26 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 285 



ject in a practical way. A farmers' institute hiad been held at 

 Grayling, Crawford County, in which farming on the plains oc- 

 cupied most of the time and thought of those present. When it 

 was determined to establish an experimental farm on the plains, 

 the State Board of Agriculture fixed upon Grayling as the place, 

 because it is in the heart of the jack-pine lands, is readily accessible 

 by railway, is near a large deposit of marl, the people take a lively 

 linterest in the experimental work, and the Michigan Central Rail- 

 iroad offered to donate eighty acres of jack-pine land for the experi- 

 imental farm. The tract of land donated, both as to soil and the 

 ■natural products growing on it, is considered a fair average of the 

 jack-pine plains. The experimental work at Grayling is only be- 

 gun, and it is too soon to ask, " What shall the harvest be ? " 



The Storrs School Agricultural Experiment Station, Mans- 

 field, Conn., has issued its first bulletin. The purpose of this bulle- 

 tin is to explain to the public whom the station is especially in- 

 tended to serve, the organization of the station, its spirit, and the 

 character of the work thus far begun. It is the wish of those in 

 charge of the enterprise to make its connection with the farm- 

 ers of the State as intimate as possible, and to this end copies 

 are mailed to all farmers in Connecticut whose addresses the sta- 

 tion has been able to obtain, to a number of other persons within 

 and outside of the State, as well as to the press. By the act of 

 Congress, provision is made for the appropriation of fifteen thou- 

 sand dollars per annum to each State and Territory, for the main- 

 tenance of agricultural experiment stations. Of the fund for Con- 

 necticut, one half is, by act of its last Legislature, intrusted to the 

 Board of Control of the State Experiment Station, and one half to 

 the Board of Trustees of the Storrs Agricultural School. The 

 managers of the station recognize that its purpose is both to inves- 

 tigate and to teach, that its duty is to select for study such ques- 

 tions as are of the most immediate and practical importance to the 

 agriculture of the State, and that its work will be successful in pro- 

 portion to the intimacy of its connection with the farmers whom it 

 represents. But they feel bound to accept the lesson taught by 

 3'ears of experience, in this country and elsewhere, to which we have 

 already frequently referred, that the most valuable results will be 

 obtained by selecting a small number of questions for investigation', 

 by making them narrow and specific, and by studying them with 

 the greatest possible thoroughness. And they desire to avoid, so 

 far as may be, the error into which so many stations, in their early 

 experience, have fallen, in failing to recognize that often the ques- 

 tions which seem most theoretical are really most practical ; that 

 the highest, and in the long-run the most useful, work for agricul- 

 ture is the discovery of the laws that underlie its practice ; and that 

 not infrequently the interests of the farmer require that theoretical 

 questions be considered first, for the same reason that the foun- 

 dation of the house is the first part to be built. In using part of 

 its resources for abstract research, the managers of the station feel 

 assured that it is doing its highest duty, and will have the heartiest 

 support of its constituency. 



INTELLIGENT CITIZENSHIP. 



We had occasion recently to refer to the growth of the Old South 

 Work. This work has been carried on in various ways, — by lec- 

 tures, by tracts, and by encouraging the writing of essays on appro- 

 priate subjects. 



The ' Old South Leaflets,' which have been published during the 

 last five years in connection with the annual courses of historical 

 lectures at the Old South Meeting-House in Boston, have attracted 

 so much attention, and proved of so much service, that the direct- 

 ors have determined upon the publication of this general series, 

 with the needs of schools, colleges, private clubs and classes, espe- 

 cially in mind. The leaflets are prepared by Mr. Edwin D. Mead. 

