Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-06-16


ment stands in equal prominence
with the horticultural department
The course in the mechanical depart
ment requires four years. The stu.
dent is first put into blacksmith
shop for practical instruction and
manual training and promoted from
time to time until the end of the
course when he is experienced in
handling such tools as lathes, plan
ers, drills, and milling machines.
With these machines all the work Of
a first-class machine shop is accom-
piished. All sorts of tools, steam
engines, cut gearings, etc., by the
students were on exhibition, showing
that there are many practical and
high grade workmen turned out of
the department Another course in
this department is electrical engi'
neering, which is literally supplied
with apparatus.
Closely connected with the depart
ment above is the department of
physics presided over by Prof Math-
ews, a former resident of Willow
Lakes vicinity. He, too, "grew up
in the business" getting his start
at this institution.
Prof. Austin Came, an old Brook.
ings county boy, has a room in the
same building where he instructs
the class in civil engineering.
Together with our old friend r.
NJ. Crawford, a practical farmer, who
obtained his education by hard
knocks and bitter experience before
the days of agricultural colleges on
the immense scale Of our state in
stitution, we drifted down to the
athletic park. Here "sham battle"
was in progress. 1t was we'll named
as it was all sham, consisting of
much noise and no maneuvering. We
are therefore unable to tell whether
these soldiers at the college possess
more military knowledge then
enough to shove cartridge into a
gun aud pull trigger, but we
presume they do not as their exhibi-
ton consisted entirly of that mention
ed above.
The college farm and barns come
next for inspection. Kingsbury
County people are largely interested
in stock and few, if any, of the visit.
ors from these parts missed this de-
partment. The Sl2,000.00 barn
came first. 1t is fine building in a
poor location. There is no natural
drainage, and little opportunity to
make a sufficient artificial drainage.
The south wing of the second story
is devoted to a class room for the
students in agriculture, the display
of samples of grains and farm ma
chinery. The other part Of this floor
did not seem to be in use. On the
basement aeer we found the cattle
There are some fine animals there
and some not SO good. We gather
ed the impression that this particular
feature was failure as an exhibition
We have just as good and more of it
here at home. Hogs form an import
ant part of South Dakota farming,
but this branch showed up mostly by
its absence. There were few pens
of hogs. The animals, for the most
part, lay painting in the sun without
drop of water in the troughs. An.
other pen contained hogs and ewes
and their lambs probably this was
for the porpose of giving the hogs a
supply of fresh mutton. The hogs
were painting and the sheep blatting
in the sun, having access to neither
pasture nor water. The yards
around the buildings appear i'll kept
The gentleman in charge may be q
good student and thorough in
structor, but he certainly lacks in
management and in looking aftel
some of the details that are of con
siderable Importance. In the days
when Luther Foster had charge ol
this department sixteen years ago, q
better showing as to appearance O
the yards and care of stock was
made than now.
The dairy department seems t.
have sunk into the oblivion of the po
litical quicksands that come to sur
| face in the management of this insti
tuition.
/ 1t may be that that Sl2,000.00 barr
will be needed ,,by the agriculture
department in the future, but a
present the entire exhibit is higt
| priced at that figure.
! On the whole, the people Of South
Dakota have a great institution a