BOTANICAL GARDEN. TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. PROM OCTOBER 1, 1885, TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1886. ■"\ ■i?-"w' BY AUTHORITY. LANSING : THORP & GODFREY, STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1886. 1/. ar LIBRARY f^EW YORK BOTANfCAL Qardon' REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE • ' STATE BOARD OF AGEICTJLTUHE. Agkicultura October AL College, ) r 1, 1886. \ To EussELL A. Algek, Governor of the State of Michigan: Sir, — I have the honor to submit to you herewith as required by statute the accompanying annual report for the year ending September 30, 1886, with supplementary papers. Very respectfully, HENKY G. EEYNOLDS, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. Hox. FRANKLIN WELLS, of Constantine, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD. Hon. THOMAS D. DEWEY, of Owosso, VICE PRESIDENT. Hon. WM. B. McCEEERY, of Flint, Hon. ELIJAH W. RISING, of Davison Station, Hon. HENRY CHAMBERLAIN, of Three Oaks, Hon. CYRUS G. LUCE, of Gilead, Hon. RUSSELL G. ALGER, Governor of the State, Ex Officio, Hon. EDWIN WILLITS, M. A., President of the College. " HENRY G. REYNOLDS, Secretary, Agricultural College. MERRITT L. COLEMAN, Treasurer, Lansing. FACULTY AND OFFICERS OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. Edwin Willits, M. A., President and Professor of Political Science, Constitu- tional Law and Business Law. Thfophilus C. Abbot, LL. D., Professor of Mental Philosophy and Logic. EoBEKT C. Kedzie, M.A., M.D., Professor of Chemistry and Curator of the Chemical Laboratory. Albert J. Cook, M.D. , Professor of Zoology and Entomology and. Curator of the General Museum. Wm. J. Beal, M.S., Ph. D., Professor of Botany and Forestry and Curator of the Botanical Museum. RoLLA C. Carpenter, M.S., C.E., Professor of Mathematics and Civil En- gineering. Samuel Johnson, M.S , Professor of Practical Agriculture and Superin- tendent of the farm. Eli AS J. MacEwan, M.A,, Professor of English Language and Lit- erature. E. A. A. Grange, V.S., Professor of Veterinary Science. John A. Lockwood, 2nd Lieut. 17th U. S. Infantry, Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Liberty H. Bailey, Jr., M.S., Professor of Horticulture and Landscape Gar- dening, and Superintendent of the Horticultural Department. Lewis McLouth, M.A., Ph. D., Professor of Mechanics and Astronomy. Henry G. Reynolds, M.S., Secretary. Frank S. Kedzie, M.S., Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Louis G. Carpexter, M.S , Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Henry R, Pattengill, Assistant Professor of English. Joseph B. Cotton, B.S, Instructor in Mathematics. Mrs. Mary J. C. Meiirell, M.S., Librarian. Henry W. Baird, B.S., Assistant Secretary. Hiram T. French, B.S., Foreman of the Farm. Louis Knapper, Florist. Charles S. Cr.vndall, B.S., Foreman of the Horticultural Department. James Wiseman, Ergineer and Foreman of Iron Shops. H. Campbell, Carpenter and Foreman of Wood Shops. ACCOUNTS OF THE STATE AGEIOULTURAL COLLEGE. FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1886. SECRETARY'S ACCOUNT. Dr. Cr. To balance on hand October 1, 1885 $468 46 To balance on deposit with College Treasurer October 1, 1885, less two warrants outstanding ($19,309.04 less $843.34) 18,475 70 To State Treasurer on account special appropriations — Farm Department ..- $2,810 00 Garden.... 232 00 Greenhouse 695 00 Botanical 400 00 Chemical 1,500 00 Zoological 750 00 Mechanical 9,000 00 Repairs of buildings 1,647 00 Steam repairs 600 00 Mathematics 225 00 Institutes.. 300 00 Library 1,700 00 Students' labor 4,000 00 $23,859 00 To receipts of Institution on account of Ispecial appropriations — Library. $2 50 Mechanical department 2 00 Steam repairs 31 44 $35 94 To receipts transferred to special appropriation account — Library special examination fees $98 00 Assembly Hall, bank interest 306 99 Assembly Hall, matriculation fees 745 00 Assembly Hall, diploma fees 80 00 $1,229 99 Total receipts on account special appropriations 25,124 93 Carried forward $44,069 09 COLLEGE ACCOUNTS. VU Dr. Cr. Brought forward $44,069 09 To State Treasurer ou account of current expeuse — Interest -. $39,930 68 $39,930 68 To sundry receipts of institution on account cur- rent expense — Farm department $6,435 10 Horticultural departm ent 683 38 Greenhouse department 311 30 Apiary — 57 13 Fuel — - 336 43 Fertilizer license fees 300 00 Range rent of boarding clubs 100 00 Miscellaneous receipts h'ss $306.99, bank interest transferred to special appropriation account-- 146 80 8,348 87 To receipts from students' fees on account of cur- rent expense — Room rent $3,779 93 Incidental expense fee - - . 1 , 750 75 Damages.- - - - 38 37 Physiology class fee - 15 00 Chemistry class fee - 546 41 Matriculation. diploma,and spe- cial examination fees, trans- ferred to special appropria- tion account 5,130 36 Total receipts on account of current expense 43,389 91 To students' deposits 1,337 49 By students' deposits, balance of previous year, paid- --_ - ... $1,779 00 By disbursements on special appropriation accounts 33,478 17 By disbursements on current expense accounts - 43,945 75 By balance on deposit with college treasurer Oct. 1, 1886 7,636 89 By balance cash on hand October 1,1886 - 1,846 68 $88,686 49 $88,686 49 SUMMAEY OF TKEASUKEr's REPORT. M. L. Coleman in account uith Agricultural College. Dr. Cr. To balance October 1, 1885- $19,319 04 To receipts from State Treasurer and Secretary State Board of Agriculture from October 1, 1885, to September 30, 1886, 67,656 14 By warrants paid from October 1, 1885, to September 30, 1886. - $79,3aS 29 Balance to new account October 1, 1886 7,636 89 $86,975 18 $86,975 18 The above is a correct summary of my report to the State Board of Agriculture. M. L. COLEMAN, Treasurer. VIU STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. SUMMARY OF DISBURSEMENT ACCOUNT. Disbursements on account of special appropriations — Farm department |2,879 69 Horticuhural department 279 48 Greenhouse department 324 36 Botanical department 754 68 Veterinary department 5,840 24 Chemi i. al department 1,638 93 Zoological depaitment 1,264 55 Mechanical dei /artmeut _ . - 8,070 20 Repairs of buildings 1,323 35 Steam repairs 603 38 Mathematical depaitment-- 371 03 Farmers' Institutes 335 14 Dr. 11 room and armory 3,989 95 Library _ 2,474 27 Students' labor 2,980 84 Water works -- 37 49 Mechanical tools 17 59 Experiments in ensilage feeding, etc _ 293 00 Disbursements on account of current expense — Salaries... $26,281 05 Farm depaitment 4,721 90 Horticultural department- - 1,840 96 Mecijanic.ll depaitment-.- - .• 1,478 06 Greenhouse department 408 84 Steam, fuel and lighting- - 3,900 45 Repairs and janitor work 1,9 ')9 92 Chi-mical lab ratory -- 373 73 Military department- . - 342 66 Sundry academic department __ 588 63 Catalogues, postage, offices and Sunday services 1,038 95 State tair exhibti n 262 45 Miscellaneous incidental expenses . . 748 15 ACCOUNT WITH FARM DEPARTMENT. $33,478 17 43,945 75 177,423 92 Dr. Cb. To Disburseraents. By Receipts. On account of — Labor : $1,432 59 $4 02 Farm house 799 66 458 62 Team 165 00 3 40 Cattle 1,653 13 4,337 96 Sljeep 82 74 302 82 Swine. 16 09 162 70 Grain 79 12 886 48 Seeds 151 41 97 33 Wood 88 05 150 73 Implements and repairs 202 38 21 04 Office, etc 51 73 Balance, credit fur year 1,703 20 $6,425 10 $6,425 10 COLLEGE ACCOUNTS. IX ACCOUNT WITH HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Dr. Cr. To Disbursements. By Receipts. On account of— Grounds and labor - $548 38 Board of men 262 2"^ Team 382 79 Vegetable garden and fertilizers 249 99 Orchard, fruit garden and vineyard 138 02 Implemenis, repairs, etc 137 87 Ice. ..... 47 49 Office '^4 14 Sundry receipts $682 23 Balance to debit for year.. .-- 1,158 74 $1,840 96 $1,840 96 SALARIES. The salaries now paid are as follows : President. $3,200 00 Two Pi-ofessors @ $2,000 each 4,000 00 Six Prof es:,o.s @ $1,800 each 10,800 00 One Professor (tp $l,r)00 1.500 00 One Professor @ *1,400 1,400 00 One Professor® $1,200 l.'-'OO 00 Two Assistant Professors @ $1,000 each 2,000 00 One instructor @ $500 500 00 Secretary ...- 500 00 Assistant Secretary 600 00 Librarian.. 600 00 Foreman of farm department (including board)... 750 00 Foreman of hortiuuKural department 750 00 Flon.t... 750 00 Engineer... 700 00 $29,350 00 B X TE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. SUMMARY OF INVENTORY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1886. College farm and paa-k, 676 acres, @ |70 --- - $47,320 00 Buildings — Collegehall $15,000 00 Williams hail 45,000 00 Wells hall 25,000 00 Library and museum building 25,000 00 Chemical laboratory 18,000 00 Botanical laboratory 6,000 00 Mechanic al laboratory 7,800 00 Veterinary laboratory 5,400 00 Armury and assembly hall 6.000 00 Farmhouse 3,500 00 Four brick houses® $3,000.... 12,000 00 Two brirk houses @ !5;3,500 7,000 00 President's and two frame houses 20.728 00 One frame hou^e 4,000 00 Herdsman's house 600 00 Nme barns at Pj ofesiors' houses, @ $300 2,700 00 Horticultural barn and shed " 1,100 00 Cattle barn and shed : 3,400 00 Sheep barn 2,500 00 Horsebarn 3,000 00 Piggery 2,000 00 Brick work -shop. 600 00 Corn-house 500 00 Green-house 9,500 00 Feed barn.... 1,150 00 Gram barn.. 1.600 00 Tool house 1,300 00 Observatory. 150 00 Boiler-house and fixtures 5,000 00 Bee-house... 280 00 235,808 00 Waterworks 4,690 00 Steam works — Four boilers @ $600.00 $2,400 00 Underground piping. 2,700 00 Pipes 3^iid fittings 46 1 38 Tools for steam fittings. 302 02 5,863 40 Twelve fire extinguishers 500 00 Fuel on hand 903 00 Ice tools and pile-hammer. 43 00 Farm Department — Cattle.. $18,150 00 Horses 1,400 00 Sheep 1,389 00 Swine 893 00 Implements, produce, etc 7,530 74 Horticultural Department— ■ 29,362 74 Team, harness, etc $518 00 Tools 655 06 Vegetable garden 301 15 Office. *.. 33 05 Compost and manure 60 00 Miscellaneous 50 25 Green-house — 1,617 51 Plants $3,300 00 Furnaces 300 00 Miscellaneous 400 00 Mechanical department — 4,000 00 Tools in wood shop... $789 99 Tools in iron shop 2,977 06 Stock for repairs.. 94 60 3,861 65 Footing carried forward $333,969 30 * COLLEGE ACCOUNTS. xi INVENTORY. Brought forward $333,969 30 Chemical Department — Furniture and fixtures $461 00 Physical apparatus 6,411 00 Chemical apparatus and chemicals 4,399 50 11,271 50 Engineering Department — Surveying instruments, etc 1,223 20 Physical apparatus — Telescope, etc 1,560 00 Botanical Department — Museum $4, 154 00 Microscopes and other apparatus 1,457 50 Furniture and fixtures 80 50 5,692 00 Library — Books and pamphlets. $18,430 00 Furniture 1,415 00 19,845 00 General museum — Collections and cases 11,660 00 College Hall- Furniture 863 50 Williams' Hall- Furniture 638 48 Secretary's office 382 80 President's office 240 45 Apiary — Bees, stock and apparatus 508 50 $387,853 73 A SUMMARY OF THE RESOURCES OF THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. Farm, buildings, and equipments, as per above inventory $3*^7,853 73 Agricultural College trust fund from sale of lands of United States grant.. 301,333 58 Balance due on purchase money " " " " " " 134,234 31 124,2i2.91 acres @ $5 per acre yet unsold.. " " " •' 621,214 55 920 '« *' '' " " " " of swamp land grant 4,600 00 Total. $1,449,236 17 The present amount of the trust fund, is taken from the last line (that for 1880) of the fifth column of Table No. 2, page xiii. The balance due on purchase money is reported by the Commissioner of the State Land Office, and consists of the total amount for which the Col- lege lands have been sold up to the present time, i. c: The total of the tenth column in Table No. 1 $466,553 37 Less the payments made on these sales, constituting the trust fund 301,333 58 $165,219 79 And less balances due on abandoned descriptions which have reverted to the State by forfeiture for non-payment of interest, as shown in column eleven of Table No. 1 30,985 48 $134,234 31 The 124,342.91 acres yet vacant of the TJ. S. land grant are given in detail as located in the different counties in Table No. 6. 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X ■* ; o ococ ir:oo*£T — •* occ-rc ej' i-i'co' r-'co— ' c = > u .~-r o -C :t CO • |E."cg SS o ■8 »o ■ o 1-H ■CO 3 s^ ^ o CO a IP ;h «) OJ 13 c © o o 03 5> S2 c. — < a o p. o u p. p< *«j o a >■ f r^ -^ ; aSK OJ-r ID X > o wGog "o o 7 c a> dJ *- fl «"^ ^ oo 00 ElD B V-» o o bit d « o a O 3 o m DEPAETMENT EEPOETS. REPORT OF PRESIDENT WILLITS. " The college year has been one of prosperity. As predicted in my report last year, the influx of new students for the spring term was as great as then anticipated, being 54, making an enrollment of new students for the year of 151, and a total in the college of 295. This year, so far, there have entered 95 new students, and with the matriculations impending next spring, our class this year promises to be as large as that of last year, and we shall have a total enrollment of 350 students, if we can get accommodations for them. The increase of numbers affects only the lower classes, as the senior class of last year was 33 and this year 24. When all the classes shall have felt the impulse of the increased attendance, if it shall continue, the college will number the 500 which is the number the plant justifies and demands. It will be recollected that these are all college students, in full four-year (?ourses, without any side special courses, and without any preparatory department to swell the catalogue's numbers. But few colleges in the country, in the college department proper, exceed the numbers we now have. It has been suggested that now is the time to raise the standard of admis- sion. This suggestion comes from those who think the standard too low. But I am clearly of the opinion that there should be no change in the requi- sites for admission. The standard is practically the same as that at the Military Academy at West Point and the Navtll Academy at Annapolis. The present requirements have the merit of taking the young men right from the well-appointed district school, with a habit for work well formed, and their taste for manual labor unimpaired. This is a very important consid- eration in an industrial institution like ours. Two years' additional study away from home before entering college tends to lead the young man away from the industries and into the so-called professions. This Agricultural College fills the place which no other institution does and which our people should foster; is a place at which the student may be made, competent to enter any of the professions he may choose, but at the same time* shall not be made to feel above any honest industry to which the exigencies of life may call him. This is the key to true success. We pride ourselves on the indus- trial morale of the institution, and we must do nothing to lower its tone. While I adhere to the present standard for admission, it is incumbent upon me to say that many of the aiDplicants that come to us, whether from district or graded schools, are not as strong as they should be in some of the primary studies — notably, in grammar. What there is so distasteful in the study of the principles of the language which is the basis of our daily speech. XViii , DEPARTMENT REPORTS. is one of the mysteries of our system of education. Still it is an undoubted fact that it is rare, either in teacher or scholar, to find any enthusiasm for the study. Hence it is desirable that all applicants should come specially prepared in that branch. This is peculiarly desirable in the Agricultural College where special stress is laid upon the acquisition of the faculty of using good English, and special training in the same obtains through the whole course. THE NEW DEPARTMENTS. This year's experience and work has demonstrated the wisdom of the Leg- islature in placing the Departments of Mechanic Arts, of Veterinary and of Military on an independent basis, with independent buildings and facilities for instruction. The new drill hall and armory has proved of great utility in the instruction in military tactics. There is but one institution of the kind in the country which has a superior. With the means to furnish it, the place can be made all that is desirable for commencement exercises. The new veterinary building has enabled the instructor in that important science to gather together all the apparatus needed for instruction, to have convenient dissecting and operating rooms in close proximity, and, in gen- eral, to give more thorough and exclusive attention to the subject than here- tofore. The results have been eminently satisfactory. THE NEW COURSE IN MECHANIC ARTS Adopted two years ago, and for which the Legislature generously provided the means for a beginning, has prospered beyond our most sanguine expec- tations. A building containing lecture rooms and laboratories and shops was erected and and fully occujDied last spring term. It Avas constructed for seventy-five students and has been filled to its utmost capacity in the one year and one term of the four-year course. This term the students have been obliged to work in sections of two hours each, from one o'clock to three, and from three to five, in order to get room to work. It is manifest that to accommodate the full attendance of four years' classes the shop capacity must at least be doubled. This will cost about $3,000. More room for draughting and laboratory work is very desirable, but not as imperative as shop room and a further supply of tools and machines and power, to pro- vide for the students who will be added within the next tAvo years, even at the rate they have applied in the last two. It is gratifying to note the earnestness with which professors, instructors and students have thrown themselves into the work and the very promising results that have been secured. We have rigidly adhered to our plan not to admit any student into that course who has no predilection for that industry, and the result is as we anticipated — there has been no impairing of the attendance in the Agricultural Course. There is a strong demand from students in the Agricultural Course, and this demand is enforced by the almost unanimous Avish of the parents, that facilities might be offered for a short term of practical instruction in the shop to students in that course. But it is manifest that such facilities can now be given to only a few. The spring term opens the last week in Feb- ruarA". For six weeks, on account of the season, but little work can be done on the farm or grounds or in the garden. This time could be used for such a purpose. But still more room Avould be needed, which Avould cost $2,000, and an appropriation for the simple tools for that course of at least $500. REPORT OF PRESIDENT WILLITS. xix THE HOKTICULTUEAL DEPAKTMENT. The sciences are progressive, and in their advance tend more and more to ,-a subdivision of work. When Agricultural Colleges were first established Botany, Forestry, Horticulture and Landscape Gardening were all included in one department. That was the case with our College. But as the years rolled along it was manifest that the field was too broad for one man, and wisely some years ago the Board divided the work and made of it two pro- fessorships. A building was erected and ample facilities furnished for Botany and Forestry. But nothing has been done for Horticulture and Landscape Gardening. There is no building and but few tools, and the ■^expenditures have been sporadic, as the exigencies of other well-established departments might permit. The time has now come for a systematic development of this department, which has been too long neglected. In fact, while our College as a whole stands without a superior in the land, in this particular feature it is far behind many others. The importance of fruit ■culture is so great in this State, and the value of new and acclimated kinds and varieties is so far beyond comj^utation, that the attention of the Legislature needs only to be called to it to meet with a liberal response. The horticult- urists of the State are demanding with such vigor that this department should receive this recognition, that I beg leave to ask you to present a lib- eral estimate of its wants to the Legislature. At the date of this report the Professor in Horticulture has under him some 150 students (the freshman and junior classes) in manual labor, and with hardly half tools enough to supply them ; with an office in a dingy hole in the basement of one of our buildings, in which basement is his only storeroom for tools, vegetables, and in which all the records for work and the distribution of gangs to their labor are kept and made. In fine, all the facilities of even a fair market gardener are wanting — to say nothing of lecture and apparatus rooms and facilities for experimental work which the importance of the subject de- mands. STEAM POWEK AJfD WATER WORKS. The steam power is entirely inadequate for the heating of the buildings ■and for the power in the Mechanical Department. It was barely sufficient before the shops were added. It is imperative that two additional boilers be provided, also another engine for the shops. The water supply for domestic purposes has this year proven precarious. The long dry season has dried up several of the wells and rendered most of the others at times unsuitable for use. The large increase of students and the large number of visitors, some- times running into the hundreds, have drawn so heavily upon the wells that it is a matter of dread to enter upon another year of possible drouth. The water for washing, etc., is now pumped from the river, but it has been so low this year as to make it of questionable quality for ablution purposes. It is, therefore, desirable that an artesian well be sunk near the boiler- house and pumps, so that a permanent supply of pure water be obtained if possible, and that the tank be connected with the homes of the professors tj suitable mains. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS. I can but repeat or call attention to my last report relative to the pressing XX STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. need for more dormitories or for a street railroad. The year's experience has demonstrated what I then said. Every room that can possibly hold a student has been fitted up and filled, an.d the next spring accessions will make it necessary to put three students in a room which is unhealthy, and unwise in many respects. The pressure for rooms by the professors, assist- ants and instructors increases with the increase of students. Several of them are now obliged to live in the city, which largely impairs their useful- ness and is a severe tax upon them, especially in inclement weather. Opin- ion is divided between additional buildings and a street railroad. I incline to the additional buildings till the increase of students and visitors shall of itself bring the street railroad to us without any bonus. When that time shall arrive there will be practically no limit to the number of students, and the question of the attendance of ladies will then solve itself. A strong pressure comes from many quarters for accommodations for ladies. Now, while the College is open to them, there being no special building for them, it amounts to a practical prohibition. We have twelve lady stu- dents who find rooms with the professors, or come from their homes daily from the surrounding country. I believe that it is desirable that the number be increased. While the administration would be more severely taxed in one way, there would be ameliorating influences as a compensa- tion in another direction by a larger attendance of ladies ; and I have no hesi- tation in recommending that measures be taken to secure that larger attendance. But the College is now overflowing with young men and the more serious need is felt to furnish accommodations for them. A CHAEACTERISTIC DONATION. A few years since a young man came to us from England and spent some two years at our College, but did not graduate. It was a source of constant amazement to him to find here such wonderful facilities for scientific study free of charge, and he always expressed a desire to show his apprecia- tion of the benefits conferred in some way. I am in the receipt from him of a certificate of deposit, which with accumulated interest will amount to about $150. It will be used, with his approval, in the erection of a one- hutidred-foot flag-staff in front of the Armory. At his request his name is withheld from the public. THE EXPERIMENT STATION BILL. At the request of the Board I spent six weeks in Washington last winter, seeking to promote the passage by Congress of the above-named bill. While there it was successfully passed through the Committee on Agriculture in the Senate and House of Representatives, but the exigencies of legislation allowed it to get no further than the Calendar. An effort will be made next winter to press it to a passage. Whatever the success may be in this Congress, the importance of the subject is growing in public esteem, and it is only a question of time when aid in some form will be granted. In conclusion, gentlemen, I assure you that I am deeply grateful for your hearty co-operation and confidence. In this to me untried field of labor I have need of both. I appreciate the work ; the grand possibilities of this DEPARTMENT REPORTS. xxi institution are beginning to be more fully known, and I am more than ever convinced that success in all its far-reaching results is attainable. EDWIN WILLITS. Agricultukal College, } September 30, 188b. ) REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE AND SUPERINTENDENT OF THE FARM. To the President of the College : "Dear Sir : — I herewith submit my report, of the work of the department of Practical Agriculture, for the college year ending Sept. oO, 1886. 141 students have received instruction in the department during the year, as follows : Freshman 92 ; Sophomores 49. As in my last report I discussed the course in Practical Agriculture at length, indicating by the questions used at the examination of the respective classes the scope of instruction and the topics treated, it is only necessary for me to say in this connection that, with the increasing number of students, the work of instruction is made much more laborious and must soon necessitate the employ- ment of a competent assistant. The superintendence of a large farm, where improved breeds of animals are kept, necessitating constant attention to pedigrees and registration of same ; the cataloguing and selling of stock ; the looking a'fter permanent improve- ments ; the purchase of stores ; the receiving, vouching for and accounting of a large business ; the employment of help ; the planning for student labor and its supervision ; the carrying on of some experimental work ; together with the teaching of large classes are among the duties that have demanded my attention. While not entirely satisfactory either to myself or others, I may be pardoned for saying that I am content to leave the value of my labors, in all of these positions, to the verdict of unprejudiced and fair minded men. I attended the Farmers' Institutes to which I was assigned at Grass Lake and Hudsonville and by invitation the local Institutes held at Eaton Rapids, Web- ster, Jackson and Okemos. I have also taken my turn in delivering the Wed- nesday afternoon lectures before students, and have prepared bulletins No. ] o on " Potato Culture — Varieties etc., " and No. 18 on " Wheat — Notes on dif- ferent varieties and experiments with different amounts of seed. '" MEETING OF TEACHERS OF AGRICULTURE. At the June meeting the State Board of Agriculture appointed Hon. Henry Chamberlain and myself delegates, to attend the annual meeting of teachers of Agriculture, held at Purdue University, Ind., June 28, July 1. The gathering was a very pleasant and profitable one. Profs. Latta and Throop, to whom we were indebted for much of the pleasure of our visit, are graduates of the Mich. Agricultural College, and were efficient helpers in vari- ous departments of work here after graduation. They now occupy the respon- XXU DEPARTMENT REPORTS. sible positions of Profs, of Agriculture and Horticulture, respectively at Purdue. We found them doing efficient work and their services seem to be highly appreciated by those in authority. The Professors of Agriculture from the Agricultural Colleges and agri- cultural departments of the Universities of Kansas, Missousi, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, with Prof. Lazenby of the Ohio Experimental Station and Hon Waldo Brown of Ohio and several other gentle- men were present. The following topics were discussed and the interchange of views must prove mutually helpful to us in our work as teachers of Agriculture. 1. How can the teachers of Agriculture and Horticultvire best excite the interest and enlist the sympathies of the farmers of their respective States ? 2. What should be embraced in a comse of practical Agricultm-e, and how can this course be arranged so as to meet the wants of those who desire to pursue it for a short time? 3. How much manual labor or practice should be required of AgTicultui-al students ? 4. What are among the most essential mieans of illustration in teacliing Agriculture and Horticulture ? 5. What are the chief hindrances to successful teaching ? 6. What relatiou should the Agricidtural College sustain to the National Department of Agriclture ? It was the unanimous expression of these teachers, from the leading Agri- cultural Colleges of this country, that the subject of Practical Agriculture was the most difficult to present, so as to interest and hold the attention of classes, in the whole range of college work. If this is the verdict of those instructors who have but a small number of students in the Agricultural course (who are in College for the special pur- pose of studying Agriculture) and who are not burdened with any of the annoyances which a system of student labor entails ; how is the fact intensi- fied when, as is the case in our own College, we have classes varying during the year from 49 to 92, embracing not alone those who desire the study of Practical Agriculture, but many who do not and who have very little if any interest in the work. Then the great difference so far as knowledge of agriculture is concerned among the members of my classes. To illustrate, in my last Freshman class I had a young man from Japan, who knew but little about cattle. Next to him was a young man whose father has for years bred good cattle and who has picked up a good deal of information concerning them. What the one can understand will not' be very well adapted to the other. One needs milk and the other meat and the teacher of Agriculture is expected to give each his portion in due season. Again the students from the town and city have little knowledge of agriculture, while some of the young men from the farm think they know all about it and need no instruction. In mathematics and the sciences, students of the same class begin together on an equality, one knows as much of the subject as another. I note these facts as practical difficulties in the work of instruction, which are too often overlooked. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE. XXlll DONATIONS. Donations have been received as follows : Hand corn planter, from S. M. Macomber, Grand Isle, Vt. ; hand seed Sower, from Goodell & Co., Antrim, K H.; set of seed drill regulators, Seed drill Kegulator Co., Lemont, Pa.; Devon bull calf, from H. W. Calkins, Allegan, Mich. IMPLEMENTS PUECHASED. The Vandiver corn planter with check rower, from Vandiver Corn Planter Co., Quincy, Ills.; a root cutter, from Belle City Manufacturing Company, Eacine, Wis. ; a milk cart, from Belle City Manufacturing Company, Racine, Wis.; a portable forge, anvil and small tools, from The Foos Mfg. Co.> Springfield, Ohio. IMPKOVEMENTS. We have continued the clearing of No. 16, and have extended our system of drains south of the Grand Trunk E. R., reclaiming several acres of low wet land. The drains in Nos. 13 and 13 are working admirably and on land, that was covered with water three years ago, the June grass and white clover have in many places made a strong turf. It has been a surprise to see how readily these grasses come in as soon as the water is removed. While these fields are quite uneven, I am disposed to think it will be unwise to plow them. It would be years before we could secure such a sod as now covers them. Permanent pastures are coming to be appreciated more and more by stock men in this country and it is best to study the problem carefully before deciding to plow them. BKIDGE OVEK CEDAK KIVEK. A stone butment has been completed at the south end of the bridge crossing the Cedar river. At their last meeting the Board of Agricvilture authorized the building of one at the north end. The old bridge is much dilapidated and is not safe. We are running great risks in using it longer. I recommend that estimates be made for an iron bridge of substantial plan and good finish, to replace the old wood structure as soon as possible. The water tanks at the barns have been enclosed by neat substantial build- ings, so planned as to exclude frost as far as possible. Our water supply to which reference was made in my last report, has proved equal to the emergency of the past very dry season ; furnishing an abundance at the barns and pasture fields, for all our stock. EXPERIMENTS. These have been in part reported in the bulletins to which allusion has been made. The feeding test of calves of differemt breeds is under way. We have two Galloways, one bred by Hon. E, B. Caruss, St. Johns, the other by Messrs. Townsend and Weeks, of Colby. Tw^o Holsteins, one bred by Seeley and Coleman, Lansing, the other by the College. XXI STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. One Hereford, bred by Mr. E. Phelj^s, Pontiac. Two Jerseys, one bred by L. G. Potter, Lansing, the other at the College. Two Short Horns bred at the College. v One Devon, bred by Mr. H. W. Calkins, Allegan. We have found it more diJBficiilt to secure calves of some of the breeds than we had expected. Those we have are doing well and the test promises to be an interesting one. We intend to publish a bulletin during the winter, with breeding of calves, food consumed, and gains made. SALES OF SEED "WHEAT AND POTATOES. Our sales o'f these products for seed" have greatly increased during the year. I hope we may make the Farm de^Dartment especially helpful in this way, by not only furnishing farmers with valuable animals of the improved breeds, but also with seeds and vegetables of reliable sorts and true to name. APPARATUS FOE CLASS ROOM. DuriHg the year, we have purchased a magic lantern and a hundred slides representing good specimens of the leading breeds of horses, cattle, sheep and swine. These will be helpful in making plain the characteristics of those breeds not kept athe College. Some charts illustrating the value of different cattle foods have also been added to our former supply. Also some sketches and photographs of celebrated animals. STOCK. In May last, Pres. Wells and myself attended the dispesion sale, of the herd of Short Horiis owned by Mr. T. L. Harvey of Chicago, and purchased Mysie 44th a Cruikshank ; Lady May, a Princess, and bull calf ; Kirklevington Knightly 2, a Kirklevington. SECOND ANNUAL STOCK SALE. Our second annual sale was held on March 35. I append the following report of the sale made by Editor in Chief Gibbons of the Michigan Farmer : •'As announced, the second annual sale of stock took place at the Agricul- tural College on Thursday last. The day was fine, and the number of people present, among whom we noticed breeders from all parts of the State, gave evidence that the interest in improved stock was still as general as ever. Mr. J. A. Mann did the talking, and did it in an acceptable manner. The fol- lowing is the record : FEMALES. Heifer, CoUege Roan Duchess, by Col. Acomb2d 37984. out of Roan Duchess of Crow Farm by 2d Airdrie of Asliwood 34334. to E. K. Wood. Stanton. Price, $215. Heifer, CoUege Red Rose 4th, by CoL Acomb 2d. out of Bonny Red Rose 3d by 23d Duke of Aii-drie 19393. to E. K. Wood, Stanton. Price, $210. Cow, College Phenix, by Gen. Custer 29618, out of Phenix 12th by Gloster of Ingham 17189, to James Edgar, Lakeview. Price. $125. Heifer, College Alice, by Col. Acomb 2d. out of Alice Van Meter 2d by Aidrie of Ash- wood 343S4. to Wm. Steele, Ionia. Price. $235. College Victoria Duchess 4th ( dropped in January), by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Victoria Duchess 4th bv Roval Belleville 12843. to J. M. Purner. Lansing. Price. $100. DEPARTMENT REPORTS. XXV Heifer, College Belle, by imp. Jiilius ('48073,) out of Belle of Meadow Ridge 2d by Geneva Duke 2d 25630, to E. C. Mc Kee, Lansing. Pi-ice, $155. BULLS. College Waterloo, by Col. Aconab 2d 37984, out of Susie Bates by Airdrie of Ashwood 34334, to D. B. Hale, Eaton Rapids. Price, $95. Hamlet 5th, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Heroine by Rufus 18275, to Wm. Steele, Ionia, Price, $85. Horace, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Hermia 2d by Rufus 18275. Price, $85. Horatio 4th 63046, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Hela 3d by Rufus 18275, to H. R. Miller, Fowler ville. Price, $80. Horatio 7th. by Col. Acomb 2d. out of Hela 5th by Gen. Custer 29618, to James M. Turner, Lansing. Price, $85. Hebe's Acomb, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Hebe 2d by Rufus 18275, to James M. Tur- ner, Lansing. Price, $85. College Airdrie. by 33d Duke of Aidrie 50833, out of Lady Catherine by 2d Baron of Morley ( 41047, ) to D. B. Hale of Eaton Rapids. Price, $95. Col, Page 2d, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of College Victoria Duchess 2d by 3d Grand Baron 39163, to J. H. Bosworth, Olivet. Price, $80. Roan Acomb, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Roan Duchess of Crow Farm 2d by Airdrie of Ashwood 34334, to Merritt Peckham, Devereaux, Jackson County. Price, $105. Hamlet 7th, by Col. Acomb 2d, out of Heroine by Rufus 18275, to James M. Turner, Lansing. Price, $75. The Jersey heifer Roscoe's Idyl 29508 A. J. C. C. Register, by Bobby Roscoe 10497. out of Idyl of Cedar Vale 2d 11896, went to J. M. Turner, of Lansing, for $95. The Holstein heifer College Mae 2d, sired bv Alexander 5th 1552 H. H, B., dam imp. Mae 102 D. F. H. B., went to G. L. Seeley for $100. Two cross-bred Shorthorn and Galloway heifers were sold, one to R. B. Caruss of St. Johns, for $50 ; and the other to J. M. Turner, Lansing, for $30. " The demand was strong for females, but it was hard selling the young bulls. There were some decided bargains, Mr. Hale, of Eaton Rapids, and Mr. Peckham, of Devereaux, securing the best. There was not a poor animal sold, and the visitors were unanimous in their commendations of the quality and condition of the stock offered. Fennell Duke 2d of Sideview, to whom the heifers sold were in calf, was highly commended. " STOCK SALES. Sales of cattle during year amt. to $4,336 93 ♦Sales of sheep during year amt. to - 302 82 Sales of swine during year amt. to 162 70 Total ■ $4,802 45 STOCK ON HAND OCT. 1, 1886. Shorthorns 57 Herefords 10 Jerseys 3 Ayrshires _. 