 They are largely reproductions of important original papers, ac- 

 companied by useful historical and bibliographical notes. The aim 



is to bring them within easy reach of everybody. The Old South 

 Work is a work for the education of the people, and especially the 

 education of our young people, in American history and politics ; 

 and its promoters believe that few things can contribute better to 

 this end than the wide circulation of such leaflets as those now 

 proposed. It is hoped that professors in our colleges, and teachers 

 everywhere, will welcome them for use in their classes, and that 

 they may meet the needs of the societies of young men and women 

 now happily being organized in so many places for historical and 

 political studies. 



Some idea of the character of this series may be gained from the 

 following list of the subjects of the first thirteen numbers, which 

 are now ready: No. i. 'The Constitution of the United States;' 

 2. ' The Articles of Confederation ; ' 3. ' The Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence ; ' 4. ' Washington's Farewell Address ; ' 5. ' Magna 

 Charta ; ' 6. ' Vane's " Healing Question ; " ' 7. ' Charter of Mas- 

 sachusetts Bay, 1629;' 8. 'Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 

 1638;' 9. 'Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754;' 10. 'Washington's 

 Inaugurals;' II. ' Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Procla- 

 mation ;' 12. 'The Federalist, Nos. I and 2 ; ' 13. 'The Ordinance 

 of 1787.' A large proportion of these early numbers relate to the 

 Constitution and the history of its growth, which are now subjects 

 of special interest to historical students. 



The excellence of the essays which have been presented during 

 the last seven years, in competition for the Old South prizes, have 

 induced the offer of prizes again the present year. The competi- 

 tion for these prizes, which could well be imitated in other towns, 

 is open to all who have graduated from the Boston high schools 

 (including the Latin schools) in 1887 and 1888. 



The subjects for the essays are, ' England's Part in the Crusades, 

 and the Influence of the Crusades upon the DeveloprTient of Eng- 

 lish Liberty ; ' and ' The Political Thought of Sir Henry Vane. 

 Consider Vane's Relations to Cromwell and his Influence upon 

 America.' 



Forty dollars will be awarded for the best essay on each of the 

 subjects named, and twenty-five dollars for the second best, mak- 

 ing, in all, four prizes. 



The Old South lectures for young people for the summer of 1888 

 will begin Wednesday afternoon, Aug. i. The general title of the 

 course will be ' The Story of the Centuries,' the special subjects 

 being as follows : ' The Great Schools after the Dark Ages ; ' 

 ' Richard the Lion-Hearted and the Crusades ; ' ' The World 

 which Dante knew ; ' ' The Morning-Star of the Reformation ; ' 

 ' Copernicus and Columbus, or the New Heaven and the New 

 Earth ; ' ' The Age of Queen Elizabeth ; ' ' The Puritans and the 

 English Revolution ; ' 'Lafayette and the Two Revolutions which 

 he saw.' 



Many of those interested in the Old South Work are also inter- 

 ested in the Massachusetts Society for promoting Good Citizenship. 

 In response to the question which is often asked, the society has 

 issued a circular telling what is the object of this society, and what 

 its members are expected to do. It is the intention of the promoters 

 of the society that it shall encourage and assist every thing which 

 tends to make men good and intelligent. The good citizen is, as they 

 express it, before all else the good man. As De Tocqueville saw it to 

 be in his time, so we see it to be in ours, the success of a republican- 

 democratic government depends upon the moral and intellectual 

 capacity of the community. We need intelligence, education, con- 

 science, and health, and it is to promote these that the society. is 

 working. 



The immediate and special inquiry as to the nature of good citizen- 

 ship leads to the study of political history and political philosophy, and 

 the society wishes to see a more serious and thorough study of what 

 the world's great thinkers in the past have thought and said upon 

 government and the state ; and they would encourage a more careful 

 study of our American history and institutions, our constitutions 

 and laws, and this in comparison with those of other countries. 

 The members of the society individually, or in association with each 

 other in clubs or classes, are urged to these studies for themselves, 

 and to promote and assist such studies on the part of others. The 

 society would have its members study the town and the town- 

 meeting, the city, the commonwealth, the nation, and international 

 relations, believing that by such broad studies in the history of pol- 



