The weekly Butte record. [volume] (Oroville [Calif.]) 1866-1887, 1866-09-01

II
| hesssofore made plen6d disa6ons Z public Ends
for The purpose q fousding Agricultural Colleges,
and many of the States have improved the OCCASION
to secure 70 their people tho beneftsto be dsived
from such institutions. and have colleges now
under Roadway, and are deriving such benefits as
they can confer and no institutions are better cal
culated to advance the general prosperity and well
being of q people Is . nation. When rightly ua-
derstood and properly managed, they viii do more
than all else 70 disseminate thorough knowledge
Of Soils and the true economy in tilling them The
great diversity Of soil within national domains
renders the donation to States peculiarly applicable
| to the object to be attained
A grant having been made to California for the
purpose of establishing Agricultural, Mechanical
and Mining Art College, the question arises to its
location. We have not seen the advertisement. but
infer from article in the California Farmer that
the Board of Directors have advertised for bids
determine its location, and probably that section
which shall be able to present An abandoned Court
House or brewery. With few adjoining and barren
acres. will. doubtless secure the prize. Still We
cannot help thinking that the State had better de-
termne it by different considerations and place it
.
which it is intended. This can only be done by
consulting the different interests TO be advanced by
an institution of the kind proposed for California.
A gentleman of Contra Costa County, proposes to
contribute one-tenth part to fund of ten thousand
dollars for the purchase Of suitable tract of land
in that county for the location of such College If
all that is rqured of California be practical IN
Outstanding Of how best to conduct farm amidst
the cold fogs and scalpliftng winds of the Bay Of
San Francisco its location in some Of its surround
ing counties might be considered but the practical
knowledge there obtained would net be applicable
to the soil and eli mate Of nine enths Of the geo
graphical dimensions of the State. The Sacramen.
to valley and the Southern portion Of the State
we'll as the mineral interest. should be consulted
1t is not merely q theoretical knowledge that it is
proposed to impart.
Again the Nevada county papers are making an
effort to bring the advantages possessed by that
county, properly before the Board. The Trans
cript claims population and a healthy climate,
which of course, that county possesses as well as
an extensive mineral interest. A practical knowl
edge of the Mining Art, could be obtained there, if
that were the sole purpose of the College; but it is
not. The same paper suggests that Zone hundred
and sixty arces of land. which would meet all the
requirements of such School, can he obtained be-
tween Nevada and Grass Valley near the old road
on the ridge, or on the toll road" Doubtless there
are many small patches of land in that county ca
pable Of being transformed into beautiful little
mountain farms. But it is not the mining art and
limited mountain farming alone that is to he ad.
vanced by this proposed Agricultural College. 1t
is the soil and climate of the entire State, parcu-
larry of her broad valleys and plains, that is pro-
duce the articles required to render selfstain.
ing State, and check the enormous export of our
mineral product. The "scorching heat of the
plains" to which the Transcript objects, is
the very thing to be considered and its soil
and climate subdued and rendered servicab lie to the
population of our State. An Agricultural College
for California will best advance the interes IS of the
State, by being located where practical knowl
edge of the soil and climate of Cali fornia NAV be
obtained. This cannot be done by choosing the eli
mate and soil surrounding the Bay of San Francisco
nor in the healthy and vigorous climate and sterile
soil of the mountains. 1t should be located in Cali
forna. And no county can offer better advantages
in combining agricultural and mineral interests than
Butte. Large tracts of land be easily procured
which truly represent the soil and Innate of the
State, in a healthy location, and surrounded by
scenery peculiar only to the State. The arm of the
Sacramento Valley, at the head Of which stands
Oroville, extends down Feather a distance of some
four or five miles, and contains eight or ten thous
and acres, the soil and climate of which is capable
of roducing description of fruit and vegeta-
BILE required for the wants of man. Gardens and
vineyards and farms and ranches dot this valley,
supplying the mountain towns, and even that Eden
of California Chico-with fruits and vegetables
As much Of this as may be required, or the who lie,
should it be necessary be procured and devoted
to the purposes of this institution. Another loca-
ton, which contains within the ranch proper but
some six or seven hundred acres, but having the
advantage of large and appropriate building, is
the Garden Ranch four miles from Orovtle. This
ranch is also in high state cultivation and all the
adjoining add tional ground that would ever be re-
quired can be easily procured. These locations, or
either of them, present the combined advantages of
climate, and soil, and agricultural and mineral in
terests, and are healthy and appropriate localities
for an institution designed to adva the great ng
rcultural and mineral interests of the State If the
Board Of Directors will examine them, they shall
have the one they may choose as location for the
institution. or any other spot that they may deem
more appropriate within the limits of the county
This is the bid of Butte County for securing the To-
cation of this College, and to it we invite the can
did consideration of the Board of Directors.
TIE number of stueents in attendance at the