The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-02-12
For the FARMER AND MECHANIC.
The Experiment Station.

CHAPEL HILL. Y. c.. Feb Q, 1880.
M,ssrs. Editors The suggestion made by
the Goldsboro Mail that Prof Redd. OF the
University, be appointed to I'LL the vacancy
caused by the resignation Of DR.. Ledoux IS
SUPERINTENDENT of the Experiment Station.
is undoubtedly a good one. Prof: Redd
possesses qualifications which peculiarly ut
him for this position, probably not possessed
by any other man in the State or else
where. His reputation as a chemist is not
bound by the narrow limits of North Caro-
lima, and his energy and determination as
evinced in his previous enterprises Is sufl-
cient to secure for the Station a sure sue
cess. and as such. a means OF extending Its
incalculable benefits to the people of the
State. He stands to-day pre-eminent among
the scientists of the age. We also favor the
idea of running the Station in connection
with the instruction in chemistry at the
University, making Prof. Redd the chemist
in charge, and the students of chemistry his
assistants By such an arrangement the
Station will be a source of greater benefit to
the people than it has ever been before.
Let the students under the immediate SUI
pervision of Prof. Redd do the work of the
Station, and let the cost. as is now the case,
be paid by the State. This can not be OBJ
jected to for fear Of incOmpetency on the
part of the students, for the work Of the
Station is not so difficult as to require a
greater knowledge of chemistry than can be
obtained at the University. The people Of
North Carolina can we'll boast of the fact
that the facilities for teaching practical
chemistry at the University are not sur
passed in the Southern States. The ad-
vanced tudents can. and should do the work
of the Station. The work required to be
done by the students is exactly the same as
that lone in the Agricultural Station. Dur
ing the present session the students have
been engaged in the analyses of marls, GU
anoes, soils, ores. phOsphorites, mineral wa
tiers, and other things that are of general in
terest, some of which, either for want of
time or on account of negligence on the
part of the owners, lave never before been
analysed. Some of these were found to be
valuable manures, and their owners have
been buying commercial fertilizers to i'm
prove their soil, while they owned rich beds
of more valuable manures than they could
obtain elsewhere. By this combination the
resources of every county in the State will
be developed by the student-the young men
of North Carolina. County pride will cause
every student to find all the mineral wealth
in his county that is possible to find, and ere
part of the State will be known and worked
to the best advantage. They will be worked
with the energy and determination that will
secure wealth to our State and prosperity to
it's citizens. Tell me not that the people OF
North Carolina are indolent, and that their
Incidence is the cause of their poverty.
They are active, energetic. and need only to
know what our State contains to make it
wealthy, and if through want of confidence
in their mineral resources they are never
made to Know their value, the greatest work
for which the Station was established, will
never be accomplished. GRENDEL.