3 Holsteins 7 Galloway 1 Augus 1 Cross bred Galloway and Shorthorn 4 Native 5 Total *... .• 91 D XXVI DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Sixty-three head of swine, embracine; three breeds, Poland China, Essex and Berkshire. One hundred and sixty sheep, American, Merino, Southdown and Shrop- shire. CKOPPING LIST. The following cropping list for 1886 gives the area and yield of the crops grown upon the College Farm : Field. Area. , Crop. Quantity. Remarks. 23.66 acres.... 19 acres 20X acres 27^ acres 17 A. 11 poles. 23 A. 37 poles. 23% acres.... 22 acres 23% acres 23 acres. 23 acres 10 acres 14 acres. Hav.--. - 16>^tons - Wheat Potatoes Mangels...^. Rutabagas Sugar beets 73 bushels ' 163 bushels 400 bushels.. 10 acres devoted No. 3 300 bushels ; 200 bushels to experiment- al cro] s. Carrots Oat« 100 bushels 34 bushels . . 1 No. 4 Past n rp 627 bushels No. 5 Oats, 15 acres - . . 1 2!>4 acres too Hay, 3 acres 63^ tons I wet to crop. No. 6. mover 69 tons... No. 7 . ... Pasture.. Wheat Corn. Potatoes, 3 acres Ensilage corn, 3% acres Hav 600 bushels. No. 8 No.9 18 acres, 600 bushels 319 bushels 35 tons No. 10 ... 56 4-5 tons 700 bushels r Balance of No. No. 11 No. 13 .. Corn, 20 acres , Pasture 1 ■i 11 too wet to crop. No. 13 Pa stn re 141 bushels No. 14... Oats. Pasture No. 15 FAIKS. We have made exhibits at the State and Central Michigan Fairs, of Short Horn cattle. Also from our experimental fields of 18 varieties of potatoes, 16 varieties of wheat and ten of oats. Also mangel wurzel, sugar beets and carrots. The arrangement and quality of the exhibit was commended very heartily by visitors. Sophomores Palmer and'Seibert had charge of the grain and vegetable exhibit in part, and rendered valuable assistance. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE. xxvii I have departed from my usual custom this year and in a few instances have accepted invitations to attend fairs and act as a judge of cattle. I judged the following classes. At the State Fair — The Galloway and Angus. " '' Central Mich. — The Short Horn and Hereford. " " Eaton Co. all pure bred classes. " " North Eastern — Short Horn herds. It is very encouraging to one interested in good stock to note the great improvements made in the exhibits from year to year, and it is safe to say our Michigan breeders are among the first in their enterprise and skill. STUDENT LABOK. The increased attendance has compelled us to make two divisions of the students, assigned to work in the department, who have worked on alternate days or weeks. To make the labor of value either to the students or the department, only such numbers can be employed daily as can have careful supervision. With increasing numbers, it may be well to think about making less of the work compulsory and more of it educational. To do this successfully will necessitate the purchase of more teams and implements and the employment of more skilled assistance. I incline to the opinion that educational labor on the farm and garden can only succeed when it shall be placed on a par with laboratory work. In conclusion it gives me great pleasure to express my obligations to those directly associated with me in the work of the department. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres have cared for the farm house very satisfactorily. Mr. William Brown still continues in the responsible position of herdsman^ Mr. H. T. French, class of 85, has filled the position of foreman of the farm with credit. The cordial cooperation of these and the other employes of the department I mention with sincere appreciation. All of which is respectfully submitted. SAM'L JOHNSON, Agkicultukal College, j Prof, of Agriculture and Supt. of the Farm. October 20, 1886. \ REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. To the President of the College: The most important effort of the year just closed has been that devoted to student labor. With the increase of students and the development of means of instruction, the subject of student labor calls for more study. I adhere to the principle that the primary object of student labor is to instruct the student. So far as this is instructive alone I have not paid the student, but wherever it has been necessary and profitable to the department, whether instructive or not, the student has been paid. Upon the basis of remuneration, therefore, I divide student labor into two classes: educational labor, unpaid ; illustrative labor, paid. XXviii STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. Educational Labor. — It has been the endeavor to make all strictly educational labor a part of class work, and make it necessary to the passing of the study of horticulture. This labor is not "putting in practice the class-room lectures," but is a supplement to those lectures. It is handling and experimenting with the plants and appliances which are discussed in the lectures. So far as possible this labor should precede the lecture. The student theti becomes familiar with the object to be discussed, obtains a concrete notion about which he can group more recondite principles. Let me illustrate by the practice of budding. This fall all my students in horticulture, fifty-four in number, went through the oper- ation of budding in. the field before the subject was discussed in class. They were then prepared, without any preliminary class instruction, to understand why we bud, upon what physiological principles the practice depends, and to enter upon discussions of the influence of stock on bud and bud on stock. Without understanding the art, the practice, it is well nigh impossible to appreciate the science. Moreover, the art is first in importance and it should be first acquired, even if at the expence of the science. No one can acquire this art from a lecture. The student must perform the operation with his own hands. A man never learned how to build an engine from lectures alone. In general it is a waste of time and effort to lecture upon the art, the manual operations of horticulture, for when the student finally undertakes the oper- ations the same and more particular instructions must be given. I lectured two days upon the practice of root grafting, whittling the stocks and scions and making particular mention of all the minor movements of the operator. The next day, however, when these students took the knives and materials into their own hands, I was obliged repeat all my former instructions. In other words I lost two lectures. Students could make much greater progress in my class work if they were familiar with garden operations when they enter the class. As it is, I am constantly beset and hindered by petty questions and ignorances which should be overcome before class-work begins. The remedy for this condition is to make work upon the farm obligatory to freshmen instead of to sophomores, and upon the garden and grounds to sophomores instead of to juniors. This change would also be a direct benefit to some of my colleagues. There are three other important advantages to be derived from such a system. First, students should be taught agriculture and horticulture before their thoughts are bent upon other subjects. At present the student receives no instruction in horticulture until he enters upon the second half of his course. By that time he is likely to have formed preferences for other subjects. Second, as the majority of our students leave college before the opening of their junior year, they receive no instruction whatever in horti- cultural matters. Most farmers' sons cannot afford to spend four years in college, but they have a right to demand some horticultural instruction from a half course at the college. The fact that most of our applied instruction occurs in the latter hall of the course is no doubt an important reason why more farmers' sons do not attend the college. Other colleges have made provisions for those who cannot take the full courses. Third, the last two years would then be at the disposal of the student as far as labor is concerned, allowing him to pursue more particularly some special work. Educational labor in my departmont should embrace a wide range of sub- jects. Some of these subjects are : management of hot-beds and forcing houses, potting and handling plants, making and repairing various tools, making mats for hot-beds, making cuttings, experimenting in cross-fertiliza- DEPARTMENT REPORTS. xxix tion, budding, top-grafting, root-grafting, propagating plants, harvesting and marketing fruits and vegetables, storing fruits and vegetables, evaporating fruit, rearing seedlings under glass, testing seeds, experimenting with plant growth and variation, laying out walks and drives, sodding and seeding, care of orna- mental plants, etc. This labor is all true laboratory work whether performed indoors or out. A great part of it must be performed indoors. Without facilities for carrying on such work, horticultural instruction can be little more than a travesty. Last fall we erected a very small forcing house at trifling expense, and this year we have enlarged it out of the odds and ends of materials. This enclosure affords room for carrying on work which it has been impossible to undertake before. It is entirely inadequate to out wants, however. The department is in great need of a full equipment. In the direction of work rooms, etc., it needs a building of considerable size contain- ing two stories and basement, in which shall be an office, class-room, tool- room, general work-room, heeling-in cellar with root-grafting cellar attached^ room for washing and packing vegetables for market and a storage cellar. In addition to this equipment, more supervision over student labor is necessary. Instruction cajinot be given to more than four or six students at a time. With the number of students now enrolled in my class it is impossible for two men to give instruction during the year in even the larger part of the subjects named, even though the men had no other duties to perform. At present the afternoons of myself and foreman are entirely required in supervising the other and more general work in the gardens, orchards and upon the grounds. The more particular needs in this direction you have already in consideration. Illustrative Labor. — Paid labor comprises all that which is necessary to be done for the good of the Department. In general it illustrates the best methods of performing horticultural labor. The hindrances to making this labor pleas- ant and profitable for all concerned lie chiefly in lack of tools, supervision and horse power. When the proper equipments are supplied I see no reason why our common work cannot be made Very profitable to students. Aside from attention paid to student labor, an experiment with tomatoes has consumed much time and thought. It has required the recording of no less than 5,000 distinct observations. The results of this experiment are given in Bulletin No. 19, which is just issued. It is proposed to extend this experi- ment next year, and to undertake three others in the same line of inquiry. All the orchards and vineyards upon the College premises have been placed in a good state of cultivation. As fast as plants bear fruit the varieties are identified, and the plants labeled and platted. This labor of identification has been an arduous one this year. The inevitable confusion resulting from change in management cannot be easily remedied. The grape crop has been large and fine this year. From vineyard No. 2 — that in the rear of the residence occu- pied by Professor Carpenter — a heavy yield was harvested. Owing to a lack of any place for handling these grapes they did not prove so profitable as they should. Although a heavy crop set in vineyard No. 1 — that south of Wells's Hall — it was all appropriated before ripe. I recommend that in this vineyard a series of illustrative trellises be erected. A part of this vineyard was re- moved last spring to the Fruit Garden, to make room for an outhouse for Wells's Hall. The pear orchard is in excellent condition. So far no trees have been lost from blight. A fair crop for the age of the orchard was marketed this year. We also had an unusual crop of cherries. Most of the plum trees were killed or badly injuried by the Avinter of 1884-5. I propose to XXX DEPARTMENT REPORTS. reset to hardier varieties next spring. A small orchard of native plums was set in the Fruit Garden last spring. We are noT7 growing forty varieties. Specimens of most of the newer hardy fruits are now growing upon the prem- ises. I hope to have means to keep up with this very important work of test- ing varieties. Although our climate is rigorous, I am nevertheless anxious to undertake some phases of peach culture, especially a line of experimenting with a view of breeding up hardier varieties. Soil suitable for this purpose does not occur within the limits of my department, however. We are now growing about two hundred varieties of strawberries. It is proposed next spring, to set nearly an acre comprising about five varieties, for market purposes. Our raspberry crop was very heavy, although pinched severely to- wards the last by the drouth. A market patch will be set this fall. A small orchard of crabs was set last spring. I desire to set a small orchard of repre- sentative Russian apples east of the main orchard next spring. No part of the college premises shows such improvement as the apple orchard. The crops this this year is fair, about two to three hundred bushels. Root-grafts of many new varieties of apples, crabs, pears, jilums, cherrries and foreign fruits were set last spring. As these grow they will demand an extension of our grounds. It is desirable to make a test of promising new ornamental trees and shrubs. We are paying very little attention to this matter. The most notable improvement upon the grounds is the construction of a summer drive along the river flats. Beyond the eastern extremity of this drive a half acre has been set aside for an experimental huckleberry plantation. The results of various experiments and other notes of general interest have been contributed to the agricultural press at intervals during the year. Respectfully submitted, L. H. BAILEY, Jr., Agricultural College, ) Professor of Horticulture and September 30, 1886. f Landscape Gardening. DONATIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCT. 1. 1886. A. B. Cleveland & Co., Cape Vincent, N. York: One pint Cleveland's improved Valentine Beans. One pint Cleveland's Rural New-Yorker Peas. One pint Cleveland's Alaska Pea. Robert Douglas & Son, Wauhegan, Illinois: One doz. seedling Picea pungens. One doz. seedling Pseudotsuga Douglasii. E. P. Roe, Cormoall-on-Hudson, N. YorJc: Scions of Highland Beauty Apple. J. Jenhins, Winona, Ohio: Scions of Whinnery's Late Red Apple. William Falconer, Glen Cove, N. York: Seeds of Xanthoceras sorbifolia. -/. M. Thorbttrn S Co., Neio York: Assorted Tomato seeds. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE. xxxi Prof. W. R. Lazenby, Columbus, Ohio: Seeds of Papaw, Asimina tiiloba. ./. G. Justice, Marcus, Georgia: Scions of Durham's Winter apple. Everett Broiun, Bluff Point, N. York: Four Mary grape vines. S. Gordon, Sand Brook, N. Jersey: Over one hundred varieties of apple scions ; also scions of crabs, pears, cherries and Chickasaw plums. A. M. Purdy, Palmyra, N. York: One doz. Big Bob Strawberry plants. Francis Brill, Riverhead, N. York: Assorted seeds of cauliflower and cabbages. 7ho?nas W. Boiuman, Rochester, N. York: Scions of Quebec Winter Sweet apple. G. H. S J. H. Hale, So. Glastonbury, Connecticut: ^ Plants of Earhart Everbearing raspberry. BabcocFs Nurseries, Little Rock, Arka?isas: Scions of Arkansaw, Shannon and Kossuth apples. Purdue University, by Prof. James Troop, Lafayette, Indiana : Various small fruit plants. D. F. Eioen, Pinckney, Michigan: Boots of "Markery," Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus. L. H. Bailey, South Haven, Michigan: Scions of apple and pear. F. L. Wright, Plainfield, Michigan: Strawberry and dewberry plants. /. T. Macomber, Grand Isle, Vermont: New varieti' s of pears, plums, apples and a raspberry. W. W. Hilborn, Arkona, Ontario: New raspberries. Thomas Love, Avery, Michigan: Plants of Box, Buxus sempervirens. Ellwayiger & Barry, Rochester, Neio York: Scions of Arabskoe apple. Two Paradise stocks. T, T. Lyon, South Haven, Michigan : Small fruit plants in great variety. J. D. Kruschke, Piqua, Ohio: Plants of Twin and Big Bob strawberries. Vosburgh and Shane, Grand Ledge, Michigan: Plants of Moore's Early strawberry. Kizo Tamari, Kagoshina, Japan: Two large colored photographs illustrating Japanese gardening. Hon. 0. W. Garfield, Grand Rapids, Mich. Various lithographs of horticultural products. L. H. BAILEY, Jk., Super intendeyit. XXXli STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. REPORT OF CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. President Willits: — I herewith present my report of the chemical depart- ment for the College year just closed. The year has been full of busy cares and pleasant work in this department ; the st.idents attentive to their studies and.. enthusiastic in their work. The ample opportunities for origimil and inde- pendent work in the chemical laboratory have been appreciated and improved by the students in the higher classes. I am convinced that the best education is secured by encouraging the student to launch out for himself and to do his own work under the supervision of his teacher rather than by seeing any number of illustrations and any amount of demonstrations by another. It is in this sense that this large laboratory finds its proper use and justifies its name when it becomes the ivorking-place of teachers and students. The large additions recently made to the apparatus in the way of analytical and assay balances by Becker & Sons, of assay furnaces, gold and silver fur- nace of Orr & Hess, additional combustion furnace for organic analysis — these in addition to apparatus and appliances formerly on hand, have made the chemical laboratory the prized working place for earnest students. During the past year more than one hundred and fifty students have received instruc- tion within its walls. COMMEECIAL* FERTILIZEES. The last Legislature passed an act (No. 2G) to provide for the inspection of commercial fertilizers offered for sale in this State, the retail price of which ex-» ceeds ten dollars a ton. The act provides that the analysis of such fertilizer shall be made under the direction of the State Board of Agriculture. The Board having appointed me to conduct such analysis, I gathered fifteen specimens of such fertilizers, analyzed them according to law and published the results in the form of a Bulletin. SOURCES OF NITROGEN OF PLANTS. The experimental work which I have been carrying on for four years in regard to the sources of nitrogen of plants, I have this year brought to a close. The results of this investigation were given in a paper read before the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science at its meeting in Buffalo, in Au- gust. The paper drew out an animated discussion and was received with favor. I also attended the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the same place. " THE PLAINS. " A number of communications have been addressed to the College oflicers asking information about the soil of the "plains" of the northern part of our peninsula, its nature, treatment and agricultural capabilities. I have given much attention to this subject in former years, examining the country and its productions along our western border, collecting and analyzing specimens of the soil, etc. At your suggestion I have made a similar tour of inspection ia the central and eastern parts of this region, examining the laud and its produc- REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY. XXXlll tions, gathering specimens of soil for analysis, and picking up what informa- tion I could from those who had cultivated these plains. I am now making an analysis of seven specimens of this soil. The native grasses of these plains have been submitted to Prof. Beal for examination and identification. The people of these new counties recognize the fact that lumbering will soon be a thing of the past in that region, that some new industry must take its place if the region is not to be abandoned to primeval silence and savagery, and they look to the Agricultural College for aid in developing the agricul- tural capabilities of this large region, and the chemical department is endeav- oring to do what it can in this direction. If more than a score of counties of such soil can be brought into successful cultivation and dotted with smilins: homes, an inestimable good will be conferred upon our State. If, on the other hand, these soils are incapable of successful cultivation, this fact should be known and the failure and heart-break of unsuccessful pioneering be prevented. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. The tri-daily meteorological observations have been carried on during the year. These observations have been made continuously since April, 1863, and the results given to the public in the Reports of the Board. farmers' institutes. The six Farmers' Institutes under the patronage of the State Board of Agriculture were successfully conducted in different parts of the State last February. I attended and took part in the Institutes at Eochester and at East Saginaw. LABORATORY REPAIRS. The stone coping on the new part of the laboratory has been satisfactorily placed and the new tin roof on the north wing has been put on. The results in both cases have been satisfactory. The laboratory as a whole is in good repair. I conclude my brief report by congratulating you on your successful admin- istration for the year, and thanking you for the cordial support you have uni- formly given this department. R C. KEDZIE, Agricultural College, I Prof, of Uliemistry. November 1st, 1886. \ \ REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY. Agricultural College, Michigan, October 1, 1886. To the President : The past year in the Zoological Department has been exceptionally pleasant and profitable. The classes have been large, the students very punctual and E xxxiv DEPARTMENT REPORTS. industrious and the entire work of the department more satisfactory than ever before. In the autumn term twenty-two of the twenty-six Seniors present at the College elected Zoology. Instruction was given wholly by lectures. The students made as satisfactory progress as could possibly be expected in the absence of all laboratory practice. During the last half of the term thirty-two students of the Junior class were under my instruction in Anatomy. The- subject was presented by le 3tures. From one to two hours of laboratory prac- tice each day were given to portions of the class. The Junior Class to the number of thirty were under my instruction in Physiology during the spring term. The class was given laboratory practice in sections, each student spending two weeks — three hours daily — in this work.. Thirteen students of the Senior class elected Geology the last half of the spring term. During the time of this study the clas-; went with me to Grand Ledge, where the rocks were studied as seen at that Que outcrop. The number of Juniors in Entomology in the summer term was twenty- eight. Besides the lecture room work, each student collected specimens for preservation, reared insects so as to study the transformations, and each student spent three hours a week in laboratory practice. This laboratory work was highly appreciated by the students, and is a most desirable addition to the course in Entomology. Several students have done special work in the laboratory, which is always open for students. Mr. E. R. Lake, and Mr. Kizo Tamari, students engaged in post graduate study spent much time in special work in Entomology. Mr. G.. W. Park came each day for one term for laboratory practice. SUGGESTIONS. I wish to renew the request that the Apiary be enlarged, and that a perma- nent assistant be secured to take it in charge. This would make the course- much better, as it would give each student much more manual practice. This year five Seniors have made urgent request to work in the apiary. Some would prefer the work even at no remuneration. If the apiary were enlarged it would afford all needed opportunity for manual practice, and would also serve the better as a means of illustration. Again if we should do this we would secure many students who desire just such an opportunity. Many of these students now go to private apiaries, and so lose the scientific training which is a most important part of an apicultural educa- tion. Again, with the steady work which I now have in class room and labora- tories, I have no time to care for the apiary, which is quite apt to devolve entirely upon me, under the present arrangements, just at the very busiest sea- son of the year. Our Apiary now consists of about forty colonies of bees and can be increased to the requisite number duriug the coming season. I recommend that the location be changed, and a special apiarian assistant be secured. The laboratory work, while very desirable, makes more assistance necessary. During the past year Mr. C. P. Gillette has rendered very efficient service. We have commenced some important experiments which will be continued the coming year. We have arrived at important results already, an account of which follows this report. I hope Mr. Gillette's services will be secured for the entire year. With our present course this seems absolutely required. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY. XXXT COLLEGE WOKK OTHEE THAN INSTRUCTION. During the year I have given one of the regular Wednesday Lectures, sub- ject Louis Agassiz. I attended the St. Louis and Quincy Institutes, at each of Tvhich I gave two lectures. One upon Geology the other upon Economic Entomology. During the year I have prepared three Bulletins, all of which have appeared in the Report of the Board. During the entire year I have taught a large and interesting class in the College Sabbath School. The subject of study was the Life of Christ. EXPEEIMENTS. The usual number of inquiries have been sent to the Department. Often a single mail brings several such letters of inquiry. Such letters often require no little investigiition which is always granted, and the desired replies given at the earliest possible moment. Thus the Department does the extra work of a State Entomologist. The present season we have carried on an extended series of experiments already mentioned. THE APIARY. We have made no experiments in the apiary the past season, except to try the "New Heddon Hive," and the solar wax extractor, with both of which we are well pleased. We have increased our bees from twelve to thirty-nine colonies and have sold quite an amount of honey. The season has proven that drouth alone does not surely prevent the secretion of nectar by the flowers. We have now so large an apiary that it is utterly impossible .to manage it well with no other than student labor. Several colonies of bees have been sold during the year. OUTSIDE WORK. Early in the winter vacation I prpared a paper on the " Relation of pollen to the wintering problem, " which I read before the North American Bee Keepers' Association at Detroit. I also prepared a monograph on " Insects Injurious to Forage Plants " for Dr. Beal's new book on Grasses. I also re- vised my Manual of the Apiary, the 14th, 1,000 of which was issued in May. During the year I have lectured before two large Farmers' Clubs, upon " Injurious Insects, " once at Deerfield and once at Volinia. DONATIONS TO ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. L. Reed, Orono, Mich : Plant louse honey. A. J. Boot, Medina, Ohio: Aphis sugar. Geo. Mitchell: Pinicola Enucleator. J. Satterlee: Strix Flaminea. A. E. Gleason, Ceresco, Mich., Snake skin. XXXYI DEPARTMENT REPORTS. W. J. Seal: Skeleton of swan. Mr. Whitehead: Odemia fusca (a pair). C. A. Ward, Colorado: Fluor spar. White marble. Copper glance. White spar. Silver ore (3 specimens). Condensed lead fumes. Iron pyrites with gold and silver. Bismuth and silver. Lead incompletely smelted. Dendrite. Anthracite coal. Silver bearing galena. G. A. Can7ion: Teeth of elk. Bones of elk. Pottery. €has. Helmore: Emu's egg. G. L. Ingersoll : Golden eagle. E. M. Preston: Petrified or opalized wood. (70 specimens.) Moss agate. (17 specimens. ) Volcanic lava, etc. (17 specimens. ) Sandwich island cloth. Indian axe. Tamarind. Dried banana stem. Sea lime. Rock formation, Sandwich Islands. Phonolite. Sandal wood. Coral. Pod of plant. Candle nuts. Shells from Sandwich Islands (many). Braids of human hair. Seed vessels etc. of Accacia. Sandwich Island grass. Fragment of sacrificial altar. Pod of Accacia. Coral sand ( 3 specimens ). Petes hair. Sulphurets of iron. Silver ore ( 2 specimens ). Gold bearing quartz ( 23 specimens ). REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY. IXXVlJ Sulphide of iron (3 specimens). Barren quartz ( 2 specimens). Surface quartz. Quartz sneath and clay. Granite showing drill mark. Granite core. Steatite ( 4 specimens ). Crystal of spar. Quartz ( 3 specimens ). Quartz crystal ( 2 specimens ). Chloride of silver. Tin ore. Eoasted ore ( 2 specimens ). Copper and iron sulphite. Copper ore ( 3 specimens ). Cement copper. Sulphide of silver ( 2 specimens). Blue stone. Kaolin. Crushed quartz. Sulphurets separated from quartz (2 specimens). Roasted sulphurets. Gold amalgam. Pure gold. Chloride of gold. Marh A nthony : Passover bread. U. D. Ward: Calamite. A. J. Cook : Maple sap lime. H. L. Avery : Liver & spleen of Lake Pike. Robert Reynolds : Deformed hen's Qg^. Class '86 : Ball of clay. Section of fossil tree. Pyrites in shale. Shale. D. Kaufman : Plant lice secretions. W. E. Gammon : . Kuddy Duck. D. A. Pelton: Eggs of Song Sparrow. G. C. Lawrence : Egg with extra shell with excess of pigment. J. W. Lowmey : Oriole's nest. Student : Cast snake's skin. xxxvill DEPARTMENT REPORTS. EXPERIMENTS IN ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, 1886. Much time was spent early in the season to determine the value of several insecticides; the effect upon plants as well as upon insects was closely watched. The results of these investigations are herewith presented. KEROSENE EMULSION. Previous experiments having showed that a milk emulsion is no better than a soap emulsion, and is often harmful to foliage, a soap emulsion was the only one used. One lb. of Whale Oil soap was mixed with a gallon of water and all heated to the boiling point, when a half gallon of kerosene was added and thor- oughly stirred while yet boiling. In several cases common soft soap was used, when the quantity of soap was doubled. Applied to Radish Maggot (Anthomyia raphani, Harr.) 'The emulsion was diluted with water till the kerosene formed one-tenth of the volume of the liquid used. The first application was made when the plants had been up one week and were one inch high. It was repeated once in three or four days for four weeks. The application was made upon each plant singly, a table spoonful being used each time. That we might be certain that each plant was treated the application was made with a glass tube with a rubber nipjjle attach- ment. For simply practical use the liquid could be turned on from a common watering pot, when more would be used. This would not injure the plants. At the expiration of the four weeks, twenty-four consecutive plants upon a treated row were pulled and carefully examined. Only six plants were injured at all by the maggots. An adjoining row containing thirty-two plants was also exam- ined and twenty-two of these plants were injured. The soil was loose sand, and the plants were not at all injured by the appli- cation. Applied to the Cherry Slug {Selandria eerasi, Peck.) The emulsion one to eighteen strong was applied to several infested trees. The slugs were annoyed but not killed. The following day most of them seemed as well as ever. Some of the small ones were killed. The foliage was not injured. The application was made by use of Woodason's bellows atomizer. Applied to Cabbage Caterpillar {Pieris rapce, Schrank.) No experiments were tried in the field. Upon larvae feeding in the labora- tory the emulsion was used one to twelve strong. In every case the insects were killed. They all died in less than three hours. Similar experiments with a liquid one to twenty strong, seemed to do no injury to the caterpillars. Applied to Rose Slug {Selandria rosce, Harr.) The emulsion one to twelve strong was applied by use of a cyclone nozzle and Whitmore's fountain pump. The application was very successful in destroying the slugs and did no harm to the plants. EXPERIMENTS IN ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. xxxix Applied to Woolly Louse on Alder {Eriosoma tessellata, Fitch.) The strength used was one to twelve. The liquid was applied with Woodason 'bellows atomizer. It exterminated the lice and did no injury to the shrubs. Applied to cherry tree Plant Lice {Aphis cerasi, Fahr.) The emulsion was applielone to eighteen strong and one to twelve. In neither case were the lice greatly injured. In the latter case the foliage was somewhat blighted. A second application one to eighteen strong made twenty- four hours later destroyed all the lice. Similar experiments were tried upon the pig weed aphis with like results, except that the plants were injured more by the emulsion. Kerosene on Squash Bug (Geocoris tristis, Stal.) A little kerosene was turned into a vessel containing water. Into this the squash bugs were dropped in September when they clustered upon the squash leaves and were quickly gathered. All died in a few seconds, CARBOLIC ACID EMULSION. This was prepared the same as the kerosene emulsion. There is a serious objection to carbolic acid. If purchased in the crystalline form, it is expen- sive ; if in the crude state, the strength varies so greatly that the mixture can not be regulated so as to make it safe, without repeated trials. Applied to Cabbage Maggot {Anthomyia brassecce, Bouche.) The emulsion one to seventy-five strong was applied at intervals of from four to seven days for three weeks. At the close of the experiment, five only out -of twenty-one treated plants were injured by the maggots. In an untreated TOW in the same bed sixteen out of twenty-four of the plants were attacked. The plants were uninjured by the emulsion. Mode of application and soil the same as in case of kerosene emulsion against the radish maggot. Applied to Radish Maggot {Anthomyia raphani, Harr.) A row of radishes was treated the same as with the kerosene emulsion every three days for four weeks. The strength was one to seventy-five, and each plant received about a tea-spoon full of the liquid at a time. Five only of eighteen consecutive plants were found infested at the end of the experiment. Twenty-two out of thirty-two plants in an untreated row were badly injured. All the plants were blistered and injured by the liquid. Applied to cherry tree Plant Lice {Aphis]Cerasi, Fabr.) An emulsion one to 100 strong was applied the same as in case of the kerosene emulsion. The lice were all killed, and there was no injury to the foliage. The emulsion one to eighty strong was used on the pig weed apis. The lice were mostly destroyed, though the plants were considerably damaged by the liquid. EFFECT OF CARBOLIC ACID EMULSION ON PLANTS. A wool twine string was soaked in the emulsion before it was diluted, and buried an inch in depth close beside a row of radish plants All the plants Xl DEPARTMENT EEPORTS. were killed. Applied to cabbage plants about the stems, as used to destroy the maggots; one to eighteen always killed the plants; one to twenty-seven killed half the plants and injured all ; one to fifty-four killed no plants but weakened all ; one to one hiindred and eight did no perceptible harm. Applied to young radish plants about the stems the carbolic acid emulsion one to thirty strong killed many and damaged all. The liquid was also applied to the foliage of the cherry, apple, apricot and currant with the following results : One to eighteen killed apple foliage entirely. The foliage of apple cherry, and red currant were respectively treated with the emulsion, one to 50, one to 75 and one to 100. The first blighted the leaves badly of all, but injured the currant most. The second damaged the currants cosiderably, but the apple and cherry but little. The third did no damage to the apple and cherry, and but little to the currant. Applied one to 100 on the leaves of the apricot it caused them to wilt some, but did no lasting harm. A large patch of cabbages some distance from where cabbages had been previously grown, were treated extensively with the preceding insecticides, alsO' with tobacco decoction, tobacco dust, California pyrethrum, Paris green and several other insecticides, using different strengths. As noiie of the cabbages in this patch were injured by maggots, the experiments were of no value, except to show that the application did not harm the plants. ^TURPENTINE EMULSION. This was prepared the same as the kerosene emulsion. This liquid one to ten strong, was applied to the currant slug, {Nemafuf^ Ventricosus, King), cabbage caterpillar (Pieris rapcB, Schrcmk), and the cherry plant louse {Aphis Cerasi, Fahr.). The application destroyed the young of the first two species, but not the larvae that were nearly matured. The cherry plant lice were nearly but not all destroyed. The application was very thorough. The same liquid was applied to the pig weed aphis. The lice were nearly all killed, and the plants much injured. Effects of Turpentine Emulsion upon Foliage. This emulsion is less damaging to foliage than even kerosene. One to ten upon cherry did no harm. One to five did no injury to apricot foliage. PARIS GREEN. This arsenical poison was always used in a mixture in water, and was never used upon any edible fruit, etc., except long prior to the use of the fruit. Applied to Canker Worm {Anisopteryx vernata, Peek). On the 24th of May many trees in a neighboring orchard, that were seriously infested by the canker worm, were sprayed with the above mixture, one ft. of the poison to 80 gallons of water. The mixture was thrown upon the trees by a large force pump which was fastened to a barrel of the liquid mixture which was drawn in a wagon. Two days later hardly a live insect could be found upon the trees. The mixture was too strong, as the foliage was considerably blighted. Care should be exercised in applying this poison. The strength should never be greater than one ft. to 100 gallons of water, and even then must not be applied too profusely. EXPERIMENTS IN ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. xll Applied to Codling Moth (Carpocapsa pomonella, Linn.). The effect of this application upon the codling moth larv« was also noted. The application was rather late. It should always be made as soon as, or be- fore the apples are as large as peas, else some of the larvae will have passed into the fruit out of reach of the poison. One hundred apples from each of two Go'den Russet trees were examined early in October. From the tree poi- soned sixteen apples were not wormy ; of the 100 from the tree not treated only two were sound. Sixty apples each from four Talman Sweet trees were examined. From the two trees poisoned fourteen and twenty-five apples re- spectively were found sound ; from the two not poisoned six and nine. A Si- berian Crab apple tree was treated May 31st. The apples were about the size of large peas. The application was very thorough. Many apples were exam- ined in September and not one was wormy. Another Crab apple tree, not treated, not three rods distant, had hardly a sound apple. The same was true of several other trees close by. Two conclusions seem evident. For cod- ling moth the Paris green mixture should be applied early, the mixture should be very dilute and the application very thorough. It is worthy of remark that four or five cents per tree is all that this costs, counting the labor, while its efficiency when rightly performed is wonderful. Paris green was used for the cabbage maggot. Strength one ft), to forty gal- lons. It neither injured the plants nor the insects. CALIFORNIA PYRETHRUM OR BUHACH. This powder, one year old, and not as strong as is fresh powder, was used with varying success. It was tried very thoroughly both as dust and in water for cherry plant lice, but to no effect. To the cherry slug it was very destructive as a powder, but did no good in water. Placed about radish plants every few hours it did no good in fighting the radish maggots. TOBACCO AS AN INSECTICIDE. This was used both as a decoction and as a powder, and it was very thor- oughly applied. The plants on whicli the decoction was used were nearly all destroyed by the maggots. The same was true of those treated with the powder. The tobacco does no harm to plants. Tobacco powder applied to Cabbage Flea Beetle {Phyllotreta striolata, Fab.). This was applied when the dew was on the plants, and while it did no in jury to the plants, it seemed very largely to drive off the beetles. UNLEACHED ASHES. These were used against the anthomyia with no success. Sprinkled upon the foliage it injured the plants seriously. GAS LIME. This was also iised against the anthomyia. It killed the plants but did no harm to the insects. It was used as a powder and in water. The latter was not quite so injurious to the plants. The above experiments were entirely in charge of Mr. C. P. Gillette, whosfr faithfulness and caution leaves little to be desired. V A. J. COOK. xlii DEPARTMENT REPORTS. