VOL,. XXV. NO. 17. 
WHOLE NO. 1161. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1872. by D. D. T. Moork. In the ofllce of the Librarian of Congres^T Washington 
MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 
Michigan was the first State in. the 
Uuion to establish an Agricultural College 
to advance the interests of her farming 
population. The first 
steps taken for i t s 
permanent establish¬ 
ment were in 1850, in 
the form of a joint res¬ 
olution by the Mich¬ 
igan Legislature re¬ 
questing of Congress 
a donation of lands ‘ 
sufficient for its main¬ 
tenance. From its 
first organization the —: 
opponents of the Col- — 
lege were numerous 
and bitter, and none 
were more bitter than ? 
those whom the Col- 
lege was especially do- W | .» ¥ 1L 
signed to aid, whose %) ™ 
interests it was in- T .JE 
tended to further— 
the farmers them- Jp iS. !►.;£ 
solves. Its connection • Jzg,", *bK 
with the State Uni¬ 
versity was strouglv 
advocated; such con¬ 
nection, it was believ- 
ed, would cause a 
great saving, not only 
in the first outlay, but 
also in its subsequent 
support, and, more¬ 
over, that the Univer¬ 
sity would afford su¬ 
perior instruction in 
tiie particular principles of scientific agri¬ 
culture essential to the success of the prac¬ 
tical farmer. 
Admitting the full force of the two 
reasons first given, it was yet feared that if 
connected with the University, or consti¬ 
tuted as a branch of any other public insti¬ 
tution, a sufficiently thorough, technical, 
agricultural education would not be fur¬ 
nished, and that it would ultimately bo ab¬ 
sorbed by the more popular branches of ed¬ 
ucation and cease to be a distinctive fea¬ 
ture; a forethought, the wisdom of which 
has been abundantly proved by the ex¬ 
perience of many in agricultural depart¬ 
ments so connected. 
As an institution distinct in its organiza¬ 
tion and operation, the University was its 
bitter opponent. However, in 1856, provi¬ 
sion was made by the State for the estab¬ 
lishment of just such a separate and dis¬ 
tinct institution. On the 12th of February 
following the law was approved by Gov¬ 
ernor Bingham, and in June of the same 
year the present site of the College was se¬ 
lected, the selection approved by the Board 
of education, and the grounds purchased. 
The site is a very pleasant one, being three 
and a one-half miles due east from Lansing, 
the capital of the State; is nearly 900 feet 
above the level of the sea, situated on both 
sides of Cedar River, and consists of 670 
57-100 acres. 
In 1856 there were erected upon the site 
two brick buildings, three stories high, be¬ 
sides a basement; one was used as a board¬ 
ing-hall and dormitory; the other contained 
the College chapel, library, museum, and 
recitation rooms. The work of completing 
them went rapidly forward, and on the 13th 
of May, 1858, the institution was dedicated, 
with appropriate services, by the State 
Board of Education, in the presence of the 
Governor, several State officials, and a large 
concourse of people from various parts of 
the State. The address was delivered by 
Hon. Joseph R. Williams, President of 
the Institution. J. C. Holmes, Esq., Cal¬ 
vin Tracy, Robert D. Weeks, and Rev. L. 
of the Work upon the College buildings had 
been insufficiently performed, and great ad¬ 
ditional expense was Involved in repairing 
the deficiency. To add to these embarrass¬ 
ments, just before theopeniugof the school 
year in the spring of 1859, President Wil¬ 
liams resigned, and for four years the Col- 
— - -- > * * - * lojigucu, UIIG ivl fUUl yWJUN l 
R. Fisk were elected Professors, and the lege was without a presiding officer. 
i—- ^— — .. t. 
Jvtiouxa-Auisr state ao 
school opened with the encouraging number 
of 61 students. At the opening of the sec¬ 
ond term, in December of the same year, 
the number was Increased to 100, crowding 
the buildings to their utmost capacity. 
More applied, but owing to the lack of ac¬ 
commodation, admission was necessarily 
denied them. 
Tho buildings stand upon a slight emi¬ 
nence, among the forest trees which have 
been purposely retained. On tho left, In 
the engraving, is the old boarding-hall and 
dormitory, erected in 1856, now used as dor¬ 
mitory only. On the right is tho school 
building erected in 1856, containing also the 
museum and library. In tho center is the 
new hoarding-hall and dormitory, erected 
in 1868. The new laboratory, greou-houso, 
farm buildings, and Professors' dwelling 
houses are in the immediate vicinity, but 
not here represented. This view is taken 
from a northeast standpoint, the main front 
of tile buildings being to the north. 
In the beginning of this enterprise all 
was new; forest trees covered tho land; 
school buildings, farm buildings, and dwel¬ 
lings for the Professors had to bo erected. 
