ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 243 



are taught to do by the doing. What does the spreading of manure 

 teach a man concerning the chemis try of fertilizers? What does the 

 planting and reaping of corn teach a man concerning the laws of plant- 

 growth? The ordinary operations fo the farm do not teach the farmer the 

 most important facts concerning his business. In order to get that in- 

 formation most necessary to his highest success the knowledge ob- 

 tained from farming must be supplemented from some other source. The 

 more you look at this question, the more avenues from which you ap- 

 proach it, the stronger it will appeal to you. The proposition was de- 

 fended from this platform nearly seventeen years ago when the last act in 

 securing a first degree from these profes — , No, I forget. It was not 

 these professors. It was only seventeen years ago — only a few years ago, 

 surely — but what changes! Since then many a platform has been occu- 

 pied with moderate composure but here it is but a beardless boy, stand- 

 inw with sinking heart before his fellow students, and as he walks out 

 and makes his bow to President Peabody he casts a hurried glance down 

 the row with that feeling of student reverence for his professors that 

 should he live till he was three score and ten he could not out-live. But 

 I have been dreaming. Let me look again. Morrow, Snyder, Crawford, 

 Prentice, McMurtrie, Roos, Pickard, who said, "Miss Pierce, can you 

 pierce that?" "No," flashed instantly the reply, "but I can pick hard 

 at it." These are no longer present. Some have already gone to a de- 

 served rest. But have they all gone? Let me look again. No, a few 

 remain. Dear men and true^ — men who have seen this great University 

 grow from a tiny seedling into a sturdy and ever expanding oak — still 

 hold honored positions and influence in the faculty and affectionate places 

 in the hearts of the alumni. Great, indeed, have been the changes in 

 seventeen years. Then there were less than four hundred students; 

 now more than two thousand flve hundred. Then the faculty consisted 

 of twenty-eight persons; now the instructional force consists of two 

 hundred and fifty-eight persons. Then there were buildings devoted to 

 instructional purposes worth with equipment less than $350,000; now 

 they are valued at one and one-third million dollars. The total annual 



