El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-05

One of the most instructive fea-
lures of the carnival will undoubtedly
be the exhibit at the chamber of COM
merce. that is coming down from the
college of agriculture and mechanic
arts and experiment station at Mesil,a
Park The authorities at that institu-
ton have been making special prepar-
atoms for several months past to make
this exhibit the most complete that
has ever been sent out by the college
Every one of the many departments of
both college and station will be rep
resented. and some features of what is
shown should prove attractive to all
who will be in this city during the
carnival.
The Mesilla Park institution has
many friends in this city and neigh
borhood but it is safe to say that few
of our citizens fully realize the import
ance and extent of its work. The col
lege has been in existence, since 1890.
and during the past ten years has made
steady progress and great strides in
its development as one of the leading
educational institutions of the south
west. Its support is both federal and
territorial (mainly the former). and in
the college the instruction in all de-
partmentS is practically free. The
work in general is industrial in char
acter, the two principal lines being ag-
riculture and it's allied subjects. AMI
the mechanic arts. The equipment Tor
these departments of instruction is ex-
cellent, and for the latter, the insti
tuition possesses the best equipped
shops for the purpose in the territory.
In the exhibit now being prepared
for the carnival. the mechanical en-
cheering department will lead in the
college exhibit and the agricultural in
the experiment station exhibit. From
the former department will be shown
good variety of students work in car
pentry, wood turning, iron and forge
work and drawing. besides many inter-
esting views of machinery and work
done in the department. The prepare
tory department of the college will
send down some excellent specimens
of clay modelling and wood carving.
with some drawing work All the stu
dents. both boys and girls. in this de-
partment take the required manual
training work in the above branches
and have made great progress in it
since its introduction two years ago.
The stenography department of the col
lege-well known throughout the
southwest and Mexico for it's pioneer
work in training stenographers in
both English and Spanish-will send
down it's exhibit of typewriting work
which attracted so much attention in
this city during the teachers conven-
ton last summer. From the depart
ment of English will be shown a series
of photographs used in connection
with the instruction in that branch.
and each of the other departments of
the college will send down books,
charts, apparatus, or other material
illustrative of it's methods of instruc-
ton.
The material to come from the de-
partment of the experiment station
will be particularly interesting as
showing the different lines of investi-
CATION pursued at Mesilla Park.
These cover a wide range and include
some questions of great Importance to
the development of this region. The
department of soil physics, for. exam
pie. has been investigating thoroughly
during the past year or two the ques-
ton of the different characters of our
soils and the amount of water required
for the growth of various crops, and
consequently the amount necessary for
irrigation. This department will show
some practical results obtained. in
Guiding the composition of soils and
the manner of Analysing them. The
chemical department will give a prac-
teal exhibit of the solid contents of
some of our local well waters. in
which subject it has done much inter-
esting and valuable work. The di-
vision of botany will show many native
plants and other material, all arranged
so as to be easily inspected by the
public. The principal part of the ex-
pertinent station exhibit, however.
will be that from the department of
agriculture and horticulture, which