191 1.] School of Agriculture, Cambridge. 407 



Some account of recent developments in agricultural educa- 

 tion at Cambridge may prove of interest to readers of the 

 Journal. 



School of The first SU gg est j ori tna t agriculture 



Cambridge' should be included as one of the sub- 

 jects of study in the University seems 

 to have come from Mr. Henry Chaplin in 1890, when, in a 

 letter written in his capacity as President of the Board of 

 Agriculture to the late Duke of Devonshire as Chancellor 

 of the University, he suggested the establishment of an 

 Agricultural Department. A syndicate was appointed to 

 consider the question, but the full recognition of the subject 

 was not attained till 1899, when, with the help of the 

 Worshipful Company of Drapers, a chair of Agriculture was 

 permanently endowed. 



The first occupant of the chair was Dr. William Somerville, 

 during whose tenure of office, from August, 1899, to Decem- 

 ber, 1 901, the Department obtained a farm for teaching and 

 research. This was brought about by the generosity of 

 Mr. W. A. Macfarlane Grieve, of Clare College, who leased 

 to the University rent free for nine years, 140 acres of land 

 at Impington, four miles from Cambridge. Dr. Somerville 

 resigned to take office under the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries, and was followed by Mr. T. H. Middleton, who 

 occupied the chair until 1907, when he, too, left Cambridge to 

 take up the position of Assistant Secretary to the Board of 

 Agriculture. Chieflv on the initiative of Professor Middle- 

 ton, a scheme for the provision of a permanent home for the 

 Agricultural Staff was taken in hand. The first aid in this 

 direction was given by the Drapers' Company, who had 

 already so generously endowed Agriculture. The Company 

 offered to give ,£5,000 to a building fund provided that 

 £5,000 could be raised elsewhere. The late Duke of Devon- 

 shire, then Chancellor of the University, assisted by a 

 Committee of the Cambridge University Association, issued 

 an appeal for funds, which brought in the necessary £5,000 

 by June, 1906. Before his Grace's last illness over £13,000 

 had been subscribed or conditionally promised. Subse- 

 quently, the present Duke became chairman of the Com- 

 mittee, and after nearly two years' continuous collecting, 

 he fund was brought to the desired amount of £20,000. 



