The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-04-27
THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE.


late respecting different facts con-
nected with the Agricultural College
that NC are constrained to reply by q
column OF condensed history.
The Iowa Agricultural College was
established by an act. Of the State
Legislature passed in 1858. The
same act provided for the purchase
of farm, for the erection Of the Col
lege buildings, and for experiments
in agriculture. In 1889 the Trustees
selected aud secured section Of land
near Ames, Story county, for the
College Farm. At The session Of the
legislature in 1864, the lands granted
by Congress to the several States for
the maintenance Of colleges Of sgri-
culture and the mechanic arts, we're
confirmed TO tho Iowa Agricultural
College q. perpetual endowment
Al the same legislative session, 1864,
Cor. Kirkwood and Senators Cue
and Garrison devised : scheme for
realizing an immediate fund BY leas
iay these lands instead OF offering
them at once for sale. This scheme,
which was adopted by the legislature,
required the lessee 10 pay annually,
in aivanoe. eight per cent. interest
or the appraised value Of The land,
with the right to purchase after ten
years. The lands chiefly selected BY
Hon. Peter Melendy amounted 10
2O4,303 acres, and were situated
mainly in the northwestern counties,
occupying the most fertile Portioa'
OF the State. Leased by the Trus-
tees under the above law they have
since yielded to the College an an
nual income OF from $50, 900 to $751;
900, and the permanent endowment
fund realized from this sale will
reach half million, but csano. e1-
coed 100000.
The present college buildings,
which have been erected At an ex-
pens- Of some $4,000, were in suf
fcient progress: to enable the Trus-
tees TO organize the College for the
admission of students in the fall of
1868. On March 20, 1869, the main
college building was formally opened
under the presidency Of Hon. a. S.
WEIGH, formerly Of Michigan, and
more than hundred students 0:
both sexes were enroiiei. the whole
number 10 attendance during the year
was 1872, and more than half the
counties in the Safe we're represent
ed. Since then the yearly attend
ance has relched nearly 800. The
accommodations have been found in
adequate and many applicants have,
consequently, been refused admission.
The College has graduated four
classes numbering eighty in all, and
sent back to the farms OF the State ;
from eighty to one hundred under
graduates every year. There are
four courses Of study requiring four
years each, namely, lst: The course
in agriculture, embracing practical !
farming, farm engineering, stock
breeding, horticulture and forestry.
ID: The course in mechanics, en-
bracing civil and mechanical engi-
neering. Sd: The ladies' course.
4th: The course in general science. ,
Students all engage in manual labor
two hours aad a half a day; the
young women in the dining room,
and the young men On the farm, it
the garden or work shops. This !
daily manual labor is made to sub
serve several important purposes. 1t :,
gives needful exercise and bodily :,
vigor, helps to defray portion OF the
current expenses, imparts skill in the
use Of tools, applies science to prac-
tice and promotes respect for honora
bic toll.
The faculty Of the Agricultural
College now number twenty, and be-
sides the regular instruction to class
es, five of these, to- wit: the professor
Of civil engineering, the professor Of
mechanics, the professor Of horticul
ture, and two professors Of practical
agriculture, engage daily in drilling
the students in out of door practice.
The equipment Of this institution is
equal, If not superior, to that OF any
ether industrial school in the country.
The library has nearly six thousand
select volumes, embracing the most
valuable treaties on the modern sci,
cnces and industrial arts The muse
um contains large collections which
illustrate the various branches Of
study. The garden and forest cover
over fifty acres. The farm has FIVE
hundred acres under the plow, and
its barns display all the improved
breeds of cattle, swine and sheep.
The work shops are fitted up with
complete machinery for working in
iron and wood, and in the laboratory,
which is the largest in the west, mere
than eighty students can engage at
once in the manipulatlons Of chem
istry.
The Iowa Agricultural College has
now completed its seventh year
From its opening to the present it
has striven to fulfill more and more
nearly the spirit Of the congressional
law as interpreted by the wisest men
in the land. Declining to follow the
demand Of extremists, who demand