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF BOTANY AND FORESTRY. To the President, Hon. Edwin Willits, M. A.: The following table will show the number of students iu the classes which have studied botany since my last report was made: Term. Autumn, 1885. Spring, 1886. Summer, 1886. Autumn, 1886. Studies. ( Systematic Botany ( Advanced Students ( Physiological Botany ( Advanced Students f Structural Botany \ Seniors Elective. Grasses I L Advanced Students r Systematic Botany , I ^ Mechanical Students, Study of Woods., [Advanced Students Total Counted in last year Net total on the roll Number in classes. 52 2 44 2 21 4 79 22 3 328 54 374 To teacli these students has required, on tlie average, about five hours a •day for most of the time, saying nothing about special preparations and other work. Whether the work has been satisfactory or not, you and the State Board of Agriculture probably know. I have heard of no complaints, while the inter- est of the students was all that could be desired. THE MUSEUM OF VEGETABLE PKODUCTS. Considerable work has been done during the year in adding specimens, in writing labels and re-arransrino^ thinors accorJino; to tlie natural orders to which they belong. Many visitors call at this museum, and compliments are numer- ous, very likely because such a museum is a rare thing, while most people have previously seen collections of fossils, skeletons, stuffed skins of animals, etc. Lack of money and want of time on my part have made it out of the question to place on exhibition everything which has been collected. Only a few speci- mens can be purchased. To get them, some one (and he is usually the curator) goes in person and brings them to the college. the' herbarium. All the specimens, excepting a few collected during the last'part of the sea- REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF BOTANY. xliii -son, have been placed in the cases with labels attached. The herbarium is now in good order. Many additions have been made to the list of seeds, dried "fruits and specimens in alcohol for use in the class room. THE BOTANIC GAKDEN AND ARBOEETUM. These have been well cared for, and have been improved in some respects. The trees and shrubs are growiug larger, and as they need it some have been removed. Former reports make it unnecessary to enter into details in this iplace. Both garden and arboretum will be the subjects for future bulletins. EXHIBIT AT THE STATE FAIR. In the spring term of the sophomore year the agricultural students spend 'two hours daily in the laboratory investigating plants, each aided by a com- pound microscope and other apparatus. For most of the time they all work on 'the same subjects, but each member of the class has a special topic to which he gives more attention. Each student makes small drawings and notes as he pursues his investigations. The drawings shown at the State Fair were the re- tsult of "special work," and with the exception of a portion of three plates were all original from nature. These are not selections but are all the drawings on the special topics which were given to the students. Each student made other smaller drawings not there exhibited. A glance at the drawings will reveal tlie name of the objects and the name of the student making them. Below are the special topics, illustrated at the Fair, each by a card or two ■ cards 23x31 inches: Structure of a leaf; the mouths of a leaf; the young -hairs of a leaf ; the sting of a nettle; protoplasm in motion ; the palisade cells in a leaf ; starch of the common potato and the wild Arizona compared; the frame work of a leaf; the crystals in the cells ; the chlorophyll granules ; why nuts are hard ; tough and brittle white ash as seen magnified ; the cells of oak; the cells of an appe; intercellular spaces; cystolithes or compound crystals; sections of buds ; cotton, flax, hemp, silk and wool; pollen and its growth; the structure of a grain of wheat ; the leaf of a Norway spruce ; the hairs on pumpkin vines ; experiments on j^rotoplasm ; sections of the leaves of grasses ; root hairs ; the tips of roots ; the milk tubes in plants ; the structure of a brown seaweed; a study of pond scums; diatoms; oscillatoria, water plants which crawl and wriggle; wheat-rust; corn-smut; the quince-rust; common bread mould ; a cup fungus. Here also were exhibited several kinds of compound microscopes such as the students use, retailed at S40 to $60 each. And here was a convenient box in- vented by the students and by Dr. Beal. The box is for holding the small ac- cessories used by every student The work above spoken of was not attempted in any American college twelve years ago. Students are taught to become independent workers. WHAT OTHERS SAT. In autumn of 1885 one of the editors of the Botanical Gazette spent two 'days at the Agricultural College, and in December there appeared what was .■termed "A Laboratory number." This magazine has been ably edited for ten years, and during the last few xliv DEPARTMENT REPORTS. years edited and much enlarged by Dr. J. M. Coulter and Dr. C. R. Barnes of Indiana, and Dr. J. C. Arthur of the New York experimental station. To these editors we are indebted for permission to procure a copy of a plate illustrating our botanical laboratory and museum. I make the following brief quotations from the magazine for Dec, 1885: " The first laboratory established was that at the botanic gardens of Harvard Uni- versity, which was opened in 1872. The microscopes used are Zeiss (1 large stand, 3 No. VI), Verick (12), Leitz (3), Wales (1), Ross (1), with plenty of accessory apparatus. Taken as a whole the botanical laboratories of Harvard University ai'e the most extensive and important in the country." The magazine gives some account of the botanical laboratories of twelve prominent "institutions of learning," viz.: Harvard, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Illinois University, Michigan Agricultural College, the University of Michigan, Iowa Agricultural College, Wabash College, Purdue University,. University of Wisconsin, University of Nebraska, Shaw School of Botau} at St. Louis. BOTANICAL LABORATORY. " The botanical department of Michigan Agricultural College rejoices in the most im- posing building especially erected for botanical instruction in the country. It is a mod- ified Gothic, completed in 1880 at a cost of $6,000. The upper stories contain the bo- tanical museum, very instructively aiTanged. [This is the only botanical museiim re- ferred to in the article quoted. W. J. B.] " The laboratory on the first floor, also used as a lecture room, is 48x44 feet. It is lighted from east and west, and with ground glass windows on the south. "The elementary course, with simple microscopes, permits most of the work to be done outside the laboratory. Codington lenses with convenient supports are chiefly used. The supply of compound microscopes is at present ample (27), and wdth funds for the purchase or others as needed. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF BOTANY. xlv "A conservatory and a fine botanic garden, including aquatic plants, a few steps .away, and a virgin flora in the vicinity, furnish plenty of excellent material. The herbarium and library in the same building are fair size. This laboratory has long been noted for the observant and independent work of its students. " Those only for Michigan Agricultural College and Cornell University have been designed exclusively for botany. * * * " One way is to use a text-book or lectures, and then dii'ect all laboratory work to- wards the so-called 'analysis' of plants, which means, of course, the comparison and naming of phanerogams. This may be called the oldest method, and is vastly better than nothing. Another plan is to have the laboratory work all directed towards the examination of parts called for in lectures, such as leaves, branches, roots, etc. This method is practiced in two ways, either as corroborating statements already given in lectures, or preliminary to such statements. The latter is much the better way, and has been well elaborated by Prof. Beal in his paper on ' Tlie New Botany.' " For work extending through a greater time, such as is obtained in well equipped botanical laboratories, the following courses, already in use in different institutions, are presented. No names are used, as the courses are only selected as types. [Five types are given, one of which is that followed here. — W. J. B.] "Beginners are started by having them examine a flower, a seed, a plantlet, a naked branch, anything, in fact, that is convenient or in season. Reports of the discoveries made are given before the class and discussed, the teacher directing all these results toward definite and correct conclusions No order of text is followed, but simply the order of convenience. The literature of the subjects examined is constantly considted, though generally after the examination has been made. Soon some topic is assigned, which the student must ' work up ' by observation and present in a final paper. " For advanced students the work is of a similar nature, but closer observation is de- manded and a stricter attention to details, and the study or comparison of structures is strongly urged. " We venture to predict that at the end of the next decade, much more attention will be given to physiological botany. For this more appliances are needed than our labo- ratories now possess. " We cannot too strongly emphasize the importance of having the botanical library in the laboratory, that the student may at least become acquainted with the names of writers and their books, and best of all with the literature of the subjects they are in- vestigating. ' ' Several teachers desire to learn subjects which have been of use in the work of special students. [Several topics are named. — W. J. B.] In addition to these attention -should be called to the subjects suggested by Prof. Beal in his ' New Botany,' akeady referred to." Seeing the illustrated article above referred to, the editor of the Michigan Moderator, a State teachers' magazine, wished to [use the cut and notice our botanical department. A fine article appeared. Then the editor of Park's Floral Magazine, of Pennsylvania, made a simihir request, which was granted. The notice was a very flattering one, and very likely went a little beyond what the facts would warrant. I make one quotation, because it expresses my ideal of the kind of work a teacher should aim at : " The point in which Dr. Beal excels as an instructor is that of leading his students to observe and think for themselves He believes in studying nature, rather than books, and his efforts are always directed towards developing the mind of the student by in- ducing habits of careful observation." The next, from the Botanical Gazette, is much like the above : " Dr. Beal sets all his students to work, and the results of their observations form no mean contribution to botanical science." Hon. C. W. Garfield, class of '70, Secretary of the State Horticultural So- ciety, of the American Pomological Society, and editor of the Michigan Horti- culturist, also requested the use of the cut of the laboratory, which he used in the July number of the Horticulturist. I take extracts from the magazine: xlvi DEPARTMENT REPORTS. "At the June meeting of the Michigan State Horticultural Society, convened in Lansing, one of the most pleasant hours of the convention was occupied by members of Prof. Seal's class in botany. Seventeen young ladies and gentlemen, fresh from original work in the botanical laboratory, gave three-minute- talks to the assembled horticulturists upon topics which they had been studying by the aid of the microscope. " Tlie work these young people are doing at the Agricultural College was not at- tempted in any of our colleges twelve years ago. They are taught to be independent of w^hat lias been printed, and are placed at once in the field of original investigation. The glimpse they gave us of their methods spoke weU for the work Prof. Beal is doing."' Here follows a list of the topics which is a selection from those named in the exhibit at the State Fair: ' ' The drawings made by the students and employed in their explanations were ad- mirably executed, and on the whole the entire exercise was as interesting as anything ever presented to the Society. " The students were questioned upon the topics they elaborated, by the horticulturists present, and the answers given were prompt and clear. ' ' The botanical department of our Agricultm-al College has a beautiful building in which these young people work, a cut of which forms our frontispiece. " The work done here is rendered attractive to the students and is certainly calculated to stimulate original investigation in the field which the ' New Botany' occupies." After returning home from the horticultural meeting, Secretary Garfield writes : " As I recall the exercises of your students before our Society, I am filled with the idea that it would be well to have the whole thing go into our report, illustrations and all, if the matter can be prepared under your supervision. There is nothing like it in any report published. My thought is not to enlighten people so very much by the facte- which these young people presented, but to popularize your method of work." According to his request a report has been made to accompany the cuts and all will appear in the next report of the State Horticultural Society. Seeing the account of the botanical department of our college in the Michi- gan Horticulturist, the editor of The Home Farm, of Augusta, Maine, urged that he might have the use of the electrotype. He made a very flattering ar- ticle, some parts of which, in the opinion of the writer, were too highly colored. I quote a few of the milder comments : "We can name no science more truly helpful to the farmer or gardener than botany. This knowledge comes into actual use in a study of grasses and forage plants, and their value : in relation to new fruits and vegetables, diseases of plants, and in many other ways. An acquaintance with tliis science makes them more competent, more observ- ing, gives a greater pleasure to their work, and enables them to obtain greater profits- from labor, for they work more understandingly." I may add, that in no case above quoted did the writer hint or dictate what should be written. Neither did he know what the magazines were to contain till read in print. Two other requests, six in all, have been made for the cut and some informa- tion for an article in the papers. DONATIONS. The donations have been as follows : Dr. C. E. Bessey, class '69, Lincoln, Neb.: Seeds of Helianthus annuus. A. B. Cordley, Pinckney, Mich.: Eoots of tall oat-grass producing staminate flowers. Dale A. Si/iith, Portla7id, Mich.: Fragments of seeds, etc., from India. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF BOTANY. xlvii Dr. E. L. Sturtevant, Director of New York Experiment Station, Geneva^ New Yorh : 160 varieties or races of beans. W. E. West, Lansing, Mich.: 9 lots of wheat in the head from Bath, Mich. Gleason Wood Ornament Co., Gratid Rapids, Mich.: 19 blocks of wood pressed to imitate carving. 3 images made of pi'essed sawdust. B. W. Steer e, Adrian, Mich.: One ear of red and yellow corn. W. H. LeRoy, Rochester, Mich.: Two ears of white corn. J. 0. Beal, Rollin, Mich.: Limb of a plum tree with the black knot. Department of Agriculture, Washiiigton, D. C, Hon. N. J. Colman, Commis- sioner : 28 species of grass seeds collected on the prairies of the West. J. C. Vaughan, Seedsman, 42 LaSalle St., Chicago, Illinois: 23 varieties of corn in the ear, 6 specimens Pampas plumes, 7 varieties of oats, 3 varieties of wheat, 1 varietv of buckwheat, 3 varieties of barley, 1 variety of pea. W. A. Taylor, Douglas, Mich.: A very large section of sumach. Kizo Tamari, Tohio, Japan : 3 Japanese persimmons. M. Q. Anthony, Bay City, Mich. : Two cakes of unleavened bread. Chas. N. Eley, Smith's Point, Texas : Three species of roots of grass. Frank Kellogg, Muskegon, Mich.: Fasciation in mullein. One double grape. P. G. Holden, Oviatt, Mich.: One cob split with corn inside. President E. Willits : Old potatoes with young ones inside. MISCELLANEOUS WORK. I attended three or four farmers' institutes and declined to attend many- others. During the summer vacation, I attended the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science, held in Buffalo, New York, and read a paper. In the same place, I read papers at meetings of the A. A. A. S. and the botanical club. During the winter vacation I did considerable work in completing the first volume (now nearly printed) of my work on North American grasses. Respectfully submitted, W. J. BEAL, Agricultural College, [ Professor of Botany and Forestry. September 30, 1886. \ J J 3 j xlviii DEPARTMENT REPORTS. REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING. REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SHOPS. Mechanical Course. To President Willits : Dear Sir — I have the honor to submit the following report of the shop and fihop work for the year ending September 30, 1886. Respectfully, E. C. CARPENTER, Superintendent. the building. The building was designed by myself. I also prepared with aid of students specifications and drawings. Mr. William P. Appleyard, the architect of the other buildings, erected in 1885, acted as superintendent of construction. The building was erected by Fuller & Wheeler, contractors, for 17,800. In the de- sign of the building the utmost economy had to be exercised as respects orna- ment, in order to provide the shop with the necessary room and equipment and yet keep within the limits of the special appropriation for that purpose. The building as erected is plain and devoid of architectural ornament. It is, how- ever, convenient, well constructed and satisfactory to all those who occupy it. The following is a cut of the building: MECHANICAL LABORATORY AND SHOPS. Front — First Story, 36x60 feet, Mechanical Lecture Room and Laboratory. Front -Second Story. 36x60 feet, Draughting Room. Rear Wing— First Story, 50x60 feet. Machine Shop. Rear Wing — Second Story, 50x60 feet. Wood-working Shop. Tower— First and Second Story, 16x16, Offices. Tower— Third Story, Students Room, 16x16. Attic— 36x60 feet— Store Room. MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING. xlix APPKOPRIATION AND EQUIPMENT. The amount appropriated for the department was 117,000, of which $4,000 was expended for the house of Professor of Mechanics and 13,000 for his salary, leaving the amount available for the shop and its equipment at 110,000. Of this amount the building and furniture cost about $8,000, leaving for equip- ment about $2,000. This was expended approximately as follows: Planer for iron $500 00 Two lathes for iron . 300 00 Belting and shafting 100 00 Forge and brass foundry - . . 100 00 Castings for iron shop 200 00 Hand tools for wood and iron.. . . .* 500 00 Wood lathes and benches. 100 00 Students' labor and material for fitting 200 00 The principal equipment of the shop is as follows : Ten sets of tools for hand-work in wood, each set containing — 1 20-inch cross-cut saw, 1 jack plane, 1 bevel marking gauge, 1 24-iucli rip saw, 1 block plane, 1 oil stone, 1 12-inch back saw, 1 fur plane, 1 hammer, 1 compass saw, 1 screw driver, 1 mallet, 1 brace and set of 8 bits, 1 24-iuch framing square, 1 scratch awl, 1 set of G firmer chisels, 1 8-inch try square, 1 brad awl, 1 smoothing plane, 1 bevel T square, 1 oil can. 2 turning lathes for wood, 12-iach swing, wood beds, with two sets turning chisels and gouges. 1 10-iuch swing engine lathe for iron. 1 12-inch swing speed lathe for iron. 1 planer for iron to plane 24 inches by 8 feet. 4 vises for bench work. 4 blacksmith vises. 5 blacksmith forges. 2 anvils and a limited supply of blscksmith hammers, hardies, flatters, etc. By means of a previous appropriation the college had purchased 1 18-inch swing engine lathe, 1 8-inch shaper, and 1 6-inch swing engine lathe, 1 12-horse power engine. 1 20-inch swing power drill, Our tools permitted work as follows : Wood shop, 12 students ; iron shop, machine work, 6 students ; iron shop, bench work and finishing, 7 students ; blacksmith shop, 3 students ; molding, 1 student ; in the aggregate 29 stu- dents. This equipment has lately been increased by the generous act of the State Board of Agriculture, providing tools for seven additional students in the wood shop. The Sturtevant Blower Company generously donated a blower, value about $100. The work of the shop itself has been devoted largely to increasing its own equipments. Castings of two 15-inch turret lathes, designed by Mr. Meade, Superintendent of the Frontier Iron and Brass Works, Detroit, were purchased at a nominal price. One of these tools was finished in April, 1886. The other G 1 DEPARTMENT REPORTS. has been converted into an engine lathe, and is just completed. Castings for two lathes, 12 inch swing, were obtained of E. Dennis & Co., Jackson. These lathes are finished except cutting the gears. Castings for one pattern-maker's lathe, designed by Mr. C. Taylor, of the University of Michigan, were obtained, and this lathe has been completed. A gear cutter attachment, furnished with an index plate, made by Brown & Sharpe, has alst) been completed. Patterns for a speed lathe, 12 inch swing, have been finished, and a set of castings taken from the same. Steel tools, such as chisels, drills, lathe tools, have been made by the stu- dents in large quantity. A set of three surface plates, 12x12 inches, and a surface table, have also been made. Work benches, drawing tables, tool cases, drawers, and various patterns have been made by students in the wood shop. The result is that our equipment is materially better at the close of the year than at the beginnmg, and there is little doubt but that the shop work for the next year will be much more satisfactory than during the past year. STUDENT AVORK. During the Fall term, 1885, the wood shop was not ready for the reception of students. Such work as could be undertaken in wood was done in the old brick carpenter shop, under the superintendence of Mr. H. B. Mohn. This shop was cold and poorly lighted, so that but little work was attempted. Work in the iron shop was done in a room in the boiler-house. It was equipped with power and answered its purpose very well. In the spring term work in both shops was interrupted very much by intervening matters incident to the estab- lishment of the new course. The shop work, because of interruptions mentioned, was not therefore fully organized before the opening of the summer term, 1886. During that term each student was required to work in the shop 2^ hours per day, and efficient and satisfactory work was accomplished throughout. During the whole year students worked in two divisions, each coming in the afternoon. This was necessary from the fact that there were more students than tools. From its economy, both of tools and supervision, this practice is likely to be continued. A limited number of students from the agricultural course were assigned work in the wood shop, and did creditably. On the whole, the students did their work cheerfully and well and accom- plished more in the first year than the most sanguine expected. The use of the college tools for private work was allowed the students on Saturday forenoon. The result has been to encourage quite a number of them to undertake the construction of small steam engines. This work is believed to exert good influence and tends to arouse much interest and enthusiasm. - ORGANIZATION OF THE SHOP. In the division of work, between the Professor of Mechanics and myself, the practical management of the shop was assigned to the engineering department. The work of instruction was divided ?mong the employes of the engineering department, as follows : I acted as general superintendent, prepared the shop drawings and designs, and did all engineering Avork and business respecting the machinery and shop ; Mr. James Wiseman, engineer at the college the past MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING. ll •year, took the additional duties of foreman of the iron shop, with entire charge of the practical instruction of students in iron working ; Mr. H. B. Mohn, who had been carpenter at the college since 1879, assumed the additional duties of foreman of the wood shop, with entire charge of the practical instruction of the students in wood working. Mr. Mohn resigned his position in August, 1886, and was succeeded by Mr. H. Campbell, of Detroit. It is hardly necessary to say in this place that this organization proved a success. The foremen did their duty well and gained the respect of all the students with whom they came in contact. Mr. Mohn resigned to join his family in Cali- fornia. We parted from him with much regret. Mr. Wiseman still retains the duties of engineer and, with one assistant and student help, has immediate oversight of the heating works. Mr. Campbell, with student help, attends to repairs in wood needed in any of the college buildings. These duties have interfered, to a greater or less extent, with the shop work, and it would be desirable if it could be so arranged that the two foremen could give their whole time to their respective shops. KEEDS OF THE SHOP. Tools. — As the students increase in number more tools will be required. Even •during the past year the efficient working of the shop was, to a great extent, prevented by lack of tools. Even if we continue to build lathes for the use of the shop we must have a few first-class tools of other makers. It is difficult to see how the machine shop can do efficient work unless it is provided with one milling machine, one automatic gear cutter, one shaper and one first-class screw cutting lathe. With the tools above mentioned the shop, in a few years, can solve the problem of its own equipment. In the wood shop several lathes are needed, a few of which can be built in the machine shop. The shop should Tdc provided with at least ten more sets of carpenter's tools, five more sets of black- smith's tools, a complete foundry outfit, several more vices, a buzz saw and a "wood planer. • Ejigine. — The present engine will soon be entirely inadequate for the needs -of the shop, and I respectfully recommend the purchase of a forty-horse power •automatic engine. Material. — A proper stock of lumber, of steel, cast iron, zinc and copper for brass making should be kept on hand in order that suitable work may be fur- nished the students. Building. — The present shop is already worked to its full capacity and more room is urgently needed. The present shop should be given entirely to iron work as a machine shop. An addition 40x60 feet should be built on the south •end of the present shop, one-half of which should be used for a blacksmith shop, the remainder for a foundry. A wing two stories in height, extending east or south from this addition and with dimensions of 30x60 feet, should be built for the wood shop. Proper store rooms and work rooms, which are urgently needed, €ould thus be provided. Our present blacksmith shop is a mere shed, capable of accommodating only four or five students. lii DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Michigan Agkicultdkal College, ) October 1, 1886. j To President Willits : Dear Sir : — I have the honor to submit the following report of the various repairs and interests not educational, in charge of the engineering department,, for the year ending September 30, 1886. Respectfully, R. C. CAEPENTEE, Professor. REPAIRS OF BUILDINGS AND STEAM WORKS. For these repairs Ave are organized as follows : I act as superintendent an(J engineer ; Mr. James Wiseman, assisted by Eichard Hiscock and sundry stu- dents, makes repairs in iron ; Mr. H. Campbell, assisted by students, makes repairs in wood. At present repairs are done only by written request of the Secretary of the college, except such as pertain directly to the engineering de- partment. In addition to repairs quite an amount of new work and improve- ments are done. Although the repairs as a rule have been promptly done, it will no doubt give better satisfaction if they can be separated from the workshop of the me- chanical course. Some changes will have to be made in the steam works in order to secure more efficient heating, especially in Wells and Williams halls. With four boilers, each four feet in diameter and 12 feet long, we have been heating one and one quarter million cubic feet of space, situated at an average distance of about 450 feet, besides pumping each day about 8,000 gallons of water to an elevation equivalent to 90 feet in height, and 4,000 gallons to an elevation equivalent to 40 feet in height, besides furnishing steam for a 12-horse-power engine, run on the average seven hours per day. This has been accomplished only with the utmost difficulty and by an uneconomical use of coal. To fur- nish the necessary steam economically, we should have at least 50 per cent- more boiler capacity. The following tables exhibit the main points of our heating system : Building. W^iUiamsHall Wells Hall Library. Chemical Laboratory Mechanical Building Boiler house is i o « h aJ 454 400 761 675 175 B 1 e V a tion of basement floor above floor in boiler house. 9.75 7.9 10.0 4.75 9.00 Size of st«am pipe, diameter in inches. 4 except for 54 feet, which is 3. 4, except for 100 feet, which is 3. 3 9 3 V si" « H 3 3 2 Total. 359,473 324,288 250,272 159,568 137,950 67,840 1,299,390 Remarks. Basement, 3 stories and Mansard. Basement and three stories. Basement and 1}^ stories. Basement and one ptory in part. Two stories. One story. MATHEMATICS AND ENGINEERING. liii Tlie following are not heated by steam : Building. Distance from boiler house in feet. Is O -^ 'w h'i 54,000 330,000 57,600 89,680 431,280 Remarks. Veterinary Building. ., 440 Via Mechanical Building Two stories. College Hall 784 Direct distance Three stories and Botanical Laboratory 1,100 Direct distance basement. Two stories. Military Buildintr 1,100 Direct distance One story. Total .. . . The buildings not already heated by steam are used principally for recitation, and consequently in use but a few hours per day. Under such conditions steam heating can never be as economical as heating by stoves, unless the extra cost of insurance be reckoned an item of the heating. If we figure the cost of insurance as one-quarter per cent less for buildings heated by steam than by stoves, this would lessen the cost of steam heating by about 180.00 per an- num. CHIMNEY. If the boiler capacity be increased 50 per cent, it will be necessary to in- crease the height of the chimney to the height originally intended, viz : to 90 feet. The foundation is ample for that height, the cornice only needs to be removed, and the chimney can readily be extended 25 feet. I acted as purchasing agent for about two-thirds of the past year, but at my request I was relieved of such duties by the Board. I adopted the following classification to govern in the purchase of fuel and found it to work very satis- factorily. The following classification of wood for fuel is to govern in all contracts made after the date of November 20, 1884 : Glass A. — Split body wood of Hard Maple, sawed ends. Class B. — Split body wood of Beech or White Oak, sawed ends. Class C. — Split body wood of Tamarack, Black Oak, Elm, Soft Maple or Ash, •or round, straight wood of Beech or Maple. Class D. — Round wood belonging to Class C, sawed ends. No wood accepted unless sound, neatly piled, when wanted, and from three to eight inches in diameter. Crooked top wood not accepted. WATER WORKS. » I was relieved, at my request, from charge of the fire department by Presi- dent Willits at the beginning of the spring term. Up to that time I had regu- lar fire drill once per week. This drill is now in charge of the military department and will, no doubt, be much more eflicient. As engineer of the water works, I call attention to the necessity of extending the works so as to give fire protection to the residence property on the grounds. The State has invested in residences and barns about 143,000 that is wholly liv DEPARTMENT REPORTS. unprotected from fire. During the extreme dry weather of the past summer most of the wells and cisterns in the west portion of the grounds were dry and the fire risk was exceedingly great. The cost of giving these buildings protec- tion will be small, as the college has ample pumping facilities. What is needed is simply an extension of the main water pipe. For this purpose will be required 108 rods of 6-inch pipe, worth, in place, $13 per rod ; 8 hydrants, worth 150' each ; 40 rods of 4-inch pipe, worth $? per rod — specials and value, $150. The total cost would be $2,284, or about o per cent, of the value of the prop- erty protected. There is also very much needed one additional hose cart, 300 fe^t of 2^ inch hose, 12 fire plugs in Williams, Wells and College Halls and the Library build- ing, 500 feet of 2^ inch pipe, also 25 small hydrants for lawns. The cost of these items, which are needed to put the fire department in effi- cient shape, would be less than $1,000. Michigan Agricultural College, ) October 1, 1886. ] To President WilUts : Dear Sir : — I have the honor to submit the following report of instruction given in the Department of Mathematics and Engineering for the year ending- Sept. 30, 1886. Respectfully, R. C. CARPENTER, Professor, recitations and class work. « During the Fall term of 1885 I taught classes in Agricultural Engineering and Drawing. During the Spring term, 1886, I taught classes in Civil Engineering, Draw- ing and Surveying for the whole term, and in Geometry for a portion of the term. During the Summer term I taught Drawing two hours per day. Mathematics. — Professor Lewis McLouth taught Sophomore Algebra during Fall term 1885, and Trigonometry during Spring term 1886. Prof. L. G. Car- penter taught during Fall term 1885, Free-hand Drawing and Freshman Alge- bra. During Spring term 1886 he taught Free-hand Drawing and Geometry, and during Summer term, Geometry; having on the average for the year three and one-third recitations per day. For Fall term 1886, Prof. L. G. Carpenter has Algebra, two classes, Drawing, one class. Mr. J. B. Cotton has three classes in Freshman Algebra. I teach Agricultural Engineering and Mechan- ical Drawing. For class instruction there are very much needed one additional surveyor's compass, several chains, two sets of pins, a pair of steam engine indicators and a small testing machine. For the use of the drawing class there is needed a number of copies and models Additional class room is very much needed for the classes in drawing and engineering. An addition to the Mechanical Building 36x60, and two stories in height, adjoining the present building on the northeast, would afford the necessary room for the classes in mechanical physics in the first story and in the base- MECHANICS AND ASTRONOMY. Iv ment, and provide the necessary rooms for engineering and drawing in the second story. - i • i • i. Drawing Instructor.