The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-02-26


Darden, master of the State Grange,
fought for the one object many years.
1t aOas an compliance a0ath thas demand
of the farmers of the State that the Leg
sslature established the a. Dc NJ. College.
The State law establishing the COL
leges, based on the Federal gift
quoted from the law, and enumerated
among the duties assigned to the
board Of trustees. g The establishment
and maintenance Of a Jfrst-class spast5tu-
taon, at a0hach the youth Of the State mag
acquire common school education and
scientific and practical knowledge Of
agriculture, horticulture and the mechanic
arts and also the proper groaOth and care
of stock. They shall regu-
late the course of study, rates of
tuition, management of experimental
farms, the manner of performing
labor, the kind to be performed by
students" y
These extracts from the State law
show how the Legislature understood
what was required in accepting the
land scrip" from the United States.
Successive Legislatures till the one
of 1887 and 1889 have made liberal
appropriations to carry out the condi-
tions and in providing the necessary
plant of buildings, experimental farm,
grounds, equipments, apparatus, barns,
sheds, silos, machinery, improved i'm
plements, ETC., necessary to make the
college what it was intended to be,
trSt-claSS institution, and have provided
also for it's support from year to year.
The value of the college property is
now $2O6, $685. This is valuable
State property, and stands in some
relation as the State house, asylums
and other buildings at Jackson, as a
State monument an the interest of edu-
catang the farmer boys an the State. Also
as the University buildings and outfit
at Oxford, the leading institution and
the oldest The value of the plant at
Oxford is about 100000. The ex-
penditure at the A. & M. College
($2O6, 986) as not unreasonable when a0e
consider that oar State IS an agricultural
State and the farmers pay 80 per cent Of
all the tares, and ats establishment and
support aOaS condition Of acceptance Of
the partial endoa0maent from the United
States. The college near Starkville is
essentially an agricultural college, the
trustees perfecting this department
first, because four -ffths of our people
are engaged in farming, and this is
the main industry to be lifted up first,
to benefit the greater number. The
college is now ready, and has SO re-
ported to the last two Legislatures, to
add the mechanical department. This
can be done at slight additional ex-
penses, sufficient to erect shops for
wood and iron and equip them with
the latest tools and machinery for
working wood and iron. But little
change will be needed in any other
direction. The same faculty will
answer, with the addition of me-
chanical engineer, which the United
States government stands ready to
furnish in the same way as the officer
is furnished from the United States
Army, to administer discipline and
teach military science. A slight re-
adjustment of studies, varying the
course according as student desires,
an agricultural or mechanical bias, is
all that is necessary in the curriculum.
The A. & M. College is now fully
equipped, has all the necessary build
ings, plant, apparatus, etc. The main
expense to the State has already been
met. All that is needed now is sup
port from year to year, just as is
being done by the State towards her
University at Oxford and her other
State investments.
The college a0as established on the de-
uand Of the farmers a0sth contract
made by the State and the United States
and an the interest of agriculture and
the mechanic arts. If the college is
carrying out the object of the United
States and State law it ought to be
literally supported. The State has
been most liberal in its appropriation,
and the record shows large attend
ance, larger for the time of its exist
ence than any institution. ever estab-
lished in the State. Like all new in
stitutions, it has had and will continue
to have enemies, men who are honestly
opposed to its object and management
The system of education is different
from that pursued in the older COL
leges, and, like all new departures, it
is opposed by the alumni of the older
colleges generally. 1t must be re-
membered, at the beginning Of this CEN
t'tTy, not an agricultural college Was an
existence. They nearly all date from
the year 1910, in Europe, and 1865
in the United States Most of them
are only twenty or thirty years old,
while the older colleges run down the