceeds be used for the purpose of this 

 enterprize. He offered a resolution to that 

 effect. 



Professor Turner moved the appointment 

 of a committee af five on resolutions, and 

 the President appointed J. B. Turner C. B. 

 Denio, C. R. Overman, C. T. Chase and B. 

 G. Roots. :■■■■.■,;:.',%;•-.-■. 



Mr. Ellsworth would ask to present a let- 

 ter from parties interested. 



Resolution by Mr. James Davis referred 

 to committee. 



Resolutian of A, Gowe of Dixon, took 

 the same course. 



Hon, J. A. Davis then addaeseed the au- 

 dience in favor of the enterprize. His coun- 

 ty had always sent men to the Legislature 

 who vote the necessary appropriation to car- 

 ry out the great industrial scheme that had 

 been presented by Prof. Turner. 



He was followed by C. B. Denio, who 

 made one of his most characteristic speech- 

 es. When in the Legislature, some years 

 since, at the suggestion of Prof. Turner, he 

 presented resolutions asking a donation of 

 half a million acres of land for the purpose 

 of just such an institution. The East now 

 i claimed the honor of Morril's Land Bill ; 

 I but such is not the case, and to Prof. Turner 

 is due the first starting of that ball. He 

 I would elevate labor — he would make it hon- 