— "YhQVQ will soon be sufficient work m drawing to require the entire time of an instructor, and provision should be made for such help when needed. We have to thank various manufacturers for donations of photographs and blue prints of their machinery, as follows : i Knowls' Steam Pump Co., three large framed photographs. Worthington Steam Pamp Co., two large framed photographs. Russel Wheel and Foundry Co., photograph of light-house. Buckeye Engine Co., framed lithograph and set of blue prints. Betts Machine Co., set of blue prints of power drill. Allis Machine Co., framed lithograph of Corliss engine. REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICS AND ASTRONOMY. Hon. Edwin Willits, President Mich. Agricidtural College : Deak Sir, — I beg leave to present you the following report of the department of mechanics and astronomy for the last year : During the first half of the fall term of 1885 I taught the junior class me- chanics. As this department was quite deficient in illustrative apparatus, the Board made an appropriation of $150, which enabled me to purchase a number of needed pieces. During the whole of the fall term, too, I taught the sopho- more class — in two sections — the subject of higher algebra. During the latter half of the fall term I taught the sophomore class and many volunteer students the subject of astronomy. The work was done by lectures and the topics cov- ered were the form, size and motions of the earth and its position in the solar system. The methods of measuring and weighing the earth and of finding its distance from the sun were explained in an elementary way. During the latter part of November and all of December I was busy prepar- ing for the annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association, of which I was president. During January I prepared a paper on Our Indebtedness to Me- chanics and Inventors, for the Farmers' Institutes. In January, also, I visited St. Louis, Michigan, and made the preliminary arrangements for the Farmers' Institute for Gratiot county. In February I attended and assisted at that in- stitute and also at the institute held in East Saginaw. During the winter I also, by direction of the Board, made quite an extended tour of inspection among the mechanical and industrial schools of the East. I first attended the inaugural exercises of the opening of the Manual Train- ing School of Toledo, Ohio. At these exercises ex- President Hayes presided and gave an address. Addresses were also given by Professor Felix Adler, of New York, Dr. Woodward of St. Louis, Mr. Harmon of Chicago, Mrs. Ewing of the department of Domestic Economy of the Iowa agricultural college, and others. The school is attached to the public high school as a department and is con- trolled by the city school board, but the funds for the building and equipment were realized from the sale of a tra'^t of land given a number of years ago by a wealthy citizen of Toledo. The shops are admirably equipped for instruction Ivi DEPARTMENT REPORTS. in wood work, metal work and in the domestic arts. The instruction consti- tutes a part of one of the regular high school courses of study. I next made a short visit to Washington for the purpose of consulting with the commissioner of education and for the purpose of examining the collec- tions of specimens, in his department, of the work of industrial schools, and also the collections of the Smithsonian Institute. I then visited the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, for the spec- ial purpose of inspecting the work-shops of that school and learning something of their system of work. The purpose of these shops is to train the cadets to mend or to replace any part of a ship. The iron working shop was especially well equipped with tools and machines. In this shop the pupils are taught every branch of the ma- chinist's trade by a careful course of instruction in hand work and in machine work. The exercises are so arranged as to give the most varied skill to each pupil rather than witli reference to turning out valuable articles. The skill attained, rather than the articles made, is regarded as the legitimate and most valuable out-put of the shops. I was shown, however, some very good small ■engines made by the cadets for propelling steam launches. The cadets are also taught the management of marine engines. For this purpose a marine engine is set up in the shops and a shaft and propeller wheel attached. By means of a brake whose resistance pan be varied the intermittent working of the engines of a ship in a heavy sea is quite well imitated. My next visit was to the Workingman's School, of New York, under the directorship of Professor Adler. This is a unique and very interesting institu- tion for the manual, mental and moral training of poor children from the streets of New York. It is supported by private charity, and no children are admit- ted whose parents are able to pay for their instruction. Besides the ordinary branches of common school education, modified by the introduction of consid- erable objective work in the natural sciences, the arts of cooking, cutting and sewing, drawing, modeling in clay and plaster, wood carving, turning and some carpentry are taught. The object of this work is not so much skill as it is to reach and arouse the intellect through the eye, the ear and the hand. The dis- tinguished director claims many cases of dull children whose sluggish minds have been touched and awakened into activity through the art lessons in draw- ing and modeling. As throwing light upon the question of the reflex influence of hand and eye training upon the mental powers, this school is of great interest to one seeking all possible guidance in the solution of the industrial school problem. The New York Trades Schools were next visited. The ground, buildings and other outfit of this institution have been provided by private benefaction, but the cost of maintenance is met by the tuition fees of students. The school un- dertakes nothing but the teaching of the following trades : Plumbing, gas-fit- ting, brick-laying, plastering, stone cutting, fresco painting, wood carving and carpentry. The annual session is from the end of October to the first of April, and the hours for instruction are from 7 to 10 p. m. The tuition fee varies from $5 to $35 per session for each trade. From the specimens of work I saw in plumbing, wood carving, stone cutting and fresco painting, the instruction seemed to be very successful. The method of teaching brick-laying was especially interesting : A long rponi, well lighted from the sides and roof, and without floor, was the brick-laying " recitation room " or laboratory. Here, under competent foremen MECHANICS AND ASTRONOMY. Ivii as instructors, and with " tenders," each evening, the pupils in brick-laying are at -work building brick walls. Window and door frames are built around, cor- ners, arches and pilasters are laid, and all parts of the brick-laying trade are taught, as well as the making and the proper tempering of the mortar. During the three hours' lesson these walls are carried up about as high as one can reach and the next day laborers take them down, clean the brick, re temper and mix over the mortar, so that the same materials are ready to be used again for the next lesson. The rooms for the lessons in plastering are provided with alcoves whose sides and ceilings are lathed. Here the learners are practiced in wall and over- head plastering. The next day laborers remove the plaster, renew it and make it ready to be used again. Where two or three coats are applied, the first must be allowed to dry and harden, in which case the plaster can not be used a second time. The students are mostly clerks and porters who are anxious to learn trades ; and after they have learned their trades here, there is little difficulty in their getting profitable employment. The Stevens Institute of Technology, at Hoboken, was next visited. The chief object of this institution is the preparation of young men for the various branches of engineering. For this purpose a full and thorough course in drafting, mathematics, chemistry, metallurgy, physics, and the modern lan- guages is offered, as well as a finely equipped shop, large enough to accommo- date fifty pupils. The object of the shop work is not so much to secure indi- vidual skill with tools as it is to acquaint the pupil with proper methods of work, and with the properties and uses of materials. The shop exercises are so arranged that all pupils pass over exactly the same course, and in the same order. So much time is given to each kind of hand work, and so much to each machine. Under this plan, no attention is paid to the production of market- able articles. The following table shows the number of hours devoted by each student to the various kinds of work: Kinds of Work. Hours. Carpentry, pattern-making and wood turning 165 Metal planing and milling 87 Drill press work -. 34 Vice work .-. 40 Molding ... - 40 Blacksmithing. 40 Steam fitting ... 16 Total 313 The remainder of the shop work, about 80 hours, is rather of the nature of scientific laboratory experimentation. The tuition fee in this institution is 1150 per annum for residents of New Jersey, and 1335 per annum each for all others. The next visit was made to the Worcester Free Institute, located at Worces- ter, Massachusetts. This was founded in 1865 by private benefaction, and is one of the oldest industrial schools in the country. Its course of study is three years, but as the requirements for admission are a full year higher than our own, graduation from the Worcester Institute im- H Iviii DEPARTMENT REPORTS, plies about the same grade of discipline and of scholarship as from our course in Mechanic Arts. The -workshops connected with this institution, endowed by Ichabod Wash- burn in 1866, and having since received other bequests, are among the best equipped in the country. The iloor area of the shops is about 23,000 square feet, and the building contains an engine and boiler room, blacksmith's shop, tool room, draughting room, painting and finishing room, wood-working and metal-working rooms, and other auxiliary rooms. Drawing is taught during the entire three years' course. The wood-working consists of bench work with carpenters" and cabi- net-makers' tools, wood-turning, machine sawing and planing. The course in metals covers bench work to a limited extent, work with the speed and with the engine lathe, drilling, milling, planing, screw-cutting, forging, tempering, tool-making, management of steam, as well as designing and constructing. The course seems to lay far greater stress upon metal-work than upon wood- work, and on machine than on hand-work. A distinguishing feature of this institution is the effort to carry on the work in the shops as nearly as possible as work in real shops is carried on. For this purpose the students are so divided into sections that each works two full half days of five hours each week. One section, for instance, will work from one o'clock to six Monday afternoon, and from seven o'clock Tuesday forenoon till twelve. Another section works Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, and so on during the week. The academic work of the institution is made to conform itself to this arrangement. To the same end — the making of the shop practice as nearly like shop work as possible — there are given few or no exercises as such, every student being required to put all his work upon articles which, when completed, shall he salable in the markets. To this end, too, the shop management has a special Ime of articles to be manufactured for the trade, besides competing with other shops for general work. In order to do this it is necessary to supplement the student labor with the labor of a dozen or more regularly employed mechanics. In 1884 there were sixteen mechanics thus employed, while there were that year one hundred students at work. During that year there were manufactured and sold goods to the amount of $19,500. Another peculiarity of the shop work is that comparatively little attention is given to Jmtid work, machine work being employed by preference as much as possible. The charge for tuition is $150 per annum, except for residents of Worcester county, who receive gratuitous tuition. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Boston, was next vis- ited. This institution receives one-third of the income of the Agricultural Col- lege land grant of 1863 for the State of Massachusetts. The work of the In- stitute is divided between two leading schools, the School of Industrial Science and the School of 2Iechanic Arts. The conditions of admission to the School of Industrial Science are high, the courses of study are full and strong four-year courses, and are intended to fit for civil, topographical, mechanical, mining, and electrical engineering. The school of mechanic arts has a more elementary two-years' course of study, including daily shop practice for the entire time. The shops are extensive and richly equipped. The wood shop is provided with 40 carpenter's benches and sets of tools, two circular saws, a swing saw, two jig saws, a buzz planer, a MECHANICS AND ASTRONOMY. lix boring machine, 36 wood lathes, a large pattern-maker's lathe, and 36 pattern- maker's benches and sets of tools. The foundry has a cupola furnace for iron, two brass furnaces, and 32 molder's benches. The blacksmiths' shop has 32 forges, seven vises and the requisite outfit of hand tools. The machine shop contains 22 engine lathes, 15 hand lathes, a machine drill, 2 planers, one shaper, one universal milling machine, one grinding lathe, and 32 benches with vises and hand tools for bench work. The work in the shop progresses by a regular and systematic course of graded exercises devised with reference to the best and fullest instruction of the student, and with no reference to the market value of products. The tuition fee for the course in mechanic arts is $150 per year; for the course in industrial science it is 1200 per year. A reference to the published lists of the present employment of graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Worcester Free Institute and the Stevens Institute of Technology shows that a very large proportion of them are filling responsible and lucrative positions as engineers, draughtsmen, super- intendents, and foremen in manufacturing and engineering establishments, or as teachers in technical and scientific schools. In briefly summing up the results of my observations and inquiries, I would say that on the question of the manner of conducting the work of the shops in the industrial and technical schools, there are two sharply defined and quite antagonistic opinions among those connected with or interested in these schools; and in the discussion of these opinions — sometimes a little heated — two par- ties have sprung up. The one party, headed by Worcester, and closely fol- lowed by the Rose Polytechnic School of Terra Haute, Indiana, insists that the school shops should be conducted like real business shops, and that the product must be marketable. This party believes that few or no exercises should be given merely for the sake of practice, but that every article made from the beginning of the student's work, must have a marketable value. These men insist that the student will work better if the article uponwhich he works is to- have, when finished, a use and value over and above its value as a practical exercise. The other party, led, perhaps, by the Massachusetts Institute and followed by the United States Naval Academy, the Manual Training School of St. Louis, the Stevens Institute at Hoboken, and most of the other schools, noticeably those connected with the colleges, insists that instriidion rather than construc- tion must furnish the key note of the work. These men claim that in the effort to compete with real shops in the production of merchantable articles, pupils are inevitably kept so long at single kinds of work in order to become skillful, that the range of the student's practice is narrowed and his instruction is made to suffer for the sake of profit to the shop. They claim that it is as impossible, without detriment to the pupil's instruction, to make the product of students' work in the shop salable, as it would be to make the instruction of a class in grammar or rhetoric self-supporting by selling the pupils' compositions and exercises to the magazines and newspapers. The argument for making these school shops entirely or partially self-sup- portiug by the manufacture of salable articles, has certainly a pleasant sound to the popular ear; and yet I believe that, like many other popular arguments, there is in it a fallacy. There is a law of compensation holding everywhere that holds here. We must learn before we can earn. The student cannot earn fees during his first readings of Blackstone, cannot practice medicine while taking his first lessons in anatomy and pathology. Ix DEPARTMENT REPORTS. I believe it to be impossible by the mercantile method, and with the purpose strong to make the shop to any great extent self-supporting, to arrange the exer- cises so as to give to all pupils so even and uniform and general and well graded a course of instruction as by the other method. A shop superintendent who is required to show as large an income as possible from the sales of the products of his shop, and whose success is measured by this standard, will almost unavoid- ably be tempted to keep pupils at those kinds of work which pay best regardless of their progress. This is, indeed, the very objection brought against the present system of apprenticeship, under which the apprentice is kept at work at what- ever he happens first to learn to do well, and by which not finished workmen but very narrow specialists are turned out. These opinions are the more confidently expressed because they are the opin- ions of the greater number, as, I believe, of the best industrial and technical school men of the country. Dr. C. M. Woodward, Director of the St. Louis Manual Training School, one of the oldest and ablest advocates of industrial education in this country, is very strongly of the opinion that every attempt to make merchantable articles in the school shop will result in injury to the instruction. The authorities at the Naval Academy, at the Massachusetts Insti- tute and at the Stevens Institute were found to be equally strong in this opinion. It is possible that these two parties, driven apart in the spirited discussion, have drifted each into extremes, and that a golden mean lies somewhere between them- In our own case, 1 think it wise to feel our way carefully, not undertaking to construct articles for sale in the markets, but only so far as can be safely done for the further furnishing of our own shops. Even in attempting this, the observation of the past year teaches me that there is great danger that in our anxiety to finish a tool or a machine, all our pupils will not be given equally wide ranges of practice, or that some will be kept unduly long on work simply because they can do it well ; and this danger is likely to increase as our numbers increase beyond the reach of the foreman's personal oversight and attention. Grading and classification are just as important helps in shop instruction as in any other, and these cannot be had when each different stu- dent is engaged upon a different kind of work. Then, too, in a State school, especially, we should avoid anything that looks like competition with our private industries. Still, it is possible that with larger experience, and with time to systematize our work more completely, we may find branches of industry, not practiced in Michigan, which we can profit- ably engage in to a limited extent, without detriment to the instructional value o our shop practice, and by means of which the cost of raw material con- sumed may be, in part, covered. I noticed in some of the shops I visited twenty or thirty lathes of the same size and pattern. I believe it is much better, as giving a wider range of experience, to have as great a variety of pattern as possible represented in the tools and machines of the shop. In this respect I think we have started right. Neither would I recommend the purchase of large machines, nor the under- taking of heavy work. Our pupils are young, and lack the physical strength necessary to handle heavy pieces: besides, all operations can be taught on small articles as well as on large ones. Every possible precaution, too, must be taken against the possibility of maiming or injury to students in the shops; especially is there need of this in the use of wood cutting machinery. On the whole, the results of my trip of observation gave me encouragement 10 believe that we have made a good beginning. The equipment of our shops MECHANICS AND ASTRONOMY. 1x1 is certainly not contemptible, and the work of our pupils in this, the first year, need not be ashamed to be compared with any I saw in the older institutions. During my trip I took the opportunity of visiting the observatories and labora- tories of Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins. During the spring term I taught the freshmen mechanical students element- ary physics, dividing the class during the latter half of the term into four sections, and giving them a course of experimentation at the tables in my laboratory. They also assisted in devising and making several pieces of apparatus, — one, for instance, for determining the coefficient of gravity, and one for illustrating the laws of falling bodies. Durnig this term I also taught two sections of the sophomore class the sub- ject of trigonometry. During the summer term I taught the sophomore class mechanics and the senior class astronomy. During this term also, by vote of the faculty, I prepared the annual catalogue and attended to its printing. During the year Professor Carpenter and I prepared the full four year course of study for the department of mechanic arts. RECOMMENDATIONS. I join my voice with Professor Carpenter's in recommending that the Board ask of the Legislature an appropriation for the addition to our shops which he urges in his report. Without some relief of this kind at tbe beginning of the next year, when our third class enters, we shall be greatly embarrassed to find room for all our students, and when the fourth class enters in the fall of 1888- we shall be totally unable to provide for them. I would also emphasize and urge his recommendation that the main part of the mechanical building be enlarged by a two story addition at the northeast corner. This addition is greatly needed, — the basement and first floor for a mechanical lecture room and apparatus rooms, the second floor for lecture room for the professor of engineering and a tower furnished for a computing room and observatory for astronomical purposes. The present little observa- tory is inaccessible in position, too small and unfit often by reason of damp- ness for the preservation of our telescope. If this addition is built my present lecture room and laboratory would be converted into a much needed laboratory for experiments in mechanics. I also beg leave to recommend in the interest of the new department of me- chanic arts the appointment of a teacher of drawing for next year and there- after. The classes in drawing are becoming so numerous as very soon to re- quire the entire time of one instructor. I would also urge that the services of a shop superintendent be secured for the year beginning in the fall of 1888- and thereafter. It is possible that a detail might be secured from the U. S. government of a suitable graduate from the naval academy for this service. So many new classes are created by the new course that Professor Carpenter and his assistants cannot possibly attend to these duties in addition to his own proper work in mathematics and engineering. I also ask that provision be made for an assistant in my own department for next year and thereafter. Competent young men can be found willing ta serve as assistants at from 1300 to 1500 per year. I shall be obliged to provide for the instruction of from three to five classes a day after the beginning of next sj)ring term ; and if the work is to be done by the laboratory method, as most certainly it must be, these classes will need to be divided into a number of sections of suitable size for supervision. Ixii DEPARTMENT EEPORTS. I ask for an appropriation of 1500 for each of the next two years for me- chanical apparatus and material. My department being a new one is almost without apparatus for illustration. An additional S500 ought also to be pro- vided for securing a small astronomical transit. Except for mere star gazing we are without astronomical apparatus. A time keeper and a transit are nec- essary for all kinds of practical astronomical work such as every civil engineer ought to be familiar with. For the purpose of supplying heat and light for experimentation in the mechanical laboratory, I would urge the purchase of a gas machine, not to cost over 1250. Of course, as French and German have been offered in the mechanical course for next year, it will be necessary to make provision for an instructor for those languages. I also beg leave to add the following suggestions concerning matters, which, though outside of my own special department, are still closely connected with the recent enlargement of the college in the direction of mechanical and kindred industries. We have now a dozen or more young women in our classes, and the number "will naturally increase as fast as opportunities are offered, and yet, no provision is made for their industrial training in any direction. I know of no reason why industrial schools should not offer to young women, as well as to young men, courses that are intended to fit them for their own proper industrial pur- suits. We are not offering anything in the nature of handicraft instruction suitable to their sex. Permit me, then, to suggest to you, and through you to the Board, that, as soon as may be, and this could be easily provided for if the proposed addition to the mechanical building is secured, a suitable room be fitted up for a wom- ans' industrial laboratory, where, for a couple of hours each day, while the young men are engaged in the fields or shops, the youug women may practice and learn such light handicrafts as are suitable. I may name among these photography, type writing, telegraphy, typography, wood carving, scroll saw- ing, etc. A couple of hours devoted each day during the course to these things, besides being beneficial to health, would enable them to learn lucrative -callings, should they choose to follow them. The cost of an outfit for such a laboratory would be quite trifling in amount. Again, as I hear that a building for a young woman's dormitory may possibly be asked for, I would suggest that a model kitchen and dining-room be fitted up in this proposed building, and that they be put under the direction of a com- petent lady as matron and instructor in domestic economy and household art. I believe by doing this we can greatly enlarge the usefulness of the college by making it as helpful to the young women of the State as to the young men. There is no argument needed, I know, Mr. President, to convince you or the Board of Agriculture that women educated and trained in their duties contrib- ute as much to the prosperity and happiness of a State as do educated men. Trusting that it will not be deemed impertinent in me to offer these sugges- tions, whicli certainly pertain to manual and industrial training, and thanking you for your courtesies and cooperation during the past year, as we have been engaged in starting the ne\y department of Mechanic Arts, I beg to present to you this, my annual report. EespectfuUy, LEWIS McLOUTH, Prof. Mechanics and Astronomy. ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATUEE. Ixiii REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. To the President of the College: I have the honor of submitting the following statement of the work of the department of English Language and Literature for the year 1885-86 : The aim of the department is, (1) to impart such a knowledge of the English language as will enable students to express their thoughts with correctness, clearness, force and so much of elegance as the subjects upon which they write or speak demand ; (2) to teach the fundamental principles of composition, in- cluding both form and matter, with sj^ecial reference to the collection and arrangement of details in description, narration and argument, so as to be most •effective ; (3) to cultivate in the student such control of himself and of his men- tal resources that he may present to his class or to a public audience, with suit- able tone and action what he may have to say, whether the memorized thought of another or of himself, or the results of his extemporaneous effort ; (4) to give a synoptical view of English Literature from Chaucer to the present time, attend- ing Avith some carefulness to the characteristics of about twenty-five leading authors ; (5) to acquaint students particularly with the greatest works of the greatest English authors, and thus develop a taste for refined thought, lofty sen- timent and beautiful expression, and awaken such a love for what is best in our literature that the reading habit will not only be established but be given a strong imj^ulse in the right direction. To accomplish these ends the work is arranged in the following order : Three months of daily grammatical drill ; six months semi-weekly exercises in elocution and declamation ; three months elementary rhetoric daily with nu- merous written exercises in narration and description ; three months weekly ex- ercises of alternating essays and declamations ; three months advance rheto- ric daily with numerous exercises in analyses of propositions and fvilly written arguments ; one year tri-termal exercises, partly public original speeches, partly expository essays on subjects assigned in the various departments of instruction, with weekly readings in Shakespere ; three months daily history of English literature with critical essays ; one year, weekly written exercises pre- pared from the critical study of masterpieces of literature and semi-annual public speeches ; six weeks, daily study of longer works of the great authors, and one term weekly readings in Milton. Durinoj the fall term of 1885 a class of 116 freshmen was committed to me for instruction in English language. They recited in two divisions, and with Whitney's Essentials of English as a guide, were taken step by step from the structure of the simple sentence through all the varieties of English construc- tion. They were required to master the examples afforded by the text book, to furnish additional examples found in their general reading, and to construct sentences illustrating definitions and principles. The derivation and composi- tion of words was the subject of special study, and special emphasis was laid on the formation of the verb and verb phrases. The last month additional mate- rial for analysis and parsing was furnished from the exercises in the class-book of elocution. Another year's experieuce shows the value of this course as a preparation for subsequent work. This freshman class, with a few students who had entered the previous term, met with me in four sections during the week — one on Mondays, one on Tues- Ixiv * DEPARTMENT REPORTS. days, one on Thursdays and one on Fridays, and in two sections on Saturday mornings for work in elocution and set declamations. Monroe's Vocal Gym- nastics was used as a hand-book, and the exercises for vocal training were prac- ticed as vigorously and thoroughly as the contiguity of other classes would allow. This was the first time systematic instruction in elocution had been made a j)art of the course, and it was gratifying to witness the enthusiasm of the students. Each member of the class declaimed three times, making 450 individual exer- cises. The selections were mostly from approved American orators, and poetry and nonsense were given no place. On Thursday evenings, during the term, the juniors met in my class room and read Shakespere, critically, under my supervision, the play chosen being Othello. The seniors met with me Wednesday mornings for the reading of criti- cal essays on the poems of the romantic school, specially Scott, Byron and Burns, and on the works of the contemporary American poets. The class num- bered thirty-two, each presenting two essays. These essays were discussed in the class with reference to both form and matter, and the manuscript was after- wards carefully corrected by myself. During this term most of the seniors and juniors presented their public orations, all the details of which, from choice of subject to rehearsal of the speech, were worked up under my direction. The English work of the sophomores was divided between Professor White and myself. The class numbered 56, each declaiming once before me, and presenting two essays on subjects previously assigned, to Prof. White. A class of ill prepared students, numbering 35, were given instruction in grammar during the term, by Mr. J. B. Cotton, under my supervision. The essays of the juniors were under the direction of Professor Bailey, and were on subjects assigned in connection with their study of horticulture. The size of the sophomore class made it necessary, during the spring term, that I should be relieved from most of the work of the department, except the advance rhetoric and the written work connected with the instruction of the class room. In addition to traversing the text of A. S, Hill's " Principles of Rhetoric," each of the 58 students presented three argumentative productions, and the class met once a week, afternoons, for the study of Webster's Speech in Reply to Hayne. The juniors met Thursdays, as in the previous term, for reading Shakspeare ; this term reading The Tempest. The public speeches of the seniors and juniors were continued as last term. The essays of the juniors were in the charge of Dr. Abbot, and those of the seniors in hands of President Willits, and on historical subjects assigned from the work in Constitutional Law. The elocutionary work of the freshmen was done at a great disadvan- tage, being scattered among several officers. Professor Nelson, President Willits,. Prof. Pattengill and myself. It is greatly to be desired that hereafter this term's work of the freshmen, which is an important one, be turned to good ac- count. A large accession, nearly 60 members, was made at the beginning of this term, to the freshman class. None of these students were prepared to ad- vance with their class in English work. They were, therefore, excused from the afternoon labor, and I met them daily for eight weeks, giving them practi- cally the same instruction given to the class the previous term ; most of them were then able to pass their examination and advance with their fellows one term older. A few, specially in need of help, were instructed the entire term by Mr. Cotton. During the summer term I had the junior class, numbering 28, in English Literature. Stopford A. Brooke's "Primer of English Literature" furnished ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. Ixv the basis for daily class work, which was preceded by a few preparatory lec- tures and accompanied by brief informal lectures and ilhistrative read- ings. These were furnished by the series of English Classics of Clark and Mayuard, with a few of the Clarenden Pres-i series. Each student presented one critical essay, summarizing the results of the work of the class on some masterpiece read, and giving such additional criticism as he desired. Twenty seniors and specials elected the half term course in English Masterpieces, first offered this term. The selections studied were : The Areo- pagitica of Milton, the Speech on Conciliation of Burke, the Absalom and Achitophel of Dr}den, the Essay on Man of Pope, the Childe Harold of Byron, and The Princess of Tennyson. All the seniors met with me once a week during the term for readings in Milton's Paradise Lost, the first four books being carefully studied, and passages read from some of the remaining books. The juniors continued their Shakspere work, reading this term Coriolanus, Lucrece and the Sonnets. The direction of the public exercises of the two higher classes, and the preparation of the commencement programme devolved upon me, as heretof(jre. The sophomores, numbering 4t», presented before their class each one original oration, the direction of which is the same as for public occasions. Of the almost infinite work involved in the large number of these speeches, more than 150 of vThicli have been delivered during the year, it is unnecessary to speak here, as I spoke of it at some length in my last report. The English work of the freshmen for the term, elementary rhetoric, was for the most part done by Mr. H. R. Pattengill ; but as he was unable to remain the full term, the revision of essays assigned by myself after the close of his work, waadone by Messrs. Lawrence MeLouth and J. B. Cotton, under my supervision. The class numbered 85 and met in three divisions. They trav- ersed th subject as presented in D. J. Hill's " Elements of Rhetoric," and each student presented three essays — (1) a description on a topic assigned by Dr. Beal in Botany ; (2) a description on a topic selected by himself,; (3) a re- production in prose of Longfellow's narrative from King Robert of Sicily. It was my privilege to give one of the Wednesday afternoon lectures at the college, the sul)ject being The Influence of Burns's Poetry, and to attend two of the winter institutes, at which I gave a lecture on Burns, the Peasant and Poet. To you I a*>i under great obligation for cordial support in my effort to make the work of this department throughout comprehensive and thorough; and specially for your prompt espouse to every request for assistance when the Avork has been more than I could do alone. Some maps, charts, and diction- aries have been placed in the class-rooms ; an oftice has been furnished for me in College Hall ; a permanent assistant, Mr. H. R. Pattengill, has been ap- pointed, to do a share of the class-room work. But, owing to the large increase of students, and to the great proportion of English work coming in the two lower classes, additional permanent assistance is needed to carry forward the work as at present planned. The rhetorical exercises actually performed last year, including essays, declamations, speeches, and rehearsals, aggregated more than 2,000; and about one half of thet^e were properly the work for a teacher of elocution. I recommend, therefore, that such an instructor be employed. Another pressing need is suitable class-rooms. With much more use for class- rooms than any other department, we are more {)Oorly e(iuipped. At present, the small and inconvenient rooms in the third story of College Hall, which are in almost every way unsuitable, are the only quarters attainable. These are I Ixvi DEPARTMENT REPORTS. difficult of access, ill-ventilated, almost uueudurably hot in summer, noisy during winds or storms, and away from the library, which is in constant de- mand. A good building should be provided, adjacent to the library, and con- taining suitable lecture-rooms and offices, and a general audience-room; or the Library building might be so extended as to furnish the same acorn modations. Kespectfully submitted, E. J. MacEWAN, Professor of English Language and Literature. Agricultural College, October 1, 1886. } REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. To the President State Agricultural College : Sir: — Allow me to submit the following report of work done in the Veteri- nary department of this college for the years 1H85-6 : With the beginning of the Fall term of 1885 the third course of lectures in Veterinary Science commenced. The instruction during this term was given to senior students, and, as on previous occasions, was devoted to veterinary anatomy, including a description of the various organs of the horse, ox, hog, and sheep. Towards the end of this term the students purchased a horse, whicli enabled us to do some practical work in anatomy, and which, I think, proved a great aid in fixing the healthy appearance of certain organs in the minds of those engaged in the work. At the close of the term the class made a request that the examination in anatomy be held over till the spri^i^r, in order that we might have an opportu- nity of reviewing the subject with the aid of certain anatomical models, "which were at this time in course of preparation for the department. The proposition was so much in accordance with my own views that I carried the matter before the faculty, and, after