Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-09
Scientific Farming.

C0nnectfcut's New ASr1cuAtufAA ScnOOA'
 In the Norwich Bulletin yesterday we find the following with other information regard ing the projected agricultural school which the State is to possess: At the last session of the Legislature an offer was made to the State of Connecticut, through the State Board of Agriculture, of fine farm and suit able buildings in the town of Mansfield for an agricultural school. Tha proposition, which came from MT. Augustus Storrs, was referred to the Committee on Agricultural Affairs and met with favorable reception. As a result bill was reported and passed in- corporating the school, appropriating $5,0O0 a year for three years for it's operation, and appointing the following board of trustees Governor Bigelow, ex-ofhclo; Prof. 5. w. Johnson, of the State agricultural experiment station; ex-Lieutenant Governor Hyde of Stafford. designated by the State Agricultural society; and the following gentlemen elected by the Legislature: Messrs. John P. Barstow of Norwich, chairman of the legislative Con- mittee of Agriculture John M. Hall, of Windham; T. s. Gold, secretary of the State Board of Agriculture J. B. Olcott, of South Manchester, agricultural editor of the Hart, ford C0urG1at; s. O. Vinton of Mansfie Id (Eagleville), and J. M. Hubbard of Middle town This board has organized with Mir. Barstow for president, and has taken hold of the work with energy, intelligence and determination to make the institution worthy of the commonwealth and of the gen. erosity that founded 1t.
 Mansfield is large rural town in eastern Holland county, lying next north of Wind ham. The county is undulating, well water ed, fairly fertile, well dotted with the homes of prosperous farmers, small manufacturing settlements, and as picturesque and healthy neighborhood as can be found in any agri- N,71t1 trio nf VI Its roads, for which nature has done good deal, are, through the zeal and pride of intelligent selectmen and the old fashioned 'fdeestriet" system, kept in ad- mirable condition. On the old stage route from Norwich to Springfield, seven miles north of Willimantic two miles south of the stFour Corners, " where the old Hartford and Boston stage route crosses, one finds clus- l ter of half dozen houses, a church, school ] house, and the building now devoted to the | agricultural school. The spot is also reached | by driving eastward from the New London Northern railroad, stations Eagleville and | Mansfield, short three miles from the for mer and long three from the latter. By l whichever of these routes the visitor has come he ascends gradually, and now he finds | himself on such high ground as to command 8 magnificent distant view, especially to the \ north and east.
 The large residence and pleasantly laid out l grounds and fine barns of MT. Augustus l Storrs, the donor of the property for the school, attract attention conspicuous for their value and sightliness. That he is a hu- | mane and highly skilled farmer is shown to the eye by the improved facilities for farm | ing and improved accommodations for his cattle and other live stock. His farm is stocked with something like a hundred head of cattle of good breeds, Durham, Ayrshire and Jersey grades, from the sale of whicE l alone MT. Storrs makes handsome income l. q appearance of the walls and fences also i'm press the observer with the enterprise, taste and thrift of the ruling genius of this neigh borhood.
 MT. Augustus Storrs is short, compactly built, affable gentleman of about sixty, darl complexion, heavy eyebrows, black hail scarcely touched with grey and brisk, aler
 manner. He was native of Mansfield, an6 has reserved from his gift to the State tht identical spot on which he was born. Witt his brother Charles he has been in mercantile business in Brooklyn, N. Y, where he ac GU mulated handsome competence and still re sides the greater portion of the year. For g few weeks in the summer he comes out tt this country residence. The operations o1 his farm through the year are conducted by l an educated overseer.
 Contiguous to his property is that now be slowed on the State. The main edifice anG some fifty acres of it has quite an interesting ! l State by MT. and Mrs. Whitney, who hal | lost their children, as an asylum for the or | phans of Connecticut soldiers in the late war | The building was erected for this use some thing like fifteen years ago, private schoo
 house of MT. Whitney on the same ground ! having been burned short time before, ant this structure having been commenced b.
 MT. Whitney with the money which he re
 covered from the guardian of the pupil wht set the old school afire In time the orphan
 grew up and were established in new homes or business and the object for which it wa
 founded having been accomplished, the Stat conveyed the property back to Mrs. Whitne, five years or more ago. She was then a wid l ow with posthumous child, that promised l to live and grow up. Subsequently there wa
 talk of selling the property; and as the Stat l wanted place for lncurabie lunatlcs iron the Middletown asylum, it was proposed t l utilize this building for the purpose. At thi iuncture MT. Storrs stepped in and bough I the property, which he has since retained There is no such institution in existence a that which 1t is proposed to establish a
 Mansfield. Instead of theoretical book learn ing, which may be and may not be available l practical knowledge is to be afforded at
 earn money while at the school to defray ex l penses
 An ordinary common school educationis al
 the educational preparation requisite for ad
 mission. It is proposed to have the boys dc the practical work of this farm, under prop 1 CT directions with competent lectures on tn
 different branches of farm work in connec | ton herewith. There will be special stud
 of the chemistry of the soil, and the use O } l fertilizers, and a number of kindred topic l indoors.
 The Bulletin article concludes: s'For th position of principal there is talk of selectin MT. Solomon Mead, of New Haven, althougl
 the matter is not yet decided. Mir. Mead i man nearly sixty years of age, who ha
 studied agriculture u1s1er Professor Nortol
 at the Sheffield Scien. ic School. He was fo
 many years thereafter engaged in marke
 gardening and horticulture. with which h
 IS thoroughly conversant He has also hat
 practical experience in general farming
 and IS the inventor of plow-Mead's Conf cal plow-which, when well made by thos
 who held the patent, had an extensive sal
 and merited popularity. Latterly he ha been engaged in the sale of agricultural i'm
 plements and machinery, in connection witt
 the house of R. B. Bradley & Co.,, Ney Haven He is man of plain style and man
 ners, but intelligent, shrewd, vigilant, active
 good tempered and of fine personal charac ter. He is warmly endorsed by Professo l Johnson of Yale.
 The work of instruction will be committe,
 to gentleman selected especially for tha
 purpose, and not connected with the genera
 management. The trustees have been nego tiating with Mir. Henry P. Armsby, originall
 from Millbury, Mass, but graduate o
 Sheffield Scientific School in New Haven, il l 1876, and since resident of that city, MT } Armsby has added to his fine education ii , the Elm City by further study abroad ha
 been connected with the Connecticut agricul
 tural experiment station, with Professo Johnson, and is the writer of work on Cat tie Feeding It is yet uncertain whethe
 Mir. Armsby will be secured, It is quit,
 probable that an assistant teacher, to look af
 ter the ordinary English branches, outside o
 the special agricultural training will be need
 ed.
 Connecticut Hospital for the Insane.
 It is proposed to commemorate at Middle
 town the fifteenth anniversary of the organ
 ization of the board of trustees who were ap 1 nointed by the Leeislature in 1a6f on Wed