And the character of the school itself was 
new; it. was an experiment with no prece¬ 
dents upon which to roly for guidance in 
prosecuting experiments, directing the 
studies to be pursued, or devising the best 
method for combining manual with mental 
labor; there existed throughout the State 
a general want of confidence in its ultimate 
success; it had no endowments, and was 
dependent for its annual support upon the 
varying ideas of successive Legislatures, 
rendering even its contluued existence 
doubtful; the act of Congress donating 
lauds for its benefit was net passed until 
several years after it was established; some 
^-C>I^ICXTX,TXJ ItA.Xj COLLEGE. 
imber In 1861 the College was reorganized and a 
e sec- State Board of Agriculture established, to 
year, whom was transferred from the State Board 
ivdlng of Education, who had held the supervision 
acity. of them up to that time, all the finances 
>f ac- and general control of the institution. Tho 
sarily Board of Agriculture consists of eight mem¬ 
bers, the Governor of the State and the 
emi- President of the College being members cx 
have officio. At au adjourned autumn meeting 
;ft, In of the Board In 1862, T. C. Abbot, A. M., 
1 aud was elected President of the College. Ho 
sdor- entered upon tho active duties of his office 
cbool in the spring of 1863, and from that time to 
so the tho present inis ably and honorably dls- 
s the charged the obligations devolving upon him. 
ccted Two years was at first considered suffio lent 
louse, time for the acquirement of Buch a knowl- 
elling edge of agriculture as to enable one to un- 
but dertakc successfully tho management of a 
;aken farm, and, moreover, was regarded as all 
front that students in this country would consent 
to spend in that kind of professional train- 
le all But it was thought that a louger period 
land; flight be profitably speut in the study of 
iwel- the science aud tho practice of the arts of 
cted. agriculture, and at the time of the College 
! was reorganization, in 1861, the course was 
rece- lengthened to four years, besides a prepara- 
ae in tory course of one year provided for stu- 
the dents not roady to enter upon a full course, 
best In tho same year, also, the College received 
eutal power to confer upon its graduates the de¬ 
ntate greo of Bachelor of Science, and the degree 
mate of Master of Science upon its graduates of 
was three years' standing, who had duriug that 
u the period been engaged in scientific studies, 
ures, Mot until then had the College, in any de¬ 
fence gree, been prepured for efficient labor, 
uting With this new impetus it graduated its first 
until class, of seven members, at the end of the 
some same year. 
But its continued existence was still un¬ 
certain, aud it was not until the State Leg¬ 
islature, in 1868, made an appropriation for 
a new boarding hall, that the dangers of the 
College were regarded as passed, and its 
permanenoe and success secured. The Mich¬ 
igan State Agricultural College was tho first 
successful institution of its kind established 
in this country. Its 
caroer has been an 
eventful one, and oth¬ 
er States have receiv¬ 
ed the benefit of its 
——- experience, though 
they have not always 
‘ : A heeded its warnings. 
Since 1808, it has 
as an institution of 
learning, been stcadi- 
g; ly advancing, until 
bow it compares fa¬ 
vorably, in its thor- 
proper. With three 
pe. ’ hours per day of man¬ 
ual labor upon one or 
the other of the farms 
it is the testimony of 
the officers, who have 
had experience in oth¬ 
er Institutions, that 
the students learn as 
readily and make as 
great advancement as do students in other 
schools. The discipline is easier than in 
colleges generally, as the relaxation from 
study, aud the physical demands for action, 
are here expended in useful labor. Manual 
labor has here always been held in high re¬ 
pute, and, as au organized system, has ever 
been in existence, regarded as an essential 
part of tho Institution, an acquaintance 
with the practical duties of the farm being 
considered indispensable to one who intends 
to mako agriculture a profession. Such a 
farm, model and experimental, whore the 
practical as well as tho scientific branches 
are taught, is a necessity to the agricultural 
population, aud yet tho farmers have been 
slow to recognize tho fact that the aims and 
objects of this Institution have been to pro¬ 
mote their interests. 
Experiments in practical agriculture, 
stock breeding and fruit growing arc care¬ 
fully conducted, aud being extended from 
year to year, arrive at results more gen¬ 
eral and practical, and of great value to the 
agricultural interests throughout the coun¬ 
try, teaching the farmer, Isolated aud en¬ 
grossed with labor, deprived of the advan¬ 
tage of constant discussion and contact with 
others, to think and observe for himself, to 
acquire a superior intelligence, and to pro¬ 
vide for him economical methods whereby 
loss labor and less time need be employed 
in manual toil to produce equal results. 
Tho school year commences In February 
and continues until November, with a re¬ 
cess of about ten days lit July. Admission 
to all students living within the State is free. 
Students from other States are admitted 
by paying an annual fee of $20. Last year 
there were students from Massachusetts, 
New York, New Jersey. Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois and Colorado, on those terms. The 
j PRICE SIX CENTS. 
( 82.50 PER YEAR. 
NEW YORE, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y„ APRIL 27 , 1872 . 
