THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 95 



pointed out by the General Committee, was absolutely necessary ; 

 and that a proper investigation of other institutions required a 

 knowledge of the scope of our own College, of the conditions 

 now existing and, in a general way, of the demands made by the 

 people of the state. A preliminary investigation of conditions at 

 Urbana was undertaken by each member individually presumably 

 in the line of supplying his own individual requirements. 



October 27, the committee, together with Dean Davenport 

 and the two members of the Board of Trustees, left Chicago for 

 Ames, Iowa, examining the Iowa College of Agriculture at that 

 place ; thence going to Lincoln, Nebraska, for an investigation of 

 the Nebraska State College of Agriculture; thence to Minneap- 

 olis and the Minnesota College ; then to Madison, Wisconsin, and 

 the State Agricultural College of Wisconsin. Later a second 

 trip was taken including the Michigan Agricultural College at 

 Lansing, Michigan ; the Agricultural College of the State of New 

 York, connected with Cornell University, Ithaca, New York ; the 

 New York State Exeriment Station at Geneva, New York; and 

 ending with the Ohio Agricultural College at Columbus, Ohio. 

 The entire committee, as well as the two Trustees and Dean Dav- 

 enport made the two trips with the exception of Trustee Grout, 

 who was unable to make the visit to Lansing, Michigan, but cov- 

 ered all the rest of the trip. 



After the return from the tour of inspection the committee 

 met at Urbana and was in session almost continuously, days and 

 evenings, for six days. Its work at Urbana consisted in a care- 

 ful examination of the buildings, the equipment, and the scope 

 of instruction, and a comparison with other institutions in the 

 light of information acquired during the trip. The committee 

 made it a special point to closely question the leading men in 

 other institutions as to their own work, and also the weak parts 

 of their organization, and the information thus gained was of 

 much value when applied to the investigation of our own condi- 

 tions. The chief of each department of the Agricultural College 

 at Urbana was examined at length as to the needs of his depart- 

 ment, and as to the conditions existing. The Dean of the Col- 



