The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-20
PURDUE UNIVERSITY.
The History Of the State Agricultural College
What Work It Is Doing for Indiana.

| IN accepting an endowment by the unlted states
to establish an agricultural college, passed the
line that has been tine hating place of learning
| lin colleges-in all countries.
| The history of the State agricultural college,
called Purdue University" at Lafayette, organ
| lied in 1869. for the past year Under the man.
| agement Of Prof. j. M. Smart, president, Is one
or marvellous progress, and can only be realized
| by visit to the college. Cold type can only ex-
| press the fact but in no sense convey the i'm
preston produced. when we remember that only
q dozen years ago the present site was farm
land.
There are to day 313 students in the college,
forty eight Of whom entered this spring term,
showinga gain of over one hundred in the two
years past EAST enough President Smart
said, sfor US to take care of and properly man
age with our present force" The classes have
to be taught in sections. In all that embraces
| an English education-German Is also taught
in the arts, sciences and industry-which word
might probably embrace the whole-the require
ments are fully and ably met by a corps Of
te1chers who are universally liked and appre
ciated as instructors. Up to this point other
colleges instruct; but here, as stated above, by
virtue Of the United States grant. Purdue
crosses the line, and from the textbook turns
her students, male and female, into the practical
arena of education-as If to say, analyze the air,
and tell me what ingredients of speech are In It,
Some turn to the paths of agriculture, and
study the colors and proportions of the earth
that shall yield most to his touch and practical
| industry by the knowledge he has gained in the
| classroom of fruit culture gardening hygiene
| forestry and economic botany. Here he has inn
pulse, too, to these studies There is that in his
vicinity to nature which suggests them. The
glebe incorporates and reveals to him what the
science OF the class room teaches him to ex
pect, what philosophy always aspires and
assists to comprehend. Natures garniture
cannot but be richer by his effort here,
and his advancement teaches him the knowl-
edge that upon the knowledge and skill of the
farmer depend the marketable parliaments of
| commerce. He feels the influence of this vast
and tranquil system, to enter which, with a
knowledge of the mystery, beauty and personal
ty Of nature, is the one effort of his student life
here.
In connection with this department is the en-
tomologist, whose energy and skill is attested by
| the fact and act that he "iets guilty bug es-
CAPE" His information is to benefit agricultural
communities, and it is sought from far lands,
our own and distant States. From the infntes
imal insect to the cormorant that don't stop for
fences, he has grouped and classified them all;
with their habits and destructive force, and the
particular cereal or vegetable growth of what
ever kind they feed upon and destroy. It is no
little learning for the student Of agriculture to
know as WELL his enemies The products of
the farm and garden of the college-all adjoining
the college grounds proper-in stalk and seed, is
a study of itself. arranged in racks shelves,
and cases, frames, and supports, made by
the students In another department. to
Here the student enters as raw, but not as rough
as the material he is TO handle. He passes
through shop work with the same sense Of duty
he feels in having perfect lesson in the recita-
Al -
graded with his studies accordingly. He is
taught here the qualities OF woods, of different
CHARACTERIZATION and relative strength of
jonts-of framing, bracing. paneling surface
| measurement, rabbeting, mortising, tenoning,
| ove-tailing splicing notching, angulation, and
scroll work; the use of machinery of rotary aud
| transverse planers, circular. scroll and hand
| saws lathes and attachments. He is given the
trestle board as he advances, and told to design
this and draw that piece of work, according to a
certain measurement or radius. He is taught
| shading and free-hand drawing of different OBJ
jects and machines. He passes on into the forge
| room where he is taught the properties of iron
| and other metals, as we'll as their use and
strength-the management OF steel in forging,
hardening, tempering and annealing-as well as
the methods of casting in the foundry; he is
taught how prepare the mold and is left to
prepare and set them for casting which he
makes. If he fails in perfect cast he finds
the cause and profits by his information.
From the forgeroom hes goes to the lathe. and
this compartments the finishing Of the rough
| iron, by turning, planing slotting. drilling,
boring, fiuting, etc" The sophomore class was
| on duty here. They were finishing work that
puzzled me to be told they had forged in the
| rough and beat into shape for the lathe they
| were now manipulating. What next, il this is
| only sophomore work2 / went up to the junior
| and senior department l said in the outset that
| this progress Of the student must be seen to be
realized 1t is hardly worth while to 60 further,
! for you enter now a labyrinth only the student
| Th1aa
come to Prof. Stahl United States engineer)
ripe for the learning that awaits them under his
| instruction Mechanical drawing in the junior
| and senior year embraces instruction and
practice in the methods of representing by draw
| ngs all geometrical magnitudes and the solu
! ton of problems relating to these magnitudes in
/ space. This subject, including its application to
shades, shadows and perspective, is taught from
textbook; one hour each day being devoted to
instruction and recitation in the class-roo and
one hour to the practical solution of original prob
lens in the draughting- room" Under the head
| of principles in mechanism "are studied, the
principles underlying the action of the elemental
| ry combinations OF which all machines are com
posed. The communication of motion by gear
| wheels, belts, cams, screws and link-work the
various means of producing definite changes of
| velocity, the different automatic feed motions,
epicyclc trains, parallel motions. and the prnei
| Piles of quick return movements" The instruc-
| ton in principles of mechanism" is supple
mented by daily work in the draughting-room,
| where the students work cut practical problems
| similar to those that an engineer would meet In
| the regular practice of his profession His
| ideas thus rendered clear and definite; and
he becomes able. not only to say in general terms
| how certain problems should be handled and
| solved. but, what is more important. to work
| them out himself in a correct and intelligent
manner.
| In his senior year he devotes five hours per
week, for nineteen weeks. to the subject of
prime movers" Of ''the mechanism and action
| of the principal pumps the working of over and
undershot wheels and of turbines, the flow of
water through pipes, and, in general, the utiliza-
ton of water power, the advantages and disad-
| vantages of various modern forms of steam
| boilers-size of tubes and fues thickness of
plates, strength of different styles of rivetng,