The weekly clarion., 1867-02-07

Mr. MurdOck asked leave Ol aDeoAC0 Aoi
two DAYS for Mr. Deason. Granted.
On motion of Mr. Jones Mr Brooks was
added to the joint Committee on Relief on
On motion Of Mr. Huffman the House ad-
iourned until tomorrow morning 10 o'clock
-~ -p------- ssi4
For the Daily Clarion.
No. q.
T,hc Purchase or LANDS, &c.
TO the Members Of the Legislature:
GENTLEMEN There is but one additional
item remaining to be noticed in connection
with this donation. In enumerating the
conditions upon which this donation should
be made available to any State, after men
tioning that the capital of the fund shall re-
main forever undiminished, and the annual
interest shall be regularly applied 10 the
purposes mentioned (viZ. to the support OF
the school )it introduces, as an exception,
that "a sum not exceeding Ten per cenIull unl
upon the amount received by any State,
under the provisions of this act, may De ex-
pended for the purchase of lands, for sites, or
experimental farms, whenever authorized by
the respective Legislatures of said States.
In advance of any action that may be taken
by our Legislature on this subject, beg to
present some reasons why no such disposi-
tion of any portion of this fund should be
made, inasmuch as ground in ample quanti-
ty NAV be had, for Botanical Garden, out
Of the University Section, and the establish
ment and cultivation of this garden is the
utmost that can be done, and viii require
only four or five acres.
l. am indebted to one of the most Scien-
tific Agriculturists of this country for the
views which follow, and their soundness
should be judged of by the fact that his
mind has been, from his youth, turned TO
this subject, and Scientific Agriculture has
been with him the study of life time; he
has also rendered himself practically famii-
lar with the various soils of Mississippi, and
is therefore reliable authority ON all such
topics. He says, that in order to beneht SO
large Class of students as is contemplated
i'm the Act of Congress, it Is necessary that
fhe course of instruction should not exceed
a certain very moderate length of time; It
would seem therefore unwise to devote much
of that time to the mere mechanical drill IN
Agricultural labor, when there is barely
time. generally available to the pupil, to
become thoroughly conversant with the
principles which ought to govern him In his
fnture practice. Unless thoroughly ac-
ouainted with these, all the experience he
NAV acquire, by actual labor on the model
farm" will amount to mere, crude accu-
mutation of recipes, which will fail when
applied to different soil, and in different
climate, and often serve merely to confuse
his natural good sense. He urges then this
very cogent truth, viz 1T is the principles
of rational Agriculture that ought to be
taught. and not the practice simply in a
special farm; for the very obvious reason,
that the former are unchangeable,. and are
applicable as truly to one soil and climate
az to another, while soil and climate are va
riable, and that special application of these
principles, which might be adapted to the
aModel Farm" would fail in another local
ity and this is eminently true in the Valley
of the Mississippi, where SO many different
climates and consequent differences IN the
detail of Agricultural operations, are in
such close Geographical proximity.
2. An additional reason why no part of
this fund should be devoted to the purchase
of lands for Model Farm is found in the
fact, that the donation will be by no means
adequate to admit of the establishment of
the School itself much less of the farm. The
Act says that mot more than ten per centnm'
may be used for this purpose. Now since
we have seen that the whole amount possi-
BILE to be realized from the donation would
not establish, and sustain a College, without
it's union with the University, it follows that
a permanent diminution of the principal,
and by consequence of the interest, by one
tenth, cannot be for moment allowed,
consistently with any reasonable prospect of
success, in carrying out the design of the
Act. IF any suppose that the model farm
would not only be self-sustaining, but o
productive enterprise, which would return
unto the treasury profits, sufficient to make
up the deficiency in interest,-it is well es-
tablished by experience that this is a fallac-
ious theory In such an institution as this
in which Instruction and Lucrativeness are
both contemplated, it has been found that
the two objects are incompatible. For to
derive instruction from the Farm it must be
strictly an Experimental farm, and it is as
serted, ON indisputable evidence, that such
farm so far from being q source of profit or
in most cases even self-sustaining requires
constant additional outlay. Ifon the other
hand ii be intended to exemplify a model
farm" it must be lucrative,-which we have
just seen is impossible .asss ~
However desirable then it might be to
have an Experimental farm mot purly for
instruction, but for the advancement of
rational Agriculture, in the State" the man
ifest inadequacy of the donation, both for
the School, and the Farm, forbids the idea
of appropriating any portion of it, to the.
purchase of lands. To divide this donation
between the two would defeat both objects,
and thus, the design of this act of Congress,
which is to benefit, not "AHculture alone
but the Mechanic Arts, would fail