receiving their consent, the request of the students was granted, with, I think, the most satisfactory results. The Spring term of 1886 may be looked upon as the most important epoch of our history in the Veterinary department i p to the present, for it was at the beginning of this term that we took possession of our new quarters, "The Vet- erinary Laboratory," which, being well equipped, gave me an opportunity of conducting my exercises in a manner that I bad not been able to do before, as I had at my command a very formidable nucleus of a veterinary museum, be- sides other conveniences for work in my line. The course of study was so like that of my last report that it scarcely requires description, except that I wish to add, that by having so much new equipment I was able to do the work in such a practical way that our daily exercises would hardly be recognized when com- pared with similar ones of the past, all of which, I trust, is to the advantage of our students. During the Summer term the outline of our work was much the same as heretofore, but here again I have to speak of the advantages of our new equip- ment, as I Wtis able to perform some operations before the class which I would not have attempted without it. I may add that I have great hopes that this method of illustration will keep increasing from year to year as the department becomes better known. MILITARY SCIENCE AND TACTICS. Ixvii Besides operating before the class I was able to give some clinical instruction from cases that were brought to the Laboratory by neighboring farmers and others. OUTSIDE WOKK. I delivered my Wednesday afternoon lecture in regular order, and issued the semi-annual bulletin according to the requirements of the last Legis- lature. I attended to the veterinary requirements of live stock in the Horticultural and Agricultural departments of this college. I attended and spoke at those Farmers' Institutes that I was assigned to, and read papers at Breeders' Insti- tutes in this State. In the capacity of State Veterinarian I have attended to the various duties required by that office. During the ifutuinn of 1885 I was invited by the Agricultural Department of Purdue University to deliver a course of ten lectures upon veterinary subjects, at that institution, and speak at Farmers' Institutes in different parts of the State of Indiana, but previous engagements prevented my accepting their invitation. In the winter of this year I was also requested to attend the Wisconsin Dairy- man's Association, and repeat a discourse upon matters pertaining to dairy cattle, which I had previous y delivered to the Northwestern Dairyman's Association, at Mankato, Minn., but the time of the meeting clasied with our own insti- tutes, so I was unable to attend the Wisconsin convocation. I was also invited by the University of Minnesota to take part in Farmers' Institutes in tiiat State, but in this case I had also to decline, as the day they wished me to com- mence the work was the opening day of our own college. During the month of September, 1886, I prepared an exhibit from the Vete- rinary Department, to be shown at the State Fair, in Jackson, and also at the Central Michigan Fair, at Lansing, and on both occasions, I have been told, considerable interest was expressed by visitors at the display. Very respectfully submitted by Yours Obediently, E. A. A. GRANGE, Professor- Veterinary Science. Agricultukal College, Mich., ) October 1, 1886. ) REPORT OF PROFESSOR OF MILITARY SCIENCE AND TACTICS. Hon. Edwin Willits, President Michigan Agricultural College: Sir — I have the honor to render, for your information, the following report of the condition of the Department of Military Science and Tactics for the year ending September 30, 1886 : Practical and theoretical military exercises have been held as follows : Number of infantry drills, lasting one hour, with an average attendance of 100 students 15? Number of dress-parades, lasting one-half hour, with an average attendance of 80 students- 20 Number of recitations in Upton's Infantry Tactics, with an average attend- ance of 12 students 63 Ixviii DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Number of target practices, lasting three hours, with an average attend- ance of 14 students 6 On July 13, 1886, I delivered a public lecture in the chapel, entitled, " The English Soldier in Bermuda." On September 29, 1886, I delivered a lecture to my class in Tactics on " The Duties of Guards and Sentinels." On Decoration Day (May 30, 1880,) the Cadets accepted an invitation to march in the street parade in Lansing, and made a creditable appearance. Fifty-seven of the cadets, fully uniformed and equipped, attended the State Fair, at Jackson, on September 16 and 17, 1886. Of this number a company of thirty, commanded by Cadet Captain Irving B. Bates, participated in the street parade and drill on the 17th. Of this company the Detroit Free Press of the 18th of September, spoke as follows : "The agricultural bovs came in next. Dressed in blue and with the whitest of white gloves, they presented a very fine appearance. Their manual was manual, indeed. The marching of the cadets was precision from first to last." Since my last report the College Armory has been completed, and the number of cadet Springfield rifles, loaned by the War Department, has been increased to 150. The Armory is satisfactory in all respects for military purposes. Discipline among the cadets, during the hours when they have been subject to my control, has been good. They have shown great interest and aptitude at drill and are never disobedient or insubordinate. RECOMMENDATIONS. I respectfully repeat my recommendation of last year that every student shall be required to drill two years as a condition for graduation, and that the Legislature be requested to confer the brevet rank of Second Lieutenant in the M. S. T. on all graduates of the college who earn this honor. I recommend that the cadets go into camp for one week during the summer, at some place in the vicinity of the college. Tents for the purjDose would doubtless be supplied by the State Q,. M. Dept. Lastly I suggest that a suitable house be provided at the college for the itse of the Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Since the State receives his services gratis he should at least be comfortably quartered. My successor will reap the benefit of this suggestion, if it is acted upon, as my own connection •with the college will, by operation of law, probably cease during the coming year. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. A. LOCKWOOD, 2d Lieut. 17th U. S. Infantry, Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Michigan Agricultural College, ) October, 1886. ) REPORT OF LIBRARIAN. Ixix REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. To the President : The year just closed has been one of uninterrupted prosperity and growth; the use of the library by the students is a gratifying indication of their appre- ciation of the privileges it affords ; there have iDcen drawn from the library for use outside of the building ;2,9UO books and at least five times as many are con- sulted within the library during the day ; the loss and defacement of books has been so slight as to be hardly worth mentioning, not above three books having been lost during the year and no case of wilful defacement occurring ; the ut- most freedom is granted readers and nothing which the library affords either of books or periodicals is in any way withheld from them, they having access to all collections at all times ; there have been added by binding 132 vohimes ; by purchase 542 volumes ; by gift 200 bound books and 260 pamphlets, making an increase for the year of 1,134 volumes and a total collection of 9,820 books and pamphlets, or 8,348 bound books and 1,472 pamphlets. All duplicate documents, except one set of Annals of Congress, have been returned to the department of the interior with the understanding that, as fast as possible, an equal number of volumes shall be returned to us for the com- pleting of our sets. In the same way a large number of, to us, comparatively valueless reports have been sent to the State departments, especially to the department of public instruction ; by this means our shelf room has been materially increased. The gifts to the library, together with the names of the donors, are as follows, viz : BOUND DONATIONS. Agricultural Reports from the States in Order. California, 1885— Edwin F. Smith. Connecticut, 1885— T. S. Gold. Georgia, 2 volumes, 1 884 — H. G. Reynolds. Iowa, 1881-2-3-4— John R. Shaffer. Kansas, 1873— H. G. Reynolds. Maine, 1881-2-3-4— H. G. Reynolds. Massachusetts, 1881-2-3-4-5— H. H. Goodell. New Hampshire, Vols. 13-14 — Dartmouth College Library. New Jersey, 1885 — W. A. Taylor. New York, 33d report — T. L. Harrison. Pennsylvania, 1879, 1884— State College. Vermont, 8th report — Prof. J. E. Goodrich. Agricultural Experiments — Reports from the Follotving : Alabama, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Cornell University, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Purdue University, Wisconsin. Miscellaneous. American Chesterfield — W. E. Gilbert. A Political Crime — A. M. Gibson. Ixx DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Biography of a Slave — Prof. E. J. McEwau. California Geological Survey of, 2 volumes — E. M. Preston. Child's Healtli Primer— Annis M. Hood. Colorado Horticultural Reports, 1882-3-4 — President Ingersoll. Colorado Railroad Report, 1885 — President Ingersoll. Down the Ravine — F. S. Kedzie. Horticultural Resources of Nevada County — E. M. Preston. Illinois Industrial Report — Prof. T. J. Burrill. Massachusetts Bureau of Labor, 3 volumes — Carroll D. Wright. Medieval and Modern History — Grinn & Co. Michigan. Auditor General's Report, 1885 — Hon. W. C. Stevens. Board of Health Report, 1884— Dr H. B. Baker. Documents from above — Dr. H. B. Baker. Charities, 12tli Rept. — Commissioner. Insurance — Commissioner Walker. Joint Documents, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4 — Hon. H. A. Conant. Labor Bureau, 3d Report — Hon. C. V. R. Pond. Pioneer Collections, vols. 5 and 6— Mrs. H. A. Tenney. Public Acts — Hon. H. A. Conant. Supreme Court Reports, vols. 53, 54, 55, 58— Mrs H. A. Tenney. Territorial Laws, 4 volumes — Hon. H. A. Conant. Miscellaneous documents, 24 vols. — Hon. H. Chamberlain. Natural History, New York, vol. 3 — Prof. L. H. Bailey. New York Meteorological Observations — Daniel Draper. Smithsonian Institute Report, 1884 — Spencer F. Baird. Springfield Rifle Management — Lieut. Lockwood. Tennessee State Board of Health — J. B. Lindsley, M. D. United States Documents. Agriculture, Report of, 1885— Hon. N. H. Coleman. Astronomical and Meteorological Observations, 1881-82— Navy Department. Bureau Animal Industry, 2d Report — D. E. Salmon. Bureau Labor, vol. 1 — Carroll D. Wright. Congressional Records, 64 vols. — Department Interior. Congressional Record, 11 Reports — Hon. E. B. Wiuans. I "'escriptive Catalogue govt, publications — Dept. Interior. Education, Report of commissioner of, 1883-84 — John Eaton. Engineer, Report of Chief of — War Department. Forestry, 1884— G. B. Loring. Geographical Survey, W. 100 M. — War Department. Labor Bureau, 1st Report — C. D. Wright. Nautical Almanac, '87 — Navy Department. Official Record War of Rebellion, Vols. 13-14-15-16-17— War Department. Ordnance Report, Chief of —War Department. Senate and House Journals — Department of the Interior. Signal Service, 1884 — War Department. REPORT OF LIBRARIAN. Ixxi Foreign Exchanges. Acta Academia Natural Curiosorum, 13 Vols. — Halle University. Annuario Academio Polytechnica do Porto. — Acadetnia Polytechnico. Bulletin de la Society centrale d'Agriculture de L'Herault — Louis Vialla. Bulletin du Cornice Agricole Central du Department de la Loire — Inferieure 1883-4-5— M. Andouard. Canada, Geological Survey, 24 vols — J. Thorburu. India, Meteorological Report of, 1884 — Henry F. Blanford, India, Report department Revenue Settlement and Agriculture, 1884-5 — Hon W. Wilson. Journals of the Legislative Assembly, Quebec and Journals of Council — Theodore Rubitaille. La Mouche du Narcisse and sixteen other pamphlets — Dr. J. Ritzema Bos. R. Istituto Lombardo di Scieuze e Lettere, 1884 — President Schiaparelli. Sessional papers, Ontario — J. J. Ross. Statutes of Manitoba — James Cox Aikin. Verslag over deu landbouw in Nederland, 1881-3-3 — Library, Wageningen. Water Supply, Victoria, Australia — Hon. A. Deakin. Pamphlets. American Short Horn Breeders' Association Circulars. Bailey, Prof. L. H. — Fruits and fruit trees of America. Bailey, Prof. L. H. — Plantae Texanaj. Burrill, Prof. T. J. — Pamphlets Jrom Illinois Laboratory. Carpenter, L. G. — Artist Life, W. B. Conely. Carpenter, L. G. — Brief review of the ten years' work of Johns Hopkins University. Cragin, Frank W. — Natural history bulletins, Washburn College. Draper Daniel — Report of tlie New York Meteorological Observatory, 1885. Eaton, John — Historical sketches, universities and colleges. Eaton, John — Outlines for Museum of Anatomy. Eaton, John — Resena Sobre el cultero de Algunas Plantas Industriales. Eaton, John — Datos Me rcan tiles relatives al Puerto de Vera Cruz. Eaton, John — El Algodonero. Eaton, John— Estudio Qunico, Industrialde los varies Products del Magney Mexicano. Eaton, John — Cuadro geografico, estadistico, Descriptivoe Historico de los Estados unidos Mexicanos. Eaton, John — Riqueza Minera de Mexico. Essex Institute — Bulletins of Essex Institute, Massachusetts. Fairchild, Rev. J. H. — Michigan Baptist Anniversaries, 1885. Folwell, W. W. — Bulletin Minnesota Academy Natural Science. Forbes, S. A. — Illinois natural history bulletins. Garfield, Charles W, — Report of the American Pomological Society, 1885. Hilgard, Prof. E. W. Viticultural Work, California, 1883-5. IngersoU, President C. L. — Eleven pamphlets on Colorado. Jesup, M. K. — Twenty-two numbers American Museum Natural History. Lansing Woman's Christian Temperance Union — Report of State W. C. T. U., 1885. Lansing Woman's Christian Temperance Union — White Cross series. Ixxii DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Manitoba — Eeport of Department of Agriculture. McCurdy, Charles W. — Report of Sand Beach schools. Newcoinb, Simon— Astronomical papers, 1 volume. Pond, Bertie — Ten reports State charities. Potts, William— Sixty pamphlets ou civil service. Ritch, G. AV.— Illustrated New Mexico, 1883. Sanborn, J. W. — Annual report State Board of Agriculture, Missouri. Spaight, A. W. — Resources, soil and climate of Texas. Thompson, Rev. E. — Proceedings of 51st annual convention Diocese of Michi- gan, 1885. Tracy, Prof. S. M. — Catalogue phaenogamous and cyptogamous plants of Missouri. Tryon, J. H. — Practical treatise on grape culture. United States — Astronomical papers, volume 3, part 4, Navy Department. United States — Consular reports, six. State Department. United States — Currency, report comptroller. Treasury Department. ■ United States — Forestry, proceedings of American Congress. United States — Official Army Register, War Department. United States— Otficial Gazette, Patent Office. United States— Statistical Abstract of the United States, Treasury Depart- ment Wellcome, Mrs. M. D. — Talks about flowers. Wright, Carroll D. — Sixty-seven pamphlets on civil service. The system of foreign exchanges is bringing to us a fine collection of excep- tionally well illustrated articles upon scientific subjects, many of them directly in our lines of study ; seventy reports were sent abroad to schools of agricult- ure and experimental stations, and to a few individuals who asked to receive them in exchange for other matter. The reading-room has had an increased number of periodicals, as shown hj the succeeding list : Foreign, hy subscription. Agricultural Gazette, Anglia, Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Art Journal, Chemical News, Engineering, Englische Studiea, Garden, Gardener's Chronicle, Journal of Anatomy, ". '" Chemical Society, Journal of Forestry, " " Royal Agr'l Society, Knowledge, Nature, North British Agriculturist, Observatory, The, Spectator, Sotheran's price current of books. Times, Weekly, London, Veterinarian, Veterinary Journal. REPORT OF LIBRARIAN. Ixxiii American, J)y subscription. American Agriculturist, " Bee Journal, " Architect and Building News, " Clieinical Journal, " Cultivator, " Garden, " Journal of Science, " " Comparative Medicine ^and Surgery, " Library Journal, " Machinist, " Meteorological Journal, " Microscopical Journal, " Naturalist, " Veterinary Review, Andover Eeview, Annals of Mathematics, Army Journal, Art Amateur, Atlantic Monthly, Banker's Magazine, Blackwood's Magazine, Boston Journal of Chemistry, Botanical Gazette, Breeder's Gazette, British Quarterly Review, Canadian Entomologist, Century Magazine, Chicago Tribune, daily, Christian Union, Contemporary Review, Countrv Gentleman, Critic, Detroit Free Press, daily, Detroit Tribune, daily. Dial, Education, Electrical World, Engineering News, Entomologica Americana, Gardener's Monthly, Harper's Monthly, " Weekly, Iowa Homestead, Iron Age, Journal Franklin Institute, Journal of the Military Service [Insti- tution, Literary World, Littell's Living Age, MacMi Han's Magazine, Magazine of American History, Manufacturer and Builder, Mathematical Magazine, Mechanical Engineer, Metal Worker, Michigan Farmer, Michigan Horticulturist, Microscope, The, Mirror and Farmer, National Live Stock Journal. New England Homestead, New York Independent, " " Nation, " " Tribune, North American Review, Ohio Farmer, Outing, Popular Science Monthly, Poultry World, Prairie Farmer, Rural New Yorker, Sanitary Engineering, Sanitary News, Science, Science Observer, Scientific American, Scientific American Supplement, Shakspeariana, Sidereal Messenger, " Southern Cultivator, U. S. Govt. Pubs. Mo. Catalogue. Westminster Review, Van Nostrand's Magazine, Vick's Monthly. Ixxiv DEPARTMENT REPORTS. Donated hy puUishers or others. Albion Republican, Allegan Gazette, American Beekeeper's Mazazine, " Chemical Eeview, " Dairyman, " Farmer, Appleton's Literary Bulletin, Battle Creek Journal, Bee and Poultry Magazine, Benton's Bees, Cincinnati Grange Bulletin, Charlotte Republican, Charlevoix Journal, Chicago Medical Times, Christian Register, Clinton Independent, Coldwater Republican, City and Country, Deaf Mute Mirror, Drainage and Farm Journal, Duncan's Monthly Magazine, Farm, Field and Stockman, Farm and Fireside, Farmer's Advocate, Farm, Herd and Home, Farm Home, Flint Globe, Fruit Grower's Journal, Good Health, Grand Rajtids Times, Grand Haven Herald, Grand Traverse Herald, Grange Visitor, Hillsdale Leader, Hillsdale Standard, Holstein Friesian Record, Imports and Exports to U. S., Industrialist, Ingham County News, Ionia Sentinel, Journal D'Agriculture, Journal N. Y. Microscopical Society, Kalamazoo Telegraph, Lansing Journal, Lansing Sentinel, Locomotive, Michigan Horticulturist, Michigan Tribune, Microscope, The (Detroit), Midland Republican, Midland Sun, Monroe Commercial, Naturalist's Bulletin, New England Farmer, OtKcial Gazette, Ouray Times, Our Young People, Owosso Times, Paw Paw True Northerner, Planter and Stockman, Popular Gardening, Practical Farmer, Saginaw Morning Herald, School Moderator, Scientific Roll, Sorghum Grower's Guide, St. Louis Leader, State Republican (Lansing), The Center, The Hog, Three Rivers Tribune, Traverse Bay Eagle, Union Signal, Watchman, Weekly Globe and Canada Farmer, Wolverine Citizen. From the above lists we count 180 periodicals in the reading-room during the year, and there are always to be had on the tables numerous scientific or political pamphlets on the topics of the times. The library has been open sixty-two hours a week, ten hours daily on week days, two hours on Sunday, and the number of readers compares very flatteringly with other libraries vis- ited. A trial has been made of the system of loaning a second book upon the per- sonal request of the student wishing it, and the success of the experiment Justi- fies a continuance of the method. EEPORT OF LIBRARIAN. Ixxv The rooms have been made more cleanly and quiet by the linoleum cover, which conduces greatly to our comfort. The east wall has been enriched by an oil portrait of Dr. Abbot, presented to the college by the alumni of the institution. A foreign student, who does not want his name disclosed, gave, during the autumn, a sum of money to be invested in something of permanent value to the students. After some deliberation it was decided to place in tlie library a collection of uniformly bound English classics, which will, in due time, be done. ' Your attention was called last year to the need for additional shelf room within the two years to come, and some outlay for this purpose will be neces- sary. With the increased number of students there has been a large amount of labor suitable for students to do, and they have been employed regularly to perform certain kinds of work, doing their duties always in a manner to merit the highest praise. Respectfully submitted, M. J. C. MERRKLL, Librarian, FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. The following series of Farmers' Institutes was held under the auspices of the State Board of Agriculture during February, 1886 : Hudsonville, Ottawa Co., Feb. 2 and 3, attended by Professors W. J. Beal, E. C. Car- penter and Samuel Johnson. Rochester. Oakland Co., Feb. 4 and 5, attended by Professors R. C. Carpenter, E. A. A. Grange and R. C. Kedzie. St. Louis, Gratiot Co., Feb. 9 and 10, attended by Professors Lewis McLouth, A. J. Cook and W. J. Beal. East Saginaw, Saginaw Co., Feb. 11 and 12, attended by Professors R. C. Kedzie, E, A. A. Grange, Lewis McLouth and F. S. Kedzie. Grass Lake, Jackson Co., Feb. 15 and 16, attended by Professors Samuel Jolmson, E. J. MacEwan, L. H. Bailey, Jr., and F. S. Kedzie. Quincy, Branch Co., Feb. 17 and 18, attended by Professors A. J. Cook, E. J. Mac- Ewan, L. H. Bailey, Jr., and L. G. Carpenter. President Edwin Willits and Secretary H. G. Reynolds also attended each of the Institutes. HUDSONVILLE INSTITUTE. The plea, t hall of the Hudsonville Grange was filled to overflowing at each of the s. -ions indicated in the following program: ^ Tuesday, February 2, 7 p. m., 1886. Meeting called to order by H. E. Hudson. Music. Prayer by the Rev. H. C. Hm-lburt. Introduction by R. Alward, President. Music. Address of welcome by H. D. Weatherwax. Music. Drainage — By Prof. R. C. Carpenter. Essay, •' Living for an Object " — Miss Helen Corwin. Music and Dismissal. February 3, 9 a. m. Music. Prayer by Rev. H. C, Hurlburt. Disease of Potatoes — By A. A. Crozier, Grand Rapids. Cattle and Dairy Products, by Prof. Samuel Johnson, Agricultural College. Paper — Mr. Geo. Sinclair — The Dairy. Music and dinner at the hall. 2 FAEMER'S INSTITUTES. 1:30 P. M Music. Farmers' Organizations — President R. Alward. Red Clover and its Uses — Prof. W. J. Beal. Effects of Primary Schools — Chas. Freeman. Rehearsal — Miss Allie Alward. Music. Legislation for Farmers — Hon. Geo. F. Richardson, Jamestown. Response — Gerrit Vanschleven, Holland. Essay — Mrs. A. V. Weatherwax, Georgetown. Music. Lunch at the haU. 7 p. H. Music. Essay, by Chas. Underhill, of HudsonvUle. Hygiene, by B. B. Godfrey, M. D., Hudson ville. Music. Music was jfurnished by the Georgetown and Hudsonville Glee Clubs, and a most abundant lunch by the ladies of the Hudsonville Grange. The various papers read at this and the other institutes were followed by discussions, which will be found in connection with the papers them- selves in the pages following this account of the general proceedings. The general remarks made by President Willits will be found collected as one paper in the same place. The remarks made by Hon. Geo. F. Richardson, President Willits, Secre- tary Clark and others on Taxation, Butterine, Railroad and Patent Right legislation will be found in the discussion following President Alward's paper on Farmers' Organizations. Owing to the next Institute being appointed on the opposite side of the State it was necessary for the representatives of the College to leave before the final session, which was specially signalized by a paper by Dr. B. B. Godfrey on Hygiene. ROCHESTER INSTITUTE. PROGRAM. Thursday, February 4, 10 a. m. Music — Double quartet. Prayer — Rev. J. P. Fryer. Opening Address — J. M. Norton. Paper : Can Farming be made Profitable on the Average Farm ? — J. J. Snook, Rochester. Music. Afternoon Session, 1:30 p. m. Music. Paper: How Shall We Improve Our Common Cattle ? — Edwin Phelps, Esq., Pontiac. Essay — Mrs. L. E. Cannon, Washington. Lecture: What Can be Done with the Muck Swamps? — Prof. R. G. Carpenter, Agricultural College. Music. ROCHESTER INSTITUTE. 3 Etening Session, 7 o'clock TVIusic. Paper — Hon. Wm. Ball, Hamburg. Essay: Practical Culture — Mrs. T. B, Fox. Lecture: Nitrogen, the Fertilizing Element — Prof. R. C. Kedzie, Agricultural College. Music. Friday, February 5, 10 a. m. Prayer — Rev. Wm. G. Roberts. Paper: Our Common Schools— J. Van Hoosen, Rochester. Paper: The Wilds of Michigan — George H. Cannon, Washington. Music. Afternoon Session, Pap)er: Oleomargarine and Butterine— What Shall Farmers Do About It? — Charles Adams. Essay — Mrs. J. C. Wilson. Lecture — Dr. E. A. A. Grange, Agricultural College. Music. Evening Session. Music. Prayer— Rev. W. H. Mills. Paper — Evolution in Farming, J. H. Peabody. Closing Address — President Edwin WilUts, Agricultural College. Music. Discussions following each paper and lecture. Local committee — M. P. Newberry, J. M. Norton, H. J. Taylor, Mrs. L. Woodvrard, Mrs. J. J. Snook. This Institute was held in the Pahner rink, a building so large that even the 600 persons in the audience seemed almost lost in the space around tliem. The exercises were opened, after an introduction by President Van Hoosen, with some very good music and au address of welcome by Hon. John M. Norton who, in the course of his remarks, expressed the purpose of the gather- ing most happily in these words: The object of this meeting is to mutually blend our experiences and aid each other in finding out the secrets of success and profit in farming. I believe in the two days before us, we shall glean information which, when practically applied, will add to our profit and store in farming. Let discussion be free and untrammeled by timidity, literary or social distinction. A word from a practical, uncultured farmer, may lead the thought of the more cultured minds to the treatment and solution of some essential facts in nature, on which hangs success or failure in any given lines of production. We welcome you all, and solicit your attention and interest to all subjects which may be considered by the institute. The program was carried out substantially as printed, and the institute was pronounced a grand success. Much praise is due to the local press for the completeness of their reports, the Utica Sentinel, the Pontiac Gazette and the New Era, each having admirable and very full reports. The various discussions will be found following the papers which called them out, except one consisting mainly of questions addressed to Dr. Kedzie, which will be found after his paper on Nitrogen. FARMERS' INSTITUTES. ST. LOUIS INSTITUTE. The sessions of this institute were held in Holcomb's Opera House, a large- hall, -which -was well tilled most of the time. PROGKAM. Tuesday Evening, 7 o'clock. Music. Prayer. Music. Address of Welcome, by President Parker Merrill. Response by Chairman of Institute, Hon. C. H. Morse. •' Industrial Geology" — Prof. Cook, Agricultural College. Discussion. Poem—" The American Bird," Judge G. T. Brown. Music. Wednesday, Feb. 10, 9:30 A. M. Music. Paper — " Pastiu-e," Darius Reid. Discussion, opened by Roman Fyler. Paper—" The Best Racket," Geo. Fred Le^\ns. Discussion. " Red Clover," Prof. Beal, of Agricultural College. Discussion. Afternoon, 1:30. Music. " Four Remedies for Insect Ravages," Prof. Cook. Discussion, by Elias Shaw. Paper — " Sheep Husbandry," Wm. Long. Discussion. Paper, by T. J. Tanu. Discussion. Evening, 7:15. Music. "Our Debts to Inventors and Mechanics," Pi*of. McLouth, of State Agricultural CoUege. Discussion. Address, by Hon. Edwin AVillits, President State Agi-icultural College. Closing Remarks. Music. I quote from the St. Louis Leader's report of the Institute : President I'arker Merrill in a few api:)ropriate words welcomed the first State Farmers' Institute to St. Louis and Gratiot county. He said he considered it a high compliment to the energy and enterprise of our county that the State depart- ment of agriculture had seen fit to appoint an institute here, and predicted that it was only a stepping stone to still greater success and prosperity for the thrifty and growing county of Gratiot. Again he welcomed the instructors and the audience to the hearts and homes of St. Louis. Chairman Morse accepted the welcome in the spirit in which it had been tendered. He had understood that the institute was very largely the concep- ST. LOUIS INSTITUTE. 5 tioTi of St. Louis men ; he was glad it had been arranged for, as the interests ■of the town and the farmers are so closely connected that what is for the inter- est and benefit of one is also for the good of the other, for if the farmers are thrifty and prosperous the merchants and business men of the town are also prosperous. He had not been so well acquainted at St. Louis as in some other parts of the county, but had always heard a good report of the town and its people. In military parades and Fourth of July celebrations he had often been annoyed that so many of the people, asserting their rights as American citizens, persisted in standing on the sidewalk to see the procession go by. " If the people in this county will help all in their power the institute can be made a success, but if you all persist in standing on the sidewalk while the proces- sion goes by, let me tell you, there will not be much of a procession." He was glad that while we couldn't all go to the agricultural college the col- lege had come to us, and he was reminded that in the matter of Olawson wheat alone, which was at first condemned, until finally Prof. Kedzie energetically •took up the fight for this variety, and soon it became the most profitable wheat in the State, until more had been saved to the State by this variety of wheat than had been voted to and expended by the college from its foundation to the present time. He always felt like taking off his hat and standing uncovered in the presence of the old veterans who came to the howling wilderness of Michigan in 1853, and with strong arms and willing hearts have made the wil- derness to blossom as a rose. Many of those pioneers are still here and some, he was glad to know, were here to take part in the deliberations of this institute. The first session closed with a most amusing poem by Judge Giles T. Brown, •on " The American Bird," setting forth the superior merit of the thanksgiving turkey as compared with the fancied virtue of the eagle. The second session opened with a paper by Mr. Geo. F. Lewis, secretary of the North Eastern Agricultural Society of Michigan, on "The Best Kacket," exalting the farmers' calling and illustrating his paper by many extempore narratives. He said farmers should consider the comfort of their own homes as the chief reward or possibility of their lives. Their wives should have things a little better than themselves. They should have the best turkey on their own table, the driest fuel piled away in the woodshed, the purest water in their well and their home •sheltered by beautiful trees, either those of nature's planting or if these had been destroyed, such as could be transplanted from the woods. This object, the speaker showed to be entirely within the reach of every farmer. President Wiliits : I have enjoyed Mr. Lewis' remarks and agree with most •of them. Unquestionably the best product of this earth is men and the farmers are ihe best of these. In New York, the best of their merchants grew up on farms. Of the lawyers of the country nine-tenths of the best were raised on the farm. I do not say that necessarily farmers are more intellectual or honest than other men, but there is something in the necessary small economies and the «arly rising, the hard work and close thrift that give the habits that win suc- cess. Hence I am a strong believer in the benefit to the country of an intelli- gent farming community as its basis. It is such a community that raises the most intelligent lawyers, doctors and clergymen. Not having been able to secure Mr. Reid's paper on pasture for publication, I have incorporated the discussion which it drew out with that which follows Dr. Beal's paper on red clover, which will be found later on in this volume. FARMEES' INSTITUTES, VALUE OF PINE STUMP LAND. Before settling for the regular program of the afternoon session a short dis- cussion on this subject took place. President E. Willits : I am told that there are many thousand acres of pine- land north of here which, when stripped of their pine will not be worth their taxes. Is this true? If so, is there no remedy? Next year we purpose to hold at least two Institutes in these regions. Possibly this land may not have native- fertility and yet be amenable to the influences of fertilizers, or it may be redeem- able by grasses and be available for pasture or dairy purposes. Will some one enlighten us on this subject? Hon. C. U. Morse: I have fifteen acres of pine stumps which yielded 100,000' feet of pine per acre. I cleared and began cropping tlie piece twelve years ago. The first crop was wheat — only ten bushels per acre. The second crop was wheat, self sown, but with a little manure was somewhat better than the first. I have taken twenty-two and one-half bushels of wheat per acre from among those stumps. Two years ago the field was in clover and two hundred sheep and sixteen, head of cattle made very little impression upon it. Last year I took 75 bushels of corn per acre from among those same stumps.. That land is very far from worthless. It needs culture and manure, but chiefly it ne>ds to be freeed from the stumps. Pres. Willits: What is the soil? C. H. Morse: Sandy, mixed with gravel, with no clay subsoil. Pres. Willits: Have you travelled through lands that are called worthless- pine lands? H. Morse: Yes, I have, and I think they are a good deal the same as- these I have described. Pres. Willits: They tell me that there are large tracts which will only yield. two or three crops and after that must be abandoned? C. H. Morse: Across the fence from me are lands originally like mine,, which have been cropped to death, and which now will not raise white beans ;. and yet if the stumps were out of it I would as lief farm on that soil as on any other. Dr. Beal: What is the cost of stumping such land? C. H. Morse: I do not know. Dynamite is of no use in sand; but the stumps are worth almost what it costs to get them out for fencing because they will last forever, as the small boy said he knew to be the case, as his father had tried it twice. Query: Would $35 per rod build that fence? C. H. Morse: I would give |1 per stump to get them out and it would cost all that tlie land is worth. H. L. Holcomb : The white sands are really worthless unless for the growth of some kinds of timber. After the pine is cut it comes up first to briars and then to poplar. But all pine land is not of that kind by any means. I cut some pine near Edmore, put the land into wheat and got twenty-four bushels per acre. I have- now one hundred and twenty acres of that land from which I took three sue- EAST SAGINAW INSTITUTE. 7 cessive crops of clover and timothy, the last not as good as the first aud second only amounting to ninety tons from the one hundred and twenty acres. All the pine land around Edmore is of this character. With the stumps out it would be very valuable, but how to get them out I do not know. S. S Hastings: I stumped three acres for $40, at fifty cents per stump. S. Moody: I have seen many pieces of pine land with clay subsoil that were good aud worth stumping. The stump fence can be made for $4 per rod. Dr. Beal: Cannot the winter season be put in to advantage in stumping? Mr. Shaw: In Midland, tbere are many screw stump machines that work whenever the ground is not frozen^ with one horse at the machine and three or four hauling and making fence. Mr. K. H. Allen: In York State we had a machine that would cost $300, that woukl draw from forty to fifty stumps a day, according to size. As soon as pulled and cleaned one team will draw the stump to the fence and two to four stumps will make a rod of fence. We used to pull for twenty-five to fifty cents per stump and our board, three horses and three men. It drew by tackle power that lifted the stump right up. It was the Johnson & English machine. The exercises of the afternoon closed with a humorous paper on " Pioneer Reminiscences," by T. J. Tann, in which he told how he tried to shoot a squirrel and missed him. The St. Louis Leader says of the evening session: "A crowded house greeted Rev. Theo. Nelson, who opened the session with prayer, the St. Louis orchestra furnished some excellent music, and then Prof. McLouth read a most happy and interesting paper on " Our Debts to Inventors and Mechanics." After which Presitlent Willets gave a somewhat full account of the Agricul- tural College. After sundry complimentary speeches and resolutions the session closed. EAST SAGINAW INSTITUTE. PKOGRAM. First Session — February 11, 7 p. m. 1. Music. 3. Opening Prayer. 3. Welcoming Address by the Chairman. 4. Paper — "Relations of Veterinary Science to Agriculture," by E. A. A. Grange, Professor of Veterinary Science, State Agricultural CoUege. Discussion. 5. Paper — "Legal Advice to Farmers," by Hon. W. S. Tennant. Discussion. Second Session — February 12, 9 a. m. 1. Paper — "Wheat Culture in Saginaw County," by Dennis Bow, of Bridgeport. Discussion. 2. Paper — "How to work Light Soils," by David Geddes, of Swan Creek. Dis- cussion. 3. Paper — " Gumption," by Hon. G. F. Lewis, of Saginaw City. Discussion, 8 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Third Session — February 12, 2 p. m. 1. Music. 2. Paper — "Roads and Roadmaking," by T. Apjileton, Esq., City Engineer of East Saginaw. Discussion. 3. Paper — "Nitrogen," by R. C. Kedzie, M. D., Professor of Chemistry, State Agricultural College. 4. Paper — "Dairy Interests in the Saginaw Valley," by Hon. Wm. L. Webber. Discussion. 5. Paper — " Fruit on the Farm," by E. F. Guild, East Saginaw. Discussion. 6. Paper — ' ' Diversities of Natm-e, as exemplified in the Occupations of the Far- mer," by Robt. Ure, of Saginaw. Discussion. Fourth Session — February 12, 7 p. m. 1. Music. 2. Paper — "Mechanics and Agriculture," by Prof. McLouth, of the Agricultural College. Discussion. 3. " Exhibition of Views of the State Agricultural College, with the Stereoptican," by Frank S. Kedzie, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, State Agricultural College. 4. "Talk by jHon. Edwin Willets, President State Agricultural, concerning the objects and methods of the College." Mayor Estabrook, as chairmaii, in extending a welcome to those in attend- ance upon the Institute, said ; * * * * "We welcome you to our midst; we welcome you not merely to the city of East Saginaw, but to the cities of the Saginaw Valley. And what is the Saginaw Valley? Xot merely the land along the banks of the Saginaw river. It may be a misnomer to call it a valley. Did you ever look at the map of Michigan and learn what a vast part of the Lower Peninsula the Saginaw river drains? Parts, or all of Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, Lapeer, Genessee, Oakland, Shiawassee, Livingston, Mont- calm, Gratiot, Mecosta. Isabella, Clare, Midland, Roscommon, Gladwin, Osceola, Ogemaw, Bay, Saginaw — an area equal in extent to some of the great kingdoms of the Old World. Much of this is yet undeveloped, but within this territory lies what, in my Judgment, will one day be the best agricultural section of the State. All this is drained through .the Saginaw river and its tributaries, which, taken together, resemble an apple tree, the trunk of which is the Saginaw river, the Cass, Flint, Tittabawassee, Shiawassee, Pine and Chippewa being the branches, and is not this the agricultural Saginaw Valley? We especially welcome you to Saginaw county, as being the center and lieart of this great valley. If I had the time, I would gladly have given figures to show the growth of all this country. I will give a few showing the increase of land cleared, valuation of real and personal estates, and population in this county since 1860: Acres of land cleared in 1860 18,048 " " " " " 1870 33,383 " " " " " 1885 132,434 From a total of 354,191 acres 3,335 farms averaging over 75 acres each. In valuation, 1850 $471,707 27 " " 1860 2,554,484 22 " " 1870 9,647,260 20 «' " 1880 - . 17,997,451 52 1885 22.666,857 94 In population, 1860 12,493 In United States census, 1880 59,145 In State Census, 1884 75,813 EAST SAGINAW INSTITUTE. 9 As late as 1860 the general impression in regard to the Saginaw Valley, shared by many residents and a large majority of outsiders, was that while the timber was valuable, that by reason of the swamps and marshes, the sterility supposed to attach to lands in pine districts, the liability of frosts, the lack of drainage, and the miusual difficulty in clearing, it could never become even a moderately productive farming district. This doubt and the misrepresenta- tions in regard to the Saginaw Valley has kept the farming interest, never too prone to prosper in a lumber country, far behind what it should be at this time. But with all this slow progress these facts have been fairly and firmly proven, that the soil throughout all this range of country drained by the Saginaw river and its tributaries is, as a rule, excellent for farming purposes. And among some of the pine tracts, as is the case on the Cass, the Flint, the Tittabawassee, Chippewa and other streams, is found some of the most productive lands in the State. As lands are cleared and opened to the light and heat of the sun they improve every year, and in the broader clearings untimely frosts are so marked an exception to the general rule that there is no further fear of that dread bug- bear. As one proof of this I remember, as some of you will, the then few scattering people of Gratiot county appealed to the people of the State for aid — I think in 1859. They claimed that the frosts of the fall before had destroyed their crops to such an extent that they had nothing but browse to feed their cattle, and that they were in destitute circumstances. You gentle- men have just held an institute at Alma in that county. Would you, from what you saw, believe this? It is to-day a veritable garden, the peer of any county in the State, with rich farmers able and willing to respond to like calls should they come. In conclusion, I ask your indulgence in any shortcomings as your chairman, and again we welcome you to our midst, and trust the hospitality and courtesy ■of our people will make your stay pleasant and that the time spent will be profitable to all. Most of the discussions of the Institute will be found in connection with the papers which called them out. The incidental discussion on potatoes and potato rot is united with that fol- lowing the article on the same subject by Mr. Crozier. Mr. Lewis' article on " Gumption " gave a good deal of amusement. Among •other good things, he said that a barrel of slaked lime was one of those things which no farmer should be without; that it was just the thing with which to begin operations in the spring, sprinkling the cellar, whitewashing the fences, chicken house, cow stable, etc., dosing various insects, and washing the fruit trees. By all means, keep a barrel of slacked lime always on tap. Hon. Wm. L. Webber, in a paper on the Dairy Interests of the Saginaw Valley, ■showed that this Valley constituted about one-fifth of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, or 8,000 square miles, and maintained that for agricultural purposes there were no better 500,000 acres in any State in the Union. About one- tenth of this region was within the limits of Saginaw county. Of this half mil- lion acres, one hundred thousand could be spared from crops and timber for pasturage. On this, 25,000 cows could be kept, and at a low average, they would produce 4,000 pounds of milk apiece per year, or a total, at one cent a .pound, or two cents a quart, of $1,000,000 worth of milk per year that ought lo be produced in Saginaw county. Mr. Webber spoke of the desirableness of an increase in the number of 3 10 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. cheese factories, and described the centrifugal method of separation of cream? from new milk by means of cylinders revolved by machinery, which makes it- possible to feed the skim milk to the calves before it has lost the animal heat. Milk consists chiefly of casein in the skim milk and fat in the cream. Casein is the flesh-forming substance, the fat being chiefly useful in keeping the animal warm, so that by use of warm stables, if the milk is not skimmed too closely, calves can be raised as well in this way as on milk with all its cream. Mr. Graham: Which is the best crop for feeding cattle, barley or corn? Mr. Youmans : Corn makes the most and the richest milk, as it has more sugar than barley has. Mr. Graham: I find barley cheaper to raise than corn. Mr. Geddes: Barley is a cheap crop to grow, and draws but little on the soiL The hulless variety is the best. Mr. Beeman: I always soak barley for feeding, and consider nothing so- cheap or so good. Have raised it for several years, and get from 40 to 4?-| bushels per acre. GEASS LAKE INSTITUTE. PROGRAM. Monday Evening, Feb. 15.— 7 p. m. Music. Prayer, by Rev. John Patchin. Welcome Address, by Rev. J, M. Kerridge. Music. Peaches for Profit — Prof. W. H. Merritt, Grass Lake. The Needs of Agriculture— Prof. Samuel Johnson, of Agricultural College. Music. Tuesday Morning, Feb. 16, 10:00 a. m. Music. Farming on Light Soils — C. L. Hall, Norvell. Essay — Miss Mary Hitchcock, Sharon. Music. Style in Farming — Prof. L. H. Bailey, Agricultural College. Music. Afternoon Session — 2 p. m. Music. How does the soil lose its fertility ? — H. A. Ladd, Brooklyn.- The Agriculturist— Martin Haynes Grass Lake. Music. Suggestions relative to Farm Economy — Hon. William Ball, Hamburg. Music. Evening Session — 7 p. m. Music. The Agricultm-al CoUege — Lems Palmer, Napoleon. Music. Robert Burns as Peasant and Poet — Prof. E. J. MacEwan, Agricultural College- QUINCY INSTITUTE. 11 Agricultural CoUege Views by a Stereopticon, by Prof. F. S. Kedzie, Agricultural College. Music. President Willits and Secretary H. G. Reynolds were present. Of this Institute the Grass Lake News said : " The Farmers' Institute in this place, which held its first session Monday evening, and wound up Tuesday evening, can be denominated a success in every particular, and has no doubt been fruitful of much in the way of information on agriculture. Grass Lake is pretty well advanced when it comes to agriculture, as it contains some of the most successful farmers in the State, and for this reason they are not slow to take hold of a good thing when it comes along, and make it a success. In respect to the Institute, they were more than successful. The ladies, too, were largely represented, and contributed their presence at all the meetings. The hall was crowded at all the meetings, and the interest increased to the last. On Tuesday night many were turned away on account of the crowded house, even all available standing room being taken up. The papers and addresses of Prof. Merritt, L. L. Hall, Mrs. Mary Hitchcock, H. A. Ladd, Martin Haynes,. Wm. Ball, Lewis Palmer, were each and all good, practical and entertaining. An enjoyable feature of the meetings was the excellent music with which they were interspersed. Altogether, the Institute was an interesting one, and it is. believed resulted in much good from the practical discussions indulged in, and the mutual interchange of opinions and ideas." Such of the papers as were entrusted to the Secretary will be found by refer- ence to the index. QUINCY INSTITUTE. PKOGKAM. Wednesday, February 17, 7 p. m., 1886. Meeting called to order by Hon. C. G. Luce. Music. Prayer by the Rev. L. Grosenbaugh. Introduction of H. D. Pessell, President, with Address of Welcome. Response by Hon. C. G. Luce. The Agricultural Geology of Michigan — Prof. A. J. Cook. Music. Essay— Mrs. E. W. Treat. Plea for Pure Literature — L. Bowen. Music and Dismissal. Thursday, February 18, 9 a. m.. 1886. Music. Prayer by Rev. E. B. Moody. Future of Agriculture in America — G. W. Fisk. Music. Essay — Mrs. Nixon. Social rank of Farmers— Hon. M. D. Campbell. Agricultural Fairs — J. W. D. Fisk. Style in Agriculture— Prof . L. H. Bailey, Jr. Adjourn for Dinner. 12 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Thursday, 2 p. m. , February 18, 1886. Music. The value of the thoroughbred in improving our common stock — L. M. Marsh. Recitation — IVIiss Grace Lytle. Capital and Labor — Relations of the Farmer to Both — Hon. C. V, R. Pond. Music. Essay — Mrs. H. M. Traverse. Four Important Insecticides — Prof. A, J. Cook. Poetry of the Farm — Mrs. H. C. Bailey. Music. Adjourn for supper. Thursday, 7 p. m., February 18, 1886. Discussion on Insecticides. Essay— Mrs. H. W. Noble. Music. Robert Burns — Prof. E. J. MacEwan. Music — " Home Sweet Home." ■^ The Town Hall had been very tastefully decorated with the national colors, -■evergreeas, flowers, and a fine display of fruit in preparation for the Institute, and its meetings were all crowded. President H. D. Pessell welcomed those in attendance in an address, from which I quote: Ladies and Gentlemen : Ideas, like electric sparks, are evolved by friction. We need to come in con- tact with each other in order to be sharpened and polished. By meeting together in these Institutes we listen to the experiences of each other, and to the voice of science as it recounts its triumphs from year to year. "Knowledge is power." When mind meets mind, and there is an interchange of ideas, then will intelligence increase in a noticeable degree. There are a few who will not step outside of the old beaten tracks of their predecessors, but will still hold fast to the superstitious notion of "planting their beans in the moon." This class of farmers will generally be found opposing all innovations or progressive ideas, in whatever form they may be presented. He who dares to go beyond the beaten track will march on to enterprise and improvement. The men who do not meet and associate with their fellows are little else than hermits. Let two farmers meet and converse upon the subject of husbandry, exchanging views and experiences, who will deny but that something can be learned, of great advantage to them both. How much more then can an Insti- tute, composed of practical and scientific farmers, illustrate the ideas thus briefly set forth. These Institutes are a recognition of the fact that success in farming does not wholly depend upon unremitting labor, but like success in • every pursuit in life, upon work guided by intelligence. The history of the world, from its earliest ages down to the present time, shows that man has been a student, slowly but steadily making advancement in a knowledge of the laws which govern matter. In the great march of time and progress, has the husbandman kept abreast with men of other vocations in social and intellectual improvements ? This calling has not attained that commanding position in the affairs of State and nation which its importance deserves. But the opportunities for the farmers of to-day are far in advance of tliose •of any former period. The press, farmers' clubs, and the Grange, with its perfect organization and immense influence are bringing to the kiiowledge of QUINCY INSTITUTE. 13^ our legislators, both State and National, the wants of the agriculturists of America. That they are making their influences felt in our legislative halls, is evidenced by the introduction of a bill establishing a Bureau of Agriculture, making the head thereof a Cabinet officer. The speaker then gave a short account of the early history of Branch county, and closed with a repeated welcome to the visitors. President Willits replied in a short talk, the substance of which is included in the paper under his name. The sessions were distinguished by particularly enjoyable music, and by a number of fine papers from ladies, one by Mrs. E. W. Treat on the " Possi- bility of Ladyhood for a Farmer's Wife " being especially valuable. The Institute closed with cordial votes of thanks to all those who had con- tributed to its success ; and thus ended the series for the winter. LECTURES AI^D ESSAYS EEAD AT FARMERS' II^STITUTES. THE POETRY OF THE FARM. BT MRS. H. C. BAILEY, OF COLDWATEK. [Read at the Quincy Institute, February 18, 1886.] I saw at morn a grand old wood "Wliich had for generations stood; It held aloft its giant hands And sheltered well the pleasant lands. Twas springtime; all around was seen That tender tint of living green Which promise gives of loveliness When nature dons her summer dress. The winter snows had scarcely yet Uncovered the blue violet, But in the little sunny dell It strove to break the potent spell. The stream from icy fetters free, O'er pebbles danced right merrily: And 'long the banks the willow hung And sang of spring with silver tongue. While many a bird with anxious breast Sought where to buUd its cosy nest. High over all the sky was blue As when creation's song was new. Hark! Thro' and thro' this grand old wood, Awake, yet full of solitude, Tliere rang the sound of woodman's steel Till e'en the forest seemed to feel A sadness, as each measui-ed stroke Upon the solemn stillness bi-oke. From slenderest twag to mighty oak A tie of brotherhood there ran — "Twas severed by the hand of man. Time passed —but with each coming day That wood was passing, too, away. A little clearing had been made Ere yet the trees tlu-ew down their shade Upon a tiny cot that stood Just nestling up beside the wood. Ere summer came the woodman brought A bride to shai'e his humble lot; And never bu"d in tree or sky Whose joyous song could with her vie. In city walls she long had dwelt, But now a sense of freedom felt; To Nature's psalm she joined her voice And sang from morn till night rejoice. THE POETRY OF THE FARM. 15 The clearing grew ; a little spot Was planted late, but throve— Why not ? The dark, rich loam was fertile field And surely would a harvest yield. The wife beside the cottage door Sowed seeds of which she had a store. That soon, green springing from the earth, Were lovely only at their birth, And later, e'en an artist's eye Were 'raptured with their changeful dye; While clambering vines beside the door Yield shade and blossoms evermore. Fair cousins these of those wild flowers Which graced adjacent sylvan bowers— Seed sown by Nature's hand— not ours. Thrice welcome now the gentle rain That patters on the window pane, And as the crystal drops come down The thirsty earth so dry and brown, Seems, as it drinks from well-filled cup, To offer a thanksgiving up. Anon the vivid lightnings flash. And awful thunders o'er them crash: But safe within each other's arms They fear not Nature's wild alarms; They know that he who sends the storm Will sure his promises perform; With child-like faith they wait to gain The early and the latter rain. Rich largess shall to them be given. For faith and works are blest of heaven. All through the warm, soft summer days They watched the ranks of growing maize Whose long green leaves and tassels brown Seem fit to wreathe in Ceres' crown. Ere yet the autumu leaves appear The corn is full within the ear; And richer yet between the rows The luscious golden pumpkin grows. Some vegetables stand apart. In size to cheer a gardener's lieart ; While mother earth aneath her breast Hides stores to challenge all the rest. When autumn spreads her carpet down In richest gold and red and brown, She brings of nuts an ample store And leaves them at the cabin door. So, like the squu-rel and the bee— Their neighbors — they industriously From Nature's granary gather store Till winter comes and shuts the door. The air is chill— the white snow lies Around the cot and fills the skies; But busy cares, indoors and out. Put lonely thoughts to sudden rout. The evenings long by cheerful fire Bring thoughts which might the muse inspire. The inviting page is duly scanned. While in the thrifty housewife's hand The shining needle swiftly flies; > She, listening as her task she plies. When comes the thought of other days, And friends, once wont to blame or praist". From full heart swells the rising tear But all of home is centred lieri^. 16 LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Soon plans for spring the hours employ And lengthened days bring brighter joy. Anon the sun with loving beams The maple's juices starts in streams; Long ere the cowslip opes her cup Rich store of sweets is treasured up. And when the balmy breath of May Unfold new beauties day by day, Within that little cot so blest, Upon the pale young mother's breast, A tiny babe in sweet surprise Has opened its blue ^nolet eyes. Ah! bud of promise, pure and fair. No liowret can with thee compare, For love in all thy ways shall find Th' unfolding of immortal mind. Now come new neighbors settling near ; Theu- cabins budd and forest clear, And all around the air rings out With sound of laborers" jocund shout. The town seems not so distant now — Just past yon emerald hillock's brow — And on the sweet still Sabbath morn — While yet the dew empearls the thorn — The church bells' chime comes faint but clear To greet the waiting, lisfning ear. Years pass away, that little cot Embowered in that shady spot, Stands thei'e no more— its pljace suppUed By one of elegance and pride. Broad lands, full barns, flocks far and wide. Bespeak prosperity's full tide; The fariuer counts his labors o'er, For blest is he in heart and store. Inside that home, the mother yet Holds gentle sway, though round her, set Like jewels round a central stone, Are sons and daughters; every one Has breadth of culture, purpose high, Nor deem that they from home must fly To find, in city's busy mart. Of life, the truer better part. Of course in time some wander far, But Jiome is still their guiding star; Each year they tread its sacred sod And look from it to Nature's God. Kind Friends, we close— though just begun — Our tale, though long, is but half done. Let him who sees in field and sky. And farm life, no sweet poetry, Go dwell in crowded city street — Stranger to all whom he may meet — Hemmed in to see no sunrise fair, No golden clouds in evening air. No bow of promise, feel no breeze, Soft sighing through the leafy trees. No whispers weird 'tween vale and hill, No wild brook babbling to old mill, No voice of Nature low and sweet. No emerald turf beneath his feet. ■« Thus let him live in pomp and pride; But give to me the country wide: And when I die. oh, let me sleep Where mother Nature, watch will keep; Where birds will sing and wild flowers wave Above my low, turf-covered grave. LEGAL ADVICE TO FARMERS. 17 LEGAL ADVICE TO FARMERS. BY JUDGE W. S. TENNANT. [An address before the East Saginaw Farmers' Institute.] Many of you have doubtless seen copies of the work entitled "Every Man his Own Lawyer," which pretends to give all legal information required for the inexperienced, as well as all legal forms for use in business. These and like books may be useful in their way, but experience teaches that it is better for the farmer in cases of difficulty or doubt in business matters to take the advice of some good lawyer, who may by proper advice save him the expense of litiga- tion. For example, witness the records of our courts in suits brought to recover upon the promissory notes of farmers who have been swindled into signing their names to papers which they deemed harmless at the time, but which proved to be a fraud perpetrated upon them by experienced swindlers. Buy no "patent rights " or interest in patents for farming implements without advice from your lawyer. Always keep in mind the old maxim, " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." As to when you should go to law, perhaps the best advice I can give you is that given by Jerrold to those about to marry, " Dou't !" I say, don't go to law if you can help it, but if you are forced into law to protect your legal rights, then get the best lawyer you can find and leave the case entirely in his hands. But a lawyer will often advise you to keep out of litigation, for it is the business of a good lawyer to prevent lawsuits by advising some fair or honorable way of settlement of the matters in dispute. It is a maxim of time-honored antiquity that " He who is his own lawyer hath a fool for a client." And so I advise you, farmers, in all important business matters consult your lawyer, for the $5 paid for legal advice may save you the loss of a thousand in property, or the expenses of a protracted lawsuit. A certain smattering of law every man engaged in business soon acquires, for law as well defined is but "the application of the best business principles to business." Common sense is the foundation of the common law. That is, it is what the experience of 300 years and more among intelligent men has proved to be the wisest laws and rules for the government of humanity. To this extent custom makes the law. We have in this State what is known as the common law, which Coke in his quaint language defines as " that which hath been the custom, time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." It is "custom crystalized into law." In other words it is those rules of conduct which by the unanimous consent of mankind are given the force of law without the formality of legislative enactment. We are also governed in this State by our constitutions and statutes. State and Federal. In our republican form of government we have three distinct departments, each of them separate and having nothing to do with the other, viz : the Execu- tive, the Legislative and the Judicial. The Legislative department is the sov- ereign power of this country. In creating the Legislative Department and conferring upon it the power to make the laws, the people have conferred upon it full and complete power to make laws at its discretion, subject only to such restrictions and limitations as are imposed by the constitution of the State or 3 18 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. of the United States. Every subject within the scope of Civil Goverumeut is liable to be dealt with by the Legislature. Oar State coustitutioa establishes the division of the State iuto counties, townships, cities and villages, all of which have, to a limited extent, legislative power I will direct your attention to some of the powers conferred upon you to act, within your respective townships or counties, in legislation for your farming interest. For instance, the law for the use of public highways, and the rights of adjacent laud owners. By the general law all animals are forbidden to run at large in any public highway, but certain legislative powers are conferred upon the Board of Supervisors of each county, giving them the right to legis- late upon this point within the jurisdiction of their respective counties. Act No. 185 of the Laws of 1867 is entitled, "To prevent animals from run- ning at large in the public highways." Section 1 contains a full and absolute prohibition, extending to all th& animals named therein, " Cattle, horses, slieep or swine," from running at large in the public highway, but this is restricted by the proviso, that the Board of Supervisors may, by resolution, render the act inoperative as to the whole or part of the county. The Supreme Court, in Cook vs. Bassett, 23 Michigan, 117, says: "Section 2 contemplates that the Board of Supervisors may see fit to allow a larger range to some of the animals named therein than to some of the others, and this construction is required to make it sensible. In Campau vs. Konan, .39 Michigan, 3G5, the Court says: "The owner of lands adjoining the highway is entitled to the herbage growing thereon, and whatever rights the public may have in the highway, a 'common or pasturage/ is not among them." " The inhabitants of each township may, at any legal meeting, by a vote of qualified electors thereof, make all such orders and by-laws for determining the time and manner in which cattle, horses, sheep and other animals shall be restrained from going at large in the highways." Section (573, Howell's Anno- tated Statutes. This law has a restrictive force. It does not abrogate the common law lia- bility of owners of cattle for trespassing upon the land of others. Its proNis- ions do not by any implication authorize such animals to run at large thereon at any time. The Board of Supervisors alone have power to suspend the gen- eral law forbidding the running at large of animals in any public highway of this Slate. There are many laws specially designed to protect the interest of farmers,, but to speak of them in detail would weary your patience. But I desire to call your attention to another subject of a legal nature of great interest to farmers^ as well as other business men. The transportation of farm products by rail- roads, as affecting the interests of the farmers. THE RAILROAD QUESTIOis^. We have most ample and excellent water communication, by way of the- great lakes, that enables us to ship our products at less expense to the markets of the world. We are in the center of the great railroad system lying between the east and the west, and we ought to have cheaper transportation for the pro- ducts of our farms to the eastern markets. There is just cause for the complaint that railroad corporations absorb the bulk of the profits of the farm. The people who make the Legislature have LEGAL ADVISE TO FARMERS. 19 the power to fix the compensation of railroads for the transportation of your farm products to the markets of the world; you, the farmers of this country, are all po^^erful if you did but know your strength. The total vote of the United States in 1880 was less than 10,000,000. The number of farmers in the United States are nearly five millions. You are in the majority, and if you unite you can make and uumake the lawmakers. Now, the commerce between the several States can only be regulated by Congress. The Legislatures of the several States have no power outside of their jurisdictions as a State, "^he laws of this State may fix the rates of freight and the rates of passage on all rail- roads within the State, but no further. But Congress can fix the rates of freight over all the railroads in the Union. You make Congressmen, and they make the laws respecting railroads. The railroads are owned and controlled by corporations created by the statute. The power to create corporations is con- ferred by the people upon Congress and the Legislature. The poAver to pre- vent unjust discrimination in freights between different points, and to establish the rates of freight for the transportation of your grain and other products is "with the farmers of this Nation. A fair share of the profits of your farm should be shared by the capitalists, who have built and now own and control these railroads, which form the connecting link between the east and west. They have aided the people in opening up this great western country, and mak- ing this country the greatest producer of the cereals of any nation on earth, and capital should have its just proportion of the profits. Let us see what share they have taken. Within the last twenty years the railroad corporations that built the railroads connecting the east and the west have been absorbed and consolidated, the weaker being swallowed up by the stronger, until all the leading lines are now held and controlled by a few men. Such fortunes, as were never before known to have been made in one generation, have been accu- mulated by men like Gould and Vanderbilt, in the manipulation of railroad stocks. It is not for the interest of the future of this Nation that a fortune of three hundred millions is accumulated by a father and son in one generation ; neither is it in the interest of the people that our entire system of railroads should be owned and controlled by one man. It is not in the interest of farm- ers that these men should have absolute and unlimited control of the railroads, and thereby be able, as they now are, to fix the price of your wheat and other farm products. The farms of the great west have a right to demand cheap transportation to the seaports of the Atlantic. If the farmers unite in this demand they will be heeded. You hold the ballot; you can elect those men to represent you who will work in your interest. In this age and under our pres- ent system of Government, all evils can be corrected by the ballot. The future of this country is in the hands of the farmers. In the struggle between labor »- DO and capital the farmers of this country are the arbitrators. They will see that safeguards are thrown around to protect labor from any injustice or oppression, and in like manner they will guard instinctively all rights of property, both real and personal. They will see that every man shall be permitted to use and control what he has honestly acquired by the use of his capital, or by his own mental or physical labor Cooperation between capital and labor, by which each shall get its fair proportion of the profits, is just and right. The conflict between labor and capital, resulting in public riots and labor strikes, in the manufacturing cities in this country, is a matter of great regret and anxiety to all thinking men. There is an element in our society, not native born, but brought from the oppressed classes of Europe, that seeks to overthrow our free institutions and abolish all rights in property. These socialists and commun- 20 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. ists conduct a warfare against society in all its forms. They would take away all rights in property. They would destroy the family relation. They would abolish the laws of inheritance of property. They would, in fact, make earth a chaos. They may at times control for a brief period iu our large cities, and property and life may be jeopardized, but the stability and permanence of our Government is made secure by the farmers and the honest laboring men, who believe that ownership in property should be protected. The future of our country is safe while the farmers are in the majority. The poor laboring man, who finds life burdensome in the competition of labor within the crowded cities, can, by saving his earnings for a few years, iu working in the mills or factor- ies, accumulate sufficient to buy forty acres in our western country, and this in time will make a comfortable home for himself and family. The overcrowded cities must be relieved by prevailing upon these laboring men, who, by competi- tion, have depressed wages, to go upon our new lands and improve them. This alone will make our country prosperous and happy. Of all classes, none are more independent, comfortable and happy, than the farmers of our country. Finally, I advise you all, as farmers of Michigan, give support to the common schools, to the Normal schools, and to our State University ; and last, but not least, send your boys to. our State Agricultural College, that the next genera- tion may become educated and intelligent farmers. In conclusion, bear in mind the scrij^ture injunction: "Let each man first take care of his own household." CAPITAL AND LABOE— THE FARMER'S RELATION TO BOTH. BY HON. C. V. R. POND, STATE COMMISSIONER OF LABOR. [Read before the Farmers' Institute at Quincy, Feb. 18, 1886,] Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Farmers' Institute : Wlien invited by your local committee to prepare a paper for this occasion, I was asked if the subject might not be, " The Labor Bureau, and the Farmer's Relation Tiiereto ? " To this inquiry the reply was given that the relation of the farmer to the Bureau was identical with that of all citizens of the State, and for me to use argument to prove the value of the Bureau before this Institute might give strength to the thought that officially I feared sufficient importance was not attached to this department of work, now authorized by statute law. I preferred that so far as my connection with the Bureau of Labor is concerned, the annual report, soon to be given to the public, should, after a careful perusal, be accepted as evidence for or against the usefulness of an office, which has for its work the gathering of statistics bearing upon a subject which is to-day engrossing the attention of national legislative bodies. The subject then, accepted by your committee and myself for a brief talk to you this afternoon is, "Capital and Labor, the Farmer's Relation to Both."' In a talk upon this subject in the short time allowed by the program, let me ask you to keep in mind the fact that for ages cajjital and labor has been a topic of discussion by the press and by the people, but that until within the last decade it has occupied no nationally familiar place in the United States. To-day, CAPITAL AND LABOR— THE FARMER'S RELATION TO BOTH. 21 standing iu boldest type, the two great words form the " headlines " of some column in every day's issue of many of the papers of our country, while a number of journals devote their entire space to articles upon the subject of either capital or labor. The political parties of our land incorporate in their several platforms some one or more " planks " that bear expressly upon the subject, the puipose of which is explained by much oratorical ability as being the displacement of capital and the advancement of labor, hoping thereby that the votes of labor will go to the orator's party. The eitizen, whose head-gear is a hive in whi' h " political bees " are often buzzing finds the subject one upon which he delights to discourse, and the wage-worker of to-day is filled with surprise as he listens to the speech of men who are willing to bo sacrificed upon the altar of office only that they may be his public benefactor, and frame laws that shall elevate him beyond the "tyranny of capital." The learned teacher of education, the clergy, the student, the writer upon political economy, men of greatest mind, write and talk upon the subject, and with all of the discussion a conclusion has not yet been reached that shall so assimilate capital and labor as to make an obsolete quantity of that which is to-day rippling the waters on the sea of danger. Yet no one can deny that through the discussion by the press and by the people, save where selfish political motives actuate the author, we are coming nearer to an intelliijent knowledge of the causes of the differences between employer and employe. In our talk this afternoon no thought is entertained that a great social and political problem will be solved, but if the presenting of thoughts, with a few facts and figures gained in an official way during the year just closed, shall enable any member of this Institute to feel that they have been beneficially informed, then the time consumed will not have been idly taken from you. First, let us look into the relations of capital and labor. Capital may be money, merchandise, lands, or any kind of property, in treating of it iu opposition to labor, but ia reality it is the accumulated j)roduct of labor and the profits of the savings of labor. It is the ally of labor, without the help of one to the other neither can continue in existence. Labor, as spoken of in this talk, is that which is given by A to B for a com- pensation, called wages. B receives from A for a stipulated price that work of the hands which adds to the property accumulation of B. That accumulation is capital. B pays to A money for his labor; is this capital? If the amount paid by B to A is iu excess of the amount needed by A to pay all expenses con- tingent upon his living, that is the supporting of self and dependents in a manner which he has a right to desire, if we say there is an excess over consumption, and that excess is saved, then it is capital. If the labor of A which he gives to B does not receive in return a compensation equal to his needful livmg demands, then we submit that capital has oppressed labor. If A does not receive a profit for his labor, and his labor creates a profit for B, then we submit that capital has wronged labor. The oppression and the wronging of labor as just referred to is based upon the proposition that both A and B are striving to the same end — accumiilation of property. Both are denying themselves extravagant or non-essential habits in the desire to accumulate savings. B has an advantage which he secured by previous savings and denials; he has saved a property, he is now an employer, A is his employe. If B, in securing the assistance of labor, which he must do. in order to add to his accumulations, seeks to take advantage of an over-supply of labor by reducing its value iu wages, then we submit that he oppresses labor 22 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Labor, under the general laws of man's usefulness and willingness in working, will produce as much capital for its employer, at $1.00 per day, as at $1.50 per day's wages. We say under the general rule of man's power and abihty to work, this is so. In the one instance, labor is the slave; in the other, it is enjoying full liberty. A slave, it is true, will not readily put his will power into working connection with his muscle, while the freeman throws every faculty into harmonious action. Now if the proposition is correct, that capital may be benefited as much by employing labor at 11.00 per day as by paying $1.50 per day for the same work, then we submit that capital has not only wronged labor, but has stolen from labor one-third of — what ? labor's cajjital ? No! For labor being oppressed has not lived — it has only existed, and capital is labor's surplus Capital has stolen from labor and added to itself one-third of labor's living and surplus combined, the surplus being a minimum portion of the theft. Is the proposition correct ? Let us look into the matter, not with a desire simply to prove an assertion, or for the sake of advancing a theory, but to ascertain if it be possible that capital does or can thus wrong labor. To illustrate we will take a community of 1,500 population, surrounded by a jjopulation of 3,000 living upon farms. In the community there are fifty male persons between the ages of sixteen and sixty years who earn their living as wage-workers, but are now out of employment. Some are cari)enters, painters or masons, some are called day-laborers, but not all of the mechanics are properly known as skilled workmen. These men came to this community at different periods, work had been plenty, and savings had been formulated into homes. In the history of this community its growth rested, buildings ceased to be ■erected, and the fifty wage-earners spoken of find no work in their usual voca- tions. They have become surplus labor. Idleness being an unsought quan- tity, they ask for work of any character. As mechanics, with work, they could earn $"2.00 or $2.50 per day. At work with which they are unacquainted, they recognize the necessity of an acceptance of less wages, and yet at unskilled labor they are equal to any. In the community there starts a manufacturing industry. In other communities a similar industry is paying upon a basis of ten hours for a day's work $1.50 per day for labor. This establishment wants thirty men; there are fifty idle. So anxious is labor for employment that $1.00 per day being offered, is quickly accepted, and work is commenced. The product of this industry goes upon the market, and is sold at the same price that similar products are selling at, though in once instance labor costs one- third less than in others. Capital has taken advantage of a surplus labor and added to its accumulation at the expense of labor. The twenty men who failed to secure work in the community go to the agricultural districts and seek work. Their labor is wanted, but being competitors they are offered and accept wages below the prevailing rates, because the farmer sees that necessity has compelled them to enter a new field and take what may be offered. Does the farmer make a reduction from the ruling market price of his farm produc- tions because his working pay-roll has been thus decreased? Not at all. Cap- ital has again taken the advantage of labor and added to its accumulation at the expense of labor. But, it is said, supply and demand regulate the price. Certainly this is true in the laws that govern production and consumption. It is also true that cheap labor will make cheap goods. In the illustration just noticed the price of labor did not effect the price of products, but it did, and naturally must have, its effect upon the future price of labor, and when wages are generally reduced, then other causes than competition will reduce the CAPITAL AND LABOR— THE FARMER'S RELATION TO BOTH. 23 price of products. Cheap labor is obliged to curtail all its expenses. The pro- duct of the farm or factory must lose its labor patron if that patron is not given a remunerative wage for his share in producing that product. Labor drops from the list of consumers when you deny it a purchasing power. This power comes only from a proper remuneration for work performed. High wages must of necessity increase the co>^t and thereby the price of production. Does this mean that increased wages, increasing the price of productions will benefit both capital and labor? We think it does. Capital, by increasing wages, increases a demand for its productions. The per cent of expense added to the cost of production by an increase of wages is very much less than the per cent, of increase of labor's power to purchase, while the increase of demand causes also an increase in the employment of labor and further power of purchase. Then capital, having to supply a demand at fair prices, is accumulating, and labor, with fair wages, is having a life with its rightful share of blessings, and is also accumulating. At this stage capital and labor assimilate and both are prosperous. As the first drops out of active life labor takes it place, for by .accumulation of savings over consumption, it has become capital. This capital is not necessarily in money form; it may be in merchandise, or machinery, or acres of laud. We said that to take advantage of an over-supply of labor by the reduction of wages was to oppress labor. If you have in your minds the question as to how we would treat labor when the supply is greater tlian the demand, if not by a reduction of its cost, we answer, it should not be treated as a commodity that can be dispensed with, but as an essential, which alone can place a commodity in the market. Before closing this talk it may be our privilege to give some figures showing what creates surplus labor, but at present we remark, if capital will refuse to be influenced by the surplus quantity and pay labor the highest wage consistent with the transaction of a profitable business, then both will be benefited. Depression in busines may arise from various causes. Time will not permit entering into a discussion of those causes. In the overcoming of the ditficul- ties superinduced by depression of business, let the retrenchment of the expense account cover every other point before labor is encroached upon. When such action influences capital then labor can not complain of oppression. The poet, Lowell, says: " The moral question's oUus plain enough — It's jes' the human natur' side that's tough'; Wut's best to think mayn't puzzle me nor you, — The pinch comes in decidin' wut to dw." Suppose now that when the " pinch " comes we apply the Golden Eule, liave we not a remedy? By doing unto or treating with others as we would that they should do unto or treat with us, can we not dissolve the " tough " side of .nature and remove all oppression either real or imaginary? We come now to the second part of our subject — the relation of the farmer to both capitol and labor. We will confine ourselves in this talk to our own State except when speaking of imigration to the United States or giving brief accounts of farm Avork in other foreign countries. First. The relation of the farmer to capital. What is it? We answer, ownership! The farm is capital; the farmer possesses capital; therefore, if Web- ster rightly defines the word, the farmer is a capitalist. I am aware that I am speaking to a greater number of farmers, either active or retired, than any 21 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. class of business men. You possibly feel an inclination to repel the assertiors that you are a capitalist. You should not. It is in no sense a dishonor, unless you have built yourself intentionally upon the wreck of others. It is an honor- to have capital, won in an honest life struggle. We do not make the assertion that a farmer is a capitalist as a mere theoretical expression, but for the pur- pose of drawing your attention to a few facts, which in the study of the ques- tion now before us, you may have lost sight of. If a man have capital he is surely a capitalist. If not, what is he, when referring to his capital? It has already been said that capital might be money, stock, merchandise, or land. Then if a man own either a quarter or full section of land, he has capital to- the full extent of his ownership. A man has worked as a farm hand for many years. By prudence and strict economy he has saved $500 ; it is his capital; he- seeks an investment; he places the amount at interest, his security is still his capital. Suppose that he buys eighty acres of land at $50 per acre — a fair value. He pays his 1500 upon the place and gives back a mortgage of $3,500, he still has his capital and has borrowed other capital, which he proposes, by means of its use, to make his own. The party of whom he purchased has the same amount of capital in cash and mortgage as when he held the title to his eighty acre farm. Both have capital, call the men what you may. The man with the- least amount has the intention to own as much as the one of whom he pur- chased, and unless dreamily sleeping when some Bohemian oat swindler crosses his threshold will probably see his intention verified. Then if the owner of $500 worth of land has capital, surely the owner of 160 acres has capital, and and is he not a capitalist? A party invests $10,000 in mortgages, or in inter- est bearing stocks, that the profits on his investment may support hiuiself and family, and if possible add to his accumulations. You call him a capitalist. Ten men invest 110,000 each in a manufacturing interest, and you say that capitalists have thus engaged in business. Ten men have $10,000 each ini farms, and the necessary stock and implements — are they not just as surely capitalists as though they sell those farms and invest that money in mortgages^, stocks or manufacturing interests? A capitalist and a monopolist are not necessarily the same person. The monopolist must have capital to create his monopoly, but less of capital is invested in monopolies than otherwise. It is a very general and oftentimes favorite subject for conversation, the "'oppres- sions of n)onopoly" and'" tyranny of capital," and while there may be much of reason for harsh criticism upon monopolies, nearly all the discussions are led by those who have capital. Has it occurred to the fanner who invested in the Bohe- mian oat swindle that he showed a desire to become a monopolist? He knew that only a few could afford to invest upon any large scale, and that oats at $10 per bushel paid an enormous per cent upon the use of land, the toil and capital invested, and he knew that but few could buy oats at $10 per bushel and feed to ordinary breeds of animals. He invested to help h'mself to a quick increase- of capital at the expense of others. He became a monopolist in sentiment and would have been in reality but that his desire had led him into the trap of a swindle. Let us look within ourselves when feeling a desire to arraign any question at the bar of prejudiced opinion and see whether in throwing the stone of thought we may not break a window in own domicile. Now if farmers are capitalists, to what extent have they capital invested as compared with other industries — say manufacturers? We confine ourselves to Michigan. In the- farm btatistics of 1884-5, as collected by the Secretary of State's office, we find these figures: CAPITAL AND LABOR— THE FARMER'S RELATION TO BOTH. 25 Number of farms in the State . 135,107 Number of acres improved 7,280,775 Number of acres unimproved 4,926,443. Total number of acres 12,207,218 For the value of these farms, that is the capital they represent, I am oblige! to take tlie result of the United States census of 1880, as the footings of the State census of 1884, have not been completed so far as to show exact vahie. That the capital in farm lands in '84 was greater than in '80 is a fair conclu- sion, therefore the figures given are no exaggeration. Total value of farms, including fences and buildings $499,103,181 Total value of implements and machinery 19,419,360 Total value of live stock 55,720, 113 $574,242,654 Estimated value of all farm productions for 1879, consumed, sold and on hand . |91, 159,858 Amount paid for wages for farm labor not stated. The same United States census says of manufactures: Number of manufacturers in the State 8.873; Total capital invested $92,930,959 Total value of productions 150.715,025 Amount paid for wages 25.3 3,682 Amount paid for material . . 92,900,26^ To bring this comparison with n the limit of a district with wliich most of you are best acquainted, let us look into the same authorities and see the show- ing for Branch county. In 1880 we find: Number of farms in the county .• 3,670 Value of farms $14,475,037 Value of implements and machinery 435,033 Value of livestock... 1,502,253 Total value, or capital $16,412,323 Estimated value of productions 2,470,840 Number of manufactures in county 126 Capital invested $489,665 Total value of production 1,179,014 Value of material 644, 1 56 Total wages paid . 221,374 Thus, my friends, you have the capital of Branch county as invested in two- leading industries in 1880^ In one instance 3,670 farms, with a capital of $10,412,323, or an average of $4,472.02 to each farm. In the other instance, 126 manufacturies, with a capital of $489,665, or an average capital of $3,886. 2;i to each. Let us look at the cost of raising the three principal grain crops of the farms of Branch county. The figures given are compiled in the Secretary of State's- office, and are J or the year 1885. WHEAT. Average yield per acre, bushels 24. 70 Cost of grain per bushel $0,552 Net cost of grain per acre 13.64 Value of grain per acre Jan. 1. 1886 21.00 Value of straw per acre 1.21 Profit per acre S.SZ 4: ^6 FARMERS' INSTITUES. OATS. Average yield per acre, bushels 87.83 •Cost of grain per bushel .^0.346 Net cost of grain per acre 13. 10 Value of grain per acre Jan. 1, 1886 1 1.35 Value of straw per acre .75 Loss per acre 1-00 CORN. Average yield per acre, bushels of ears 67. Cost of grain per bushel $0,238 Net cost of grain jjer acre 15.92 Value of grain per acre Jan. 1 , 1886 16.08 Value of stalks per acre 2.39 Profit per acre 2.55 lu arriving at the foresfoing results every item of expense has been counted, includiug cost of marketing, taxes, insurance and interest on the land at the Tate of seven per cent, on a value of $58 per acre. The interest account is usually called the capitalists profit. On an acre of Avheat, corn or oats it is carried in the items of cost of production in above figures, and amounts to $4.06, which if added to $8.57 profit per acre, of wheat, and deducted from $13.64, the "net cost per acre," would make the cost of the grain at the market to be $9.58, and the profits to be $13.63 per acre, or a fraction over 131 per cent. But it has not been my intention to specially refer to the profits of farming, rather more particularly to show the farmer's relation to capital. Farmers may have losses, but their's is the only industry that does not figure to a greater or less extent in the weekly published list of business failures. ISTow, Mr. President, if I have not already wearied this people, let me call your attention to the relations of the farmer to labor. In the forthcoming report of the Commissioner of Labor there will appear a chapter devoted to statistics as to farm labor, referring especially to wages paid. In order to secure these statistics I sent a request and blank form to 1,016 supervisors in 75 counties of the State, omitting cities and five counties having little or no agricultural industry. Reports were received from 613 supervisors in 70 counties. The failure of so many to make a return showed not only a lack of interest in the inquiries made but a lack of business knowledge, for each person was furnished with a postal card for return answer. Of the 613 reporting, fifteen towns reported "no farm labor." The request made was that from at least four farmers in each township answers should be secured as to wages paid regular farm hands, with and without board, wages paid to tenants, in addition to use of house, garden and cow, wages paid to harvest hands, with and without board, and the average number of months per year that farm labor was employed, all for the year 1885. To ascertain the number of men employed as wage-workers upon farms would have caused an expense that tiae appropriation of the Labor Bureau would not cover, and I am therefore miable to give you any idea of the aggregate number in that industry, while in nearly every other the report will show very fairly the number employed. It might be easy to estimate the number of farm laborers, but I prefer to give no estimates in any figures save those furnished by the United States census in the matter of value of productions of farms, believing that facts are best arrived at from information based on actual condition. Therefore, in order to show at least something of the relations between farmers and labor, let me give you the figures gathered from the 598 rej)orts to the Labor Bureau already referred to, showyig wages paid to farm labor in the State. CAPITAL AND LABOR— THE FARMER'S RELATION TO BOTH. 27 Average paid farm labor, with board, month $17 07 Average paid farm labor, without board, month 28 24 Highest paid farm labor, with board, month 30 00 Lowest paid farm labor, with board, month 8 00 Highest paid farm labor, without board, month 50 00 Lowest paid farm labor, without board, month 17 00 Average paid tenants, with rent, cow and garden, month 21 45 Highest paid tenants, with rent, cow and garden, month 40 00 Lowest paid tenants, with rent, cow and garden, month 10 00 Average paid harvest hands, with board, day 1 50 Average paid harvest hands, without board, day 1 92 Highest paid harvest hands, with board, day 2 50 Lowest paid harvest hands, with board, day 1 00 Highest paid harvest hands, without board, day 3 00 Lowest paid harvest hands, without board, day 1 25 Average time regular labor is employed, 7 months 2 days. Time will not permit my giviug you in detail the wages of each county, or even Congressional District. The report referred to will give carefully pre^^ar- ed tables showing a complete anyalysis of the wages paid for farm labor as gathered from the several counties. Should any present desire to inquire as to the wages paid in any town or county, I will answer such questions at the close of this talk. The above figures show the average wage paid, with board, to be 117.07 for the State. The average by Congressional Districts is as follows: First district $15 82 Second district 16 68 Third district 16 85 Fourth district 16 63 Fifth district 15 94 Sixth district 16 49 Seventh district 15 28 Eighth district 16 20 Ninth district 16 78 Tenth district 18 59 Eleventh district 18 34 The first, tenth and eleventh districts, in 1880, raised 760,795 bushels of wheat and owned 30,309 sheep. The eight remaining districts raised 29,314,- 170 busliels of wheat and owned 1,910,434 sheep. It is plainly shown where the bulk of the producing farms are located. To come nearer home, let me give you a few figures pertaining to this, the third. Congressional District, com- prising the counties of Branch, Barry, Calhoun, Eaton and Jackson. In 1880 these counties produced the largest amount of wheat raised in any Congres- sional District in the State — 5,570,350 bushels — and they owned 379,670 sheep. The average wage paid for farm labor in the district in 1885 was: With board, per month _ _ _ $16 85 Without board, per month . . 22 90 Highest with board, per month. 22 00 Lowest with board, per month 8 00 Highest without board, per month 33 00 Lowest without board, per month 16 00 Tenants, average per month _ 20 97 Harvest, with board, per day 1 97 Harvest, without board, per day 2 35 Average months' work for 7 months — 22 days. That you may not feel that the figures given prove a payment that cannot be improved upon, let me say that for harvest hands, with board, of the towns in the district that was reported, there were five paying $1.50 per day; one paying $1.62 ; two paying $1.75 ; 49 paid $2.00, and one paid $2.50. Of those 28 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. reporting ^ages without board, there were six paying S2.00; seven paying- $2.25 ; one jm'ing $2.38; twenty-one paying $2 50, and one paying $3.00 per day. In the entire State, as shown from reports from 585 tovyns, the average- wages paid to harvest hands, with board, was, in 66 towns $1 00 per day- 84 towns 1 25 per daj" 194 towns 1 50 per day 53 towns 1 75 per day- 185 towns 2 00 per day- 3 towns 2 50 per day" Sliowing that more than one-fourth of the towns paid $1.25 per day or less ;. nearly three-fifths paid $1.50 per day or less ; while more than two-thirds paid $1.75 or less. Members of the Institute, you have been shown your relation to capital. With the figures already given, can you not see your way clear in your relation to labor, so far as wages are concerned ? Pay such wages that the employe who is given an opportunity to work but a portion of the year may have enough to support himself the balance of the year and make a saving for future use. Or, what would be better, give steady employment to labor. Do you deny the strength of such an assertion? Look at your home circle and tell me Avhy the wife and daughters are obliged to toil so earnestly from morning" until night, beyond the essential duties of the women of the home. Tell me why the sons desire to, and do leave, the farm, where the brightest of all busi- ness opportunities should be centered, and where, from childhood, they have studied and mastered a trade ; tell me why they rush to mercantile centres and seek employment in the store or counting room, driving those who were brought up in the towns to join the mighty throng of surplus labor? The prin- cipal and most direct answer should be, that yourself and wife are aged at 50 years, your sons and your daughters are disarmed of all love and respect for the farm, because of your desire to add to your capital at a more rapid rate than, the laws of physical nature will permit. The days of pioneer life in Michigan are over. There is no demand for this distress you bring upon the physical body of yourself and family. With more labor help, your faculties unimpaired,, having needed rest, your children educated, and the sons especially taught the mechanical knowledge which has been so wisely made an important feature of our Agricultural College and other institutions of learning, and your life is not only happy, but the soil is made to bear a richer increase, because of the life and vigor enjoyed by those who till it. By the employment of more labor you not only give yourselves a proper rest, but you are enabled to bring the hours of labor for your employes within a rational limit. I well understand that in the harvest season the daily hours of toil are generally considered as- necessarily greater in number than in ordinary seasons. You make them greater than they should be. If two persons do a certain amount of work in fifteen hours each, three persons will do the same in ten hours each. And though you have paid the extra wage to the third person, you have placed the two persons in a physical condition to more than earn that extra wage back in the days that are before you. Your relation to labor is not that of the master to the slave ; you are generally on an equal footing, so far as the rights of citi- zenship enter into the ques ion of relation. Labor may be greatly below you in the social and educational scale. On the farm is your opportunity to advance it. Let the hours of toil be so arranged that the body, not over fatigued, may find refreshment, and the mind education in the reading and study of the newspapers and books which your home is permitted to possess. PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 29 3By such care and attention you prepare the Avay for labor to possess education And own capital, and in its turn become the employer and educator of other labor. I have referred to surplus labor. So much of this class crowd our villages, rtowns and cities that the farmer does not so fully feel its pressing demands. Where does it come from? Well, my friends, owing to the boundless freedom which our National constitution offers to the people of the world much of it comes from foreign shores. In 1885 there came to this country 326,411 foreign-born people. This number was 76,819 less than the number of those -who came in 1884. Of this 326,411 foreign-born people who came in 1885, 104,904 came from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland; 106,910 came from Germany; 114,597 came from various other countries, among them 15,689 from Italy. Some of these were undoubtedly mechanics at home, but already the workshops and manufacturing industries here are overcrowded, and all become ^seekers after any kind of labor. A portion may have brought funds sufficient to settle on the new farm lands of our western country. The question is, what shall be done for those who want work? Already labor organizations through- •out our land are agitating the reduction of the hours of labor in many indus- tries to eight hours per day, thus hoping to create a demand for the unemployed, -as well as secure greater opportunities for mental and physical improvement of those already employed. What can the farmer do to assist in reducing the •quantity of surplus labor? Have we not answered the question already? Use the capital produced by labor to aid labor in becoming the possessor of capital. "This does not express a socialistic idea of dividing property with others who ►have not earned a right to it, but it simply means what we have said before, 'that labor employed at fair remuneration adds to accumulations already started .^nd helps to its own accumulation. PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. BY ROBT. ALWAED. [Read at Hudsonrille Institute, February 3, 1886.] I shall not follow the beaten path usually taken on this subject, but will ask ;you to consider with me from a standpoint above and beyond partisan politics. Whether the existence and rapid spread of private corporations which invade pri- Tate enterprises is not a standing menace to the progress of our country, and the •existence of the liberties of the people; if on the one hand I condemn organi- ..zation, and on the other hand advise the farmers to organize, my excuse is, we must meet the invaders with an armed force, and if private corporations are invading our interests and diminishing our profits then it becomes our duty to -organize in self-defence. There is, perhaps, no higher or more important duty •devolving upon an American citizen than that duty which requies him to study -closely every danger than menaces civil liberty in this government, and tends »to usurp the rights of private individuals. If we turn to the history of the old world, and nearly every page of it is writ- ten in blood, we find that nearly every instance of internal dissentiou and revo- 30 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. lution which the nations of Europe have passed through, were caused by per- mitting the avarice, luxury, and vices of the few to flourish at the expense, and by the labor of the multitude. Such was tlie condition of Eonie. Such has been the condition of England, and continental Europe for centuries. The fury of the masses, in many instances, when they had been driven to desperation by the o])pression of those in power, exceeded all power of restraint, and left desolation in its track. There was some excuse for those ignorant, misguided people; they had never known the blessings of liberty and self-government, and knew no other way when the rights of individual man began to dawn upon their minds. No' other means but violence would have had any efl^ect on those that governed, to make them to a limited extent, respect the rights of their subjects. The lirst grand success achieved by the masses against despotic power, was when the commons of England extorted the great charter from that tyrant. King John. A charter which acknowledged to a certain extenfthe individual rights of mankind, to which for ages afterwards, patriots have looked back as the basis of human liberty. Even then their hopes of justice and liberty only partially realized, and after combating for centuries the tyranny of kings and priests, a few resolute spirits turned their backs on the homes and scenes of their childhood and sought freedom in America, that coveted boon which had been denied them in the land of their fathers. They were so imbued with the belief that they still belonged to somebody that they must needs allow the hand that oppressed them at home to follow them across the broad ocean and enthrone itself their master here, and they found in a very short time that they had simply transferred the evils from the soils of England to the wilderness of America, where monarchy was destined to meet its overthrow. How heroically the descendants of those patriots in after years labored by all p aceful means in their power to gain from their oppressor those principles of equity and right until forbearance ceased to be a virtue, is familiar to you all, and how the principal actors in that great drama met in that historical building, Faneuil Hall, and there promulgated principles that revolutionized the social condition of man. Principles which dethroned a king, and enthroned the people. The noblest of all the great principles proclaimed in that grand instrument,, the Declaration of Independence, is expressed in these words, " that all men were created equal, and should be protected in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi?iess.'' The thought probably never entered the minds of those public benefactors, as they sealed those principles with the blood of thousands of patriots, that before a century of national life had passed, a people having once enjoyed the blessing liberty, would, through their representatives in state and national legislatures, enact laws, making it possible for a few individuals acting in a corporate capacity, under chartered rights, to so direct their own business and the public policy of the country in their own interest, as to invade indi- vidual rights, divert civil liberty and overshadow the very government that created them. This, fellow-citizens, in my opinion, is to a great extent the condition of things to-day in this, our boasted land of freedom. You can scarcely point to an industry except agriculture, but what is conducted in some form or other, under corporate management with rights and privileges granted them by the State and fostered and protected by it. A business, which a few years ago was considered within the province of private enterprise or common partnership,. now becomes incorporated; and the result has been that there has been more dis- PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. SU content and more dissatisfaction between employers and employed, between labor- and capital during the past ten years than there has been from like causes during all our previous national history. So great has been the difficulty in some instances that the strong arm of the military has been called upon to restore order and maintain the peace. When we consider the harsh and inflexible conditions ini])Osed by corporations over those dependent upon them, is it to be wondered at, that the private individual finds himself unable to compete with the cen- tralized capital of a corporation of men. Should he make an effort to do so, he will find himself so surrounded by their power that there is no alternative left him but to close up his private business, enter a corporation with others in self defence or become the servant of one. The tendency is evil, and only evil ; it discourages pursuits by honest private industry, and accumulates the masses in large numbers at manufacturing cen- ters, where the extremes of luxury and poverty meet; Avhere you find thousands of laborers employed, and not one that is able to manufacture, entire, any arti- cle vipon which he works. The individual, independent mechanic is fast be- coming a thing of the past. This of itself is what makes them so utterly dependent upon the will of those who can shut down their works or reduce the wages of their employes whenever the market does not suit, or from any other cause they may see fit. You may say the progress of the age demands this, and point with pride to our flourishing manufacturing institutions, as conducted under corporate manage- ment. England points with pride to like institutions, and we point, with feelings of sorrow and commiseration, to her destitute millions. We are duplicating their systeni in this country at a rapid rate. It is a false progress that fosters mon- opolies ; that makes aristocrats of the few, and surrounds private enterprise with a rival with which it is unable to compete. To justify the system because it tends to cheapen manufactured articles is poor defense, when it can be shown that it tends to cheapen an article of far more importance, i. e., manhood. I would sooner pay a higher price to an enterprising mechanic for the article I purchase than to pay a like amount to an army of soldiers, or a force of police, to protect those monopolies. I condemn private corporations, because they tend to demoralize to a great extent all connected with them. They have their origin in one idea — that of money-getting. The individual is mergad into a money machine, of which he becomes a part, and he feels no remorse of conscience so long as it produces gain. Men acting in a corporate capacity will claim rights and take privileges that a private person would not dare to claim, and could not enforce them if he did. The price of their favors is unquestioning obedience. According to their standard, a modern financier would be unworthy of the name if he did not understand how to make the business pay dividends on watered stock, representing sometimes twice the amount of cost. Stockholders will draw twenty per cent on their investment without any com- punction, when, if you were to charge them with being twenty or thirty per cent men in private business, they would take it as an insult to their manhood. There are, however, some enterprises that would seem to require special rights and privileges, such as railroads, canals, expensive bridges and such works that, on account of their magnitude, are beyond the ability of private enterprise ; and even in those matters, in granting extraordinary rights to such corporations the rights of the people should have been carefully guarded. But have they been? Let us consider railroads for instance, and I am going to admit in the start that they are a necessity of our civilization, and have con- 82 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. tributed wonderfully to the development of the country, and to the convenience and prosperity of the people. Some people, however, are so given to enlarging •on the benefits the country has derived from railroads that we might be led to believe that railroad companies had built railroads for benevolent purposes, out •of pure charity. I am inclined to the opinion that the charitable part has been with the people, or more properly with the government that represents the people ; for in granting them those extraordinary rights which railroad corporations enjoy, the Government did not protect the people against ■exhorbitant rates, or prevent the companies from making unjust discrimina- tions. They are at liberty to charge whatever the article would bear, with the exception of passenger rates, which have been fixed at three cents per mile. Those were the rates asked and received twenty years ago, in high jjriced times, and the people are paying the same to-day, notwithstanding nearly all the pro- perty has shrunk in value from one-half to two-thirds. It takes about as much property now to pay three cents as it would have taken twenty years ago to have paid nine cents per mile ; and the discriminat- ing manner in which they deal with their patrons is such as ought not to be tolerated. I do not claim for a moment that a railroad company should carry a bag of wheat for me at the same rates that they ought to receive for a car lot; but I do claim that they ought to be compelled to furnish me a car just as cheap as they will an individual who may come to your village and advertise hiniself as a grain buyer. He does not produce the grain and there would be just as much to ship if he had not come. He simply steps in and absorbs pro- fits that we, as farmers, might receive by shipping our own grain to better mar- kets. Were it not for the disci iminating rates given to the so-called dealer, and this evil affects those engaged in mercantile business, as well as farmers, large dealers would not have such an advantage over smaller ones, and compe- tition would be fair. I wish further to call your attention to the enormous amounts of public land that have been given to railroad corporations. It would seem to me that a paternal government, having the best interests of the people at heart, and with a full knowledge of the evils that afflict the masses in European countries, on account of the monopolies, would have protected the people here against a repe- tition of the same evil, and would have held the public lands to be parceled out in small quantities to actual settlers, as a meflns of absorbing the ever increasing population of the older sections of the country. But what are the facts? We find by the government estimates published that, if in all the land grant- ed to railroad corporations, none of it had reverted to the government through failure of the corporations to fulfil their contracts in the construction of the road, etc., it would have taken two hundred and sixteen million acres of land to have satisfied the claims, and in 1880 the railroad companies still owned, according to the census, seventy-eight million acres, an amount equal to about one-seventh of all the farms in the United States. These figures are almost beyond our comprehension, except by comparison. When we consider that there is only about thirty-six million acres of land in the State of Mchigan, and that it would have taken a territory equal in extent to nearly six of the State of Michigan to have satisfied these grants, and that in 1880 the railroad companies still owned lands equal to two and one-sixth of the State of Michigan, we can form some idea of the magnitude of the gift. Friends, was there ever such a magnificent gift made on earth? If so, I have never heard of it. I have read of the gifts Queen Elizabeth made to her court favorites, when she confiscated large tracts of land in Ireland for that purpose, PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 33 and further back in history when William of Normandy parceled out the Eng- lisli farms to his Noriuau adherents; but these all i-iiik into insignificance when compared to the gifts of lands and money made to r.iilroad cori)i>ratioMS by the people of America. The ])olicy jnirsued by those corporations since receiving th'>e lands has been in direct opposition to the interests of tiie farmers of this country; for in order to dispose of their lands and to furnish omi)loyment for their roads they have them advertised in every country in Europe, and while they will chiirge \ou and I about twelve dollars a day to ride on their ro.ids, they have secured rates across tlie ocean that makes it ]K)ssil)le for the poorest Europeans to reach our shore. Tlie ojciiu fare for emigrants was reduced to seven dollars frt)m Liverpool to New York, and tlie railroads have carried them from there to Chica";o lor one dtjllar, and to this inlliix of foreigners to our western territories may be charged to a great extent the present reduction iu the [irice of farm products. Tlie evil is still more aworravatinij when wo consider that according to the census of 1880 these same railroads were estimated to be worth sixteen millions of dollars nu)re than thev cost, notwithstanding a great many of them were built in high-priced times. They are about the only jiroperty that does not show a shrinkage in value. It is conccdeil by everyone famili.ir with our form of government, that a republican form of government to be successful must depend u|ion the education and general intelligence of its citizens, and while our ffoveriiment has been orivinn: hundreds of millions of acres of land to rail- roads there has been but sixty-seven million acres given for educational purposes. Yet so fearful has our government been of creating monopolies iu some instances that there is a law on the statute books ])roliibiting any chari- table oi'gauization from owning over liftv thousand dollars worth of real estate. Further comment is unnet-essary. As we look about us what do we see as the result of those vicious practi- ces ? We see in almost every town or city of any importance men that are worth from one million dollars upward, and some that can count their wealth by the hundreds of millions, the most of which has been accumulated during the last twenty-five years. We sf^e mighty corj>orations towering above the heads of the people, intim- idating their einplo\ej to vote in their interests, controlling our legisla- tors, tilling public positions with creatures of their own choice, never satis- fied after having acquired more wealth than they can possibly make use of, but continually crying (^^ ye, give, give! Bowing before their pov/er we see a great mass of humanity, unable to understand their social inequality, mur- muring their discontent, and, like the slumbering volcano, ready to break forth into fury. My friends, the picture is not overdrawn, and we turn from the sad scene with but one hope of relief and that is to the farmers of this country, for I tell you candidly you have a charge to keep. It is for the conservative home building, home loving farmers of this country to stand arbitrators of this nations' destiny, between those two contending elements I have mentioned, and turn back the hand that oppresses, re-assure the discontented and pro- tect the liberties of the people. The future prosperity and welfare of this country depends more upon you who are owners of homes and around whose firesides cluster the patriotism and private virtues of our race, than upon any other class of citizens. You can accomplish those objects as successfully in no other way as you can by obeying the central law of our civilization, 5 84 FARMEES' INSTITUTES. which is: organize, form farmers' organizations, or unite with those already formed ; where you can discuss public policy, harmonize your views and work intelligently together for your own protection and for the general good of your country. You have a farmers' organization fully establislied, known, as the Patrons of Husbandry, and if there is an individual present Avho is prejudiced against that association or inclined to underestimate the good that it is doing, 1 wish to say to him without fear of successful contradic- tion, that the members of the Grange, though few in numbers compared to the great mass of farmers are doing more to educate the farmer in his pub- lic duties, to shape legislation in his' interests, to protect the farmers against unjust claiuiants, and to make the occupation of farming as respectable as any other busiiiess, Tliis organization meets with more opposition and ridi- cule from outside farmers who ought to be wishing it God speed, farmers that have been more or less benefited and protected by the Grange than it does from men of otlier occupations. Business men understand the bene- fits of organization and co-operation, and are well convinced of the fact that where a number of persons are engaged in the same business or calling, the welfare of each to a great extent is bound up in the good of all, hence they pool their interests and co-operate for their mutual benefit. They respect the farmer whose intelligence prompts them to make an eifort in the same direction. Farmers should organize for the purpose of self-improvement, for devel- oping the latent powers of the mind, not alone for himself but for tlie ben- efit of his Wife, sons and daughters. I'hey could bring their ideas and expe- rience in contact with ideas and experience of others and thereby acquire that address, self-confidence and ability to intelligently expi'ess tlieir ideas either in public or private, that is so essential in iufiueucing the alfairs and. minds of men. The farmers' isolated manner of living makes something of this kind more essential to him than to men of otiier callings whose business brings them into daily intercourse with their fellow men, for it is by the contact of individual minds that knowledge is acquired and increased. Farmers should organize for the purpose of becoming moi'e proficient in the business which they follow. They should bring their experiences of farm and house- hold matters to a common centre, for a mutual exchange of ideas and to receive new suggestions. Men of other callings do this, and why not the farmers ? They should organize to aid each other in securing a first remu- neration for the products of their labor and learn to make half of the bargain in the business of life as do the merchants, the lawyers, the doctors and the millers. Farmers, you have helped those organizations long enough. Is it not about time that you helped to support the organization that helps support you? You have been defended against the plaster monopoly, you have been defended against several unjust claims for infringement of patent rights and you have another claimant treading on your toes. It is the infi-ingement on the spring tooth harrow, and in this matter you will not be defended by the grange unless you are members. Take your wives, your sons and daughters with you into the Grange, where they may have sociability, that will help to refine their lives, enlighten their minds, and give them self-confidence. Teach your boys that tilling the soil is not a low, menial calling, but that it is as honorable as any calling PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 35 tnown to man, and that the more intelligence they manifest in their business the more honorable they make themselves, and their occupation teaches them that it is more honorable to be a whole farmer than it is to be a half mechanic; that it is more honorable to be the owner of a farm, sitting by your own fireside, and owner of yourself, than it is to be the paid servant of any corporation ; that the individual that strives to live on the unpaid labor of others is a thief, no matter whether his position in society be high or low. To yon farmers that are not members of the Grange, do not excuse your- selves from, or condemn its principles, because some individuals have Joined who afterward proved false to the principles they advocated. The members that are honest in their efforts to better the condition of the farmers, and the great majority of them are, regret tiiis very much more than yon possibly can. To you that are members, do not become discouraged because occasionally a brother is willing to prostitute himself to some soulless corporation that may wish to use him to fui'ther their own interests, notwithstanding he pledged to you on his sacred honor to guard and protect the principles of your order, he is a better judge of the worth of the honor he pledged than we are — let him go. Let us say to ourselves, " Brother farmers, this is our country, and is to be the home of our children after us. Let us work together in unity of ])rinciple by organized efforts to protect its free institu- tions, so that if our children do not live under a republican form of govern- ment and enjoy the blessings of freedom, they cannot say the fault was with us; that we had bartered onr birthright for a mess of pottage. Tell your children the story of our first revolution, the causes for which the founders of this government labored, fouglit, and conquered; place in their hands the Declaration of Lulependence and the constitution of this country, that their teachings may be preserved. Dr. Godfrey: ILiving had frequent opportunity of meeting with farmers, I used to find it in farmers" school meetings a rare thing for young men to be able to express themselves in public; whereas, now the influence of the Grange has greatly chatiged this, and familiarized farmers with public address, and, by practice, taught them fluency and parliamentary form. Mr. A. Clark: If Mr. Alward had signed my name to this paper, 1 should have been satisfied. There is no ignoring the fact that organization is in the very nature of man, and it is useless to oppose the tendency. From the time when Adam and Eve organized for their little unlawful schemes, men have organized for all sorts of purposes — lawful or unlawful. Military organization secured the leadership of feudal chieftains which lorded it over men's bodies, and ecclesiastical organizations have lorded it over their souls. Now men organize against tyranny for their own freedom, and our govern- ment is planned for the good of the governed. And yet under this system, still, are organizations for the gathering in by the few, of the fruits of the toil of the many. The boot blacks organize for !0 cents a shine. The hack men organize and ask as much to carry you a mile as would pay your fare half way to Jackson. The doctors organize and hoodwink their patients witii Latin formulas, and the lawyers, to get 110 for a half day's work of three hours. The farmer, without organization, works twelve hours for 80 cents, lie carries his wheat to market when it is raised, and finds that the dealers have discovered an immense glut, and wheat is down. He sells, and wheat suddenly rises. 86 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. If manufactured wool is threatened with free importation, the manufac- turers send a lobby forthwith to Congress, and woolen goods are protected. Yet raw avooI is free. The only remedy is for farmers to work together, to organize, and see to it that their rights are looked after. Let your boys feel that agriculture is honorable. Send them to our Agricultural Colleges, rather than to Military Academies. Give your girls, through our Granges, social life, and they need not blush to be farmers' girls. They will learn to appreciate the men of the country, and be justly proud of belonging to the best aristocracy — that of the land. Pres. Willits: I am looking for light on this subject. Tweed said when he had stolen his millions, '' What are you going to do about it?" Wm. II. Vanderbilt is ciedited with exclaiming wlien reminded of the rights of the people, " Damn the people!" It is all very well to meet and talk about these things, but the question is what can be done in the case. The farmer does not fix the prices of his products. How are you going to manage it that he shall do so? In 187-"}, I was one of a commission appointed by Gov. Bagley to revise the constitution, and yet, when we submitted the amend- ments, you buried them so deep Gabriel's trumpet would not raise them. You talk about corporations. That constitution placed restrictions upon them and you voted it down. Our constitution provided against consoliila- tion of competing railroads, but the railroads evade the provision by leasing, thereby having all the benefits of consolidation. The revised constitution provided against that, and you voted it down. One hundred years ago, London had no lighted streets, and men went about nights with lanterns. The ordinance provided against any one being out after a given hour without a lantern. It was evaded by having lanterns but no cand'es. So the ordinance was amended by requiring lanterns with candles in them. It was again evaded by having unlit candles. So it was again amended by requiring a lighted candle. It took legislation three times to get the ordinaiu^e so that it would hold water, so to S])eak. So with this corporation legislation. Up to this time there has been legis- lation and evasion, and too frequently the people have not sustained the legislature, or the men who have sought to limit and restrain, and I confess that I am discouraged. It is a ditficult subject. We cannot get along with- out corporations. Know what to do? The individual charges you for half way across Grand Kapids what the corporation will take you half way to Jackson for. Give the devil his due. Don't kill off corporations, but con- tiol them. Fire is a good servant, but a bad master. So of corporations. As to discriminations. I had the pleasure of voting for the Ileagan bill, in Congress. It provided against charging more for a short haul than a long one. Nevertheless, in so doing, might you not make other difficulties ia curing some. Organized capita! is the principle of the age and we can not go back to Chinese methods they have no corporations. Instead of steam, men transport and are beasts of burden. As a consequence they have no poor-houses, a few rich men, but for all that we don't want to go to their methods. Beecher says if our foresight was as good as our hindsight, we would all get rich. So of land giants to railroads. When they were made, we all favored them. Any company will vote a tax to gain a railroad, and when it comes to paying the tax they growl. So as to giving lands to railroads. Hon. Geo. ¥. Richardson: President Willits has just found liimself swamped with the question as to what is to be done. It is a difficult PUBLIC POLICY AND FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 37 question. Still as they did in London, requiring first the lantern, then the candle, and then the lighting, so we may get toward our point step by step. One of these steps is organization and sending men to make our laws who are seeking the solution of these problems in sympathy with ourselves, that they may cut and try until they do succeed. Last winter when it was proposed to tax mortgages the money-lenders contended that this would oppress the borrower. So as to legislating against butterine, they say, '''No use, the only way is to make better butter." I think legislation can do something for butter making. We have all sorts of industries protected. Why not some farmer's industries? I would legislate against bogus butter as against bogus money. Some one says: Yes, you passed a bill, and what did it accomplish ? True; but it was before we knew that the N. Y. law was unconstitutional. Our law may have been the unlit lantern, but perhaps we can yet get the lantern lit. Those who oppose legislation say, make better butter. But while we can detect poor butters you cannot detect hurtful butterines. I saw last winter a Buffalo cattle dealer who said nearly all cattle dying in transit are used to make patent butter. If true, this should be legislated against. One thousand tons of bogus butter can but displace 1,000 tons of good butter. Being made more cheaply it can undersell butter. The New York dairy commission mentioned GO ingredients used in making bogus butter, including nitric and sulphuric acids, and many other disagree- able substances. Do you want this stuff to displace the dairy product? Legislation should check it. Perhaps wc can tax it out of existence. We can boycott the hotel that uses it, the dealer that sells it, the candidate that will not oppose it. The Grange can do much in this direction. I wisii to say a few words about taxation. Most people think taxes high, particularly the State tax. The legislature has been liberal to the Agricultural College and the University, and our other institutions need large sums, but it is rather in the method of distributing the tax than in the amount that the injustice and tlie hardship come in. The capitalist who can conceal his property escapes his fair share of the tax, or if taxed he can leave before his tax is collected and escape completely, or he can leave when the assessment is made and come back afterward, while the farmer has to bear his own burden and that of such capitalists to boot. Laws can help this and farmers can ensure having laws that will help it by demanding candidates who favor such laws. I think all real estate mortgages should be assessed as real estate, and the amount deducted from the debtor's assessment. Compel tax statements to be given under oath. It is said this will cause perjury. It will at least tax the conscientious owner, and would not hurt the farmer, whose property is all visible. Judge Ivamsdell found that this plan had been tested by the Oregon Supreme Court and stood the test. Discrimination in freights is a most difficult subject to deal with, but one as to which effort must not be remitted. The hill for this purpose last winter never reached a vote in the Ilouse. 88 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. But State legislation is weak and this subject must be dealt witli by Congress. Then, too, in this State, our present constitution is constantly in the way. Even when the House i-euched ihe point of doing something, the Senate was not pledged to the farmer and stood in the way. As to the patent riglit swindle. Congress should take hold of this, and hold the consumer harmless. Tlic manufacturer should be dealt with. ^Ir. Weatherwax: We would like to hear from President AVillits as to legi.^^lation on mortgage taxation, railroads and ]nitcnt rights. President Will its: As to mortgage taxation, I am free to say I don't know what to do. One of the chief evils of taxation is the escape of large blocks of personal property from taxation. Jn Adrian were two men in similar houses, who paid similar tax. Both died near together. One was worth $1,000, personally, the other was worth !&'.>0,000, bonds of other cities. Mr. li. says a moi'tgage owned by a man in New York can be taxed here. The tiouble is, it can be taxed there, too. lie is there, and they would not recognize the fact that he may have been taxed on it here. You farmers who owe $1,000 on a $5,000 farm, jiay tax on one thousand more than you have. 1 bel'.eve this dilhuilty can be met. Some intelligent people say, put all tax on real estate, and they point to New Jersey, which did so, to the enhance- ment of value to real estate. But there are ditliculties. As to railroad discrimiiuition, the evil exists, and it will be solved some time and way. There is no reason for charging more from B.ittle Creek to New York, than from Chicago to New York. In many cases there are con- stitutional dilliculties in the way, e. (j.,cis to butterine. Suppose we prevent it being made here. They may make it in Ohio and sell it here, and we can't prevent it, under the U. S. Constitution. As to patent rights. The consumer can no more take the right to use a patented article than he can take a horse, but we can say that, unless judg- ment for $-t-) or more is given, complainant must pay costs. But while legis- lation will do some things, it will not put brains in a man's head, nor pro- tect a foolish man from the oily tongue of a beguiling swindler. The American must learn to do somethiug to take care of himself. SUCCESS ON THE FAEM. BY HON. WM. BALL, OF HAMBURG. [Read before the Farmers' Institutes at Rochester and Grass Lake.] How shall we manage our farms that they may be made more productive, and at the same time })ay for their increased fertility and yield an income to the hnsbandman? what varieties of grain shall we grow, and how many? what kind of stock shall we breed, and what kind of care shall they receive? are all questions of practical importance and none can safely be ignored, but all should bj wjU cjusidjred bf every thoughtful, intelligent farmar, for upon the correct solution depends very much the success or failure of farm- ing operations. To answer our first question with anything like certainty, we should know a good deal about the nature of the soils we cultivate. I SUCCESS ON THE FARM. 39 speak of soils, for harrlly any farm of mncli size but has several varieties of soil and hence need different treatment and modes of culture, and cropped with different kinds of grains. One should ascertain by reading and experi- ment what certain kinds of soil lack to make them the most productive and how they should be treated in order that plant growth shall be the most rapid and enduringuntil the crop is matured. The analysis of the different kinds of grain raised should be well understood ; what properties compose them, what those properties need to best develop them, and then know what soils are best calculated to produce them; in other words, there should be an affinity and sympathy between the soil and the grain planted or sown. Much of this can be learned from reading the scientilic experiments made in this country and in Europe, and though people fail sometimes in applying them, the fault is not with the inaccuracy of the report of the experiments but in the manner of their application. Theory and practice are both good teaclu'rs, and when taken together in a thoughtful and considerate manner as applied to crop growing are generally productive of good results. In my opinion too much farming is done by guess work. A farmer has a field he wishes to plow and sow. In too many instances he considers what is con- venient to him rather than taking into account the capabilities of the lot to produce the best possible results. lie plants a field to corn which is better adapted to the growth of oats or barley, and another to oats which is better adapted to the gi'owth of corn. The result is a loss in both directions. If water is liable to stay near the surface, it is imperative that it be removed by under-draining. If the soil is of too arid a nature then these fertilizers which tend to gather and hold moisture, such as salt, gypsum or plenty of well rotted manure from the biirnyard. Thorough tillage is a necessity to good crops. The land should be so thoroughly pulverized that the most delicate roots of plants may penetrate it and find nourishment. No good gardener would think of putting his garden seeds in a rough lumpy seed bed, because he knows that they would not so surely germinate and if at all will not grow so rapidly and strong. The same principle should be ap])lied in fitting the ground before any crop should be planted. Better fit and till one acre well than two poorly. Good healthy seed should always be used. It is a truth that something cannot be produced from nothing, and it is equally true that you must add to the soil you till as much or more than you take from it, or the soil will become leaner and less productive. This may be done in various ways. An occasional deep plowing, bringing up a sub-soil and placing it where it can come in contact with the sun and atmosphere; by sowing grasses whose roots penetrate deeply into the earth such as clover and then plowing it under. Plaster, as it is called, is good upon crops which are to be plowed under, as it is supposed to have an affinity for any ammonia that may be floating through the atmosphere, thus attracting and holding it until the rains carry it into the earth when it becomes plant food, besides what finds its way by absorption through the leaves and stems of plants, to the roots giving them succor and strength. Artificial fertilizers as a rule for general farming are too expensive for what they contain and the average farmer must utilize such materials as are at his command. To the second question, what kind of grain shall we raise, much depends upon the soil, the nearness to market, and the taste of the farmer. With the low price of wheat, the high price of land and labor, wheat raising alone is poor economy. The comparatively high price of beef, pork and mutton should be an argu- men in favor of raising corn, oats, etc., and it is equally true that thev 40 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. should never be sold except in the form of beef. Raise as many kinds of stock as can be made profitable always being sure to keep no more of any or all kinds than you can keep well. Always have a variety of products to depend upon as with some of each you cannot miss of having the most pi-ofit- able. Sheep are a necessity, as they are needed +o keep the farm free from weeds and other foul stuff, and as they also yield a semi-annual return — wool in the spring and lambs in the fall, if sold. Always keep in mind the maxim: " When everybody wants to sell, then is the time to buy, and when every- body wants to buy, then is the time to sell." The wool industry is no more depressed than a great many other industries, yet farmers have been getting rid of their sheep at a sacrifice, thereby killing the goose that has been lay- ing the golden egg, and these very same farmers will soon be trying to pur- chase another goose at a much increased value. The mutton breeds of sheep have their uses, and in certain localities are preferable to the Merinos, but that they can become the universal sheep for this country is entirely imaginary. The available sheep lands in the other parts of the world are on a rapid decrease, and the demand for the wools from the sources of our for- eign supplies is on a rapid increase. Foreign wools will no longer be so cheap or abundant as in the past, and it follows, then, that the supply must be made good at home. We have plenty of cheap lands west, we have plenty of good sheep lands in Michigan, which are being depleted by this depres- sion and scare, and you and I who have kept our flocks intact, or added to them, because we could buy so low, will in a short time be called upon, at good prices, to make this depletion good. It is claimed by some that the west shouhl raise our wool and the east the mutton. The history of the past proves that improvements in sheep breeding have not been made in the west, where everything is done on a large scale. The great improvements in our highly valued Merino have been made where farms were small, flocks few in number, and by men who gave their personal care and best thought to their improvement. So it will always be. The east will still be called upon to furnish the choice specimens of her thoroughbreds to improve the common flocks of the west, and the demand will be imperative and profitable to the breeder who stands by his sheep through fair or foul weather; never losing sight of the fact that half the battle is in favor of him who never falters in well doing. To the breeder of the thoroughbred .Merino, I would say, don t be discouraged ; stick by your pets and they will pay you well. When they are low, increase your flocks; for the day is not far distant when there will be a good demand for all of your surplus. Look over any wool circular, and you will see fine wools strong, combing and delaine wools scarce, while if there is any stagnation in price, it is on middle and coarse wools. Feed those sheep getting old; also the light shearers, for the butcher. Weed out the short fleeces, yellow-colored, long-legged, bare-faced ones, and feed them also, as they have no business in a good flock of sheep. Breed from no males but thoroughbreds. Increase the size of your sheep by proper selec- tions and by liberal feeding. Grade Merino wethers may be made to weigh, when three years old, from 125 to 1-iO pounds, and in our markets the price will average well with those called the mutton breeds. Usually towards spring they bring more per pound, owing to the fact that they are as desir- able mutton for the average American, and their pelts are worth very much more, owing to the larger amount of desirable wool. Another thing to be taken into consideration is the cheapness with which the Merino wether can CAN THE AVERAGE FARM BE MADE PROFITABLE. 41 be kept; their natural adaptation to our soil and climate, as well as their capability of doinj^ well in large flocks. To breed for wool, care should be taken to select animals with good bone and robust constitution. Then see to it that they are covered from the nose to the extremities with a thick, long, desirable staple of wool, and then feed them in such a manner that the animal should be in good condition, but feed with especial reference to the amount of wool. Breeding ewes, of course, in winter, should be a partial exception. If you are breeding thoroughbred Merinos, don't go to extremes, either for size, wrinkles, short or long fleeces. Get as many desirable quali- ties in one sheep as possible. Be sure and have a good pedigree, one that means something, but don't take too much stock in the " Atwood " craze, unless the sheep are better than the "Atwoods" and Paular co-^ibined. Profits always follow a successful course of stock-raising. It is wicked to not give your stock enough food in the winter, thereby throwing away what flesh was gathered iii the summer. Too much time is wasted in the winter. Too little thought is given to our business, as farmers. A farmer sliould know something of law and medicine, and he should have enough moral principle about him to be an honesL man, and this comprises about all there is in the scale of human acquirements. Mr Peabody: For profit, there must be back of the Merino sheep a fair price for wool, and that there is not at the present time. The mutton breeds, however, are always profitable. I breed Oxford Downs. They generally breed twins, and it is no trouble by good feeding to produce lamb wethers weighing 140 to 150 pounds at one year old, when they will sell for 5^ to 6 cents per pound. Our nea.ness to markets gives us an adv ntage in production of mutton, while in wool growing it counts for but little. My sheep unquestionably eat more than the fine wools. I admit freely that Merinos wil' live on a pasture when almost as thick as sardines in a box. Mr. Ball: I do not especially advocate Merinos. I advocate anything that will take the place of scrubs, of those sheep that shear only 2 or 3 lbs. There will be many such sheared this spring. There are localities in which the mutton breeds will be best, but nowhere is the scrub the best. My point is, that a man who has become fitted by long years of care and study to grow wool or succeed in any other industry should not desert that calling because of a momentary dullness in that line. CAN THE AVERAGE FARM BE MADE PROFITABLE? BY J. J. SNOOK, OF ROCHESTER. [Read before the Farmers' Institute at Rochester, Feb. 4, 1886.] From my observation and experience I cheerfully say that farming can be made profitable on the average farm. The question is not, does it pay, but can it be made to pay? There are many things necessary to a profitable consummation of any enterprise, and most of them are as indispensable in farming as in any other business. First, 6 42 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. the successful agriculturist must know his business, and as the average farm must be managed on the mixed principle, largely, he must not only know how to till propeily the different kinds of soil found on average farms, but how to propagate and care for the various kinds of stock, in their various stages of maturity, as well as to cultivate fruits, grain and vegetables, and all of these in proportions to suit circumstances, are necessary. Another requisite is careful bu}ing and t^areful selling. Disregard in these will as surely take the profits from a farmer as from a merchant, liaise all the stock you can feed well, and if more is needed, purchase good substantial animals, remembeiing that f.incy prices are not for the average farmer, and in selling do not forget that the buyers' business is to purchase as cheaply as he can» The averjige farm is situated, in this portion of the State, perhaps three miles from market, store and shop. This distance is traveled by team, man and conveyance many times in a year, and perhaps a third of those times for want of forethought, and that too in busy times. How often have we heard the remark, " Oh, 1 forgot it when I was down this morning," or, "I didn't think to take tiiat along and have it fixed," or, "Oh, 1 might have known we couldn't get along with that work without those bolts and nails," and not only heard, hut used the same langu;ige. How many half days and whole days has that "Didn't think" cost us in a year. It was clean cash out of the profits; the difference often between success and failure. That mowing nnichine or reaper was not taken to the shop for repairs until needed, then the shop was crowded with work and you had to wait just at a time when it cost jierhaps the price of a yearling. There need be no waste time on the farm, notwithstanding the rainy and stormy days if those occasions are provided for as they should be. The household part of farming is by no means unimportant. Some women can spend more money tlian a man can earn, and then not live well, dress well, or be happy. Others have leisure for ])leasure, and are also a very great help in saving a dollar, which some one has said is worth two earned. Kecreation and visiting are necessary and right, but the average farmer has no business to entertain as though he were a millionaire. A friendship that cannot be gained and retained except by letting business run to rack, and by sumptuous meals is not worth the having. Need 1 speak of the careful selection of seeds and of thorough tillage? Is not the statement within bounds when I say that enou h has been lost to the State of Michigan, from poor seeds alone, in the last twenty years to have built all her railroads? It is often poor practice to refuse to hire good help at a reasonable rate when needed, but if hired only to do your part of the work, it is not economy. True thrift is to put the spare dollars where they will grow, or bring back the equivalent of a good interest. The money that you spend for some book that you never read, and no one ever will, is dead money, it will never grow. Good books and good papers, especially those relating to our business, and papers furnishing reliable local and general news are necessary, and no intelligent, thrifty farmer can be without at least some of them. When you spend money for things that are not useful in some way, that money is dead, as far as you are concerned. There is a great deal of dead money in houses that are as large again as they should be, and much in yards that are neither ornamental nor useful. Energy and push are grand if rightly used, but energy must be wisely controlled, and push must be in the right direction, else both energy and push lead only to destruction. THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 43 Therefore in conclusion I would say, let head labor and hand labor be com- bined. Think, plan, systematize. A little careful thinking has saved days and weeks of labor. Will we heed the foregoing requisites of profitable furming, or will we go on heedlessly, caring more for idle gossip and lazy shiftlessness, than for those conditions which make the average farm profitable? And so our lives unless with thoughts and actions filled, Are not much worth to us, or any of our kind: They're blank, or like the garden left untilled, No profit there we see, no beauty find. Dr. Wilson: For 28 years I have known the farmers of Avon. There are now 14G of them, and in that time there have not been three failures. II. M. Took : My law practice for the past 20 years has been especially among farmers, and 1 know that in that time the farms of Oakland county have trebled in value, thoiigii Oakland was an old connty at the beginning of that time. I have observed that the farmer who does what work he can propei'ly do has in each case succeeded. Agricultural success is more uniform than in other occupations. The bo3's are staying on the farm more than formerly because farni life offers more inducements now. 1 consider the farmers the most respected class in this country. Mr. Graham : The day for producing wheat with profit on our high priced laiuls has passed, and the time for producing wool has nearly jiasseil. (Jattle •can be raised in the west much cheaper than by us. What can we raise? We must try to raise what is needed at home. Mr. J. Van lloosen: I believe we can compete with the West in raising wheat, and can make money at j^resent prices. Our statistics make it appear to cost 53 cents to raise a bushel of wheat. I think the cost is not over 40 cents. If we could employ 1,000 men we would get rich, but on our small farms we have but one or two men to make a profit on, yet there is nuide ^500 for each man employed. Farmers pay thousands of dollars for the education of their children, and nuikc the money on their farms. It pays the best of any business in the country. Mr. Wm. Ball: Farming pays iu proportion as the farm is well managed and well worked. It is a safe business, and furnishes most of the chihlren who become eminent in other professions. Do not work the children over hard; give them proper literature, musical instruments, etc., and they will stay at home. THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. BY SAMUEL JOHNSON. IRead at the Grass Lake, Webster, and Eaton Rapids Institute]. To those familiar with the six oracles on agricultural topics, who paint in roseate hues the farmer's home, life, and business, who seem to believe and try to make others believe, that there is nought lacking to bar the fruition of his richest hopes, my topic may seem inopportune: The Needs of Agri- culture. 44 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. I am inclined to think, however, that there are not many simon pure farmers, who have had the task of getting their bread and butter, of caring for their families, and laying by something for the rainy day, by the labor of their own hands on the farm, but will agree with me that agriculture, oldest of arts, has not )'et such a full supply of knowledge and furnishings as will warrant us in saying, even in this enlightened century, that she has no needs. Agriculture has needs, and while, from my point of view, I may not see her wants just as you see them, I shall hope that a little time occupied with this topic may be promotive of thought and therefore of profit. I might speak to you of the commonly expressed and most important factors in successful agriculture, as for instance of the need of thorough tillage, which has been a cardinal feature in good farming since the time when Jethro TuU by careful experiment endeavoured to demonstrate that the fertility of land could be retained indefinitely by the most thorough dis- integration of the soil. I might call your attention to the saving and application of manures, the use of commercial foods rather than commercial fertilizers on the farm — a matter much neglected in many localities. I could find a congenial topic in the need and value of improved stock, and the short-sightedness of those farmers who persist in retaining the scrub, when a moderate outlay would gladden their pastures and barns with thrifty, quick-growing, early maturing, and profitable animals. I might elucidate some lessons from the text " more grass needed and less grain " on many of our Michigan farms. The need of scientific knowledge in agriculture and of cooperation are trite subjects which have been much discussed in recent years, but whose place and work are hardly well defined. Now it is true that all these are needs in agriculture. They are indis- pensable with certain limitations to successful farming, and words of exhor- tation in these directions should be heeded. I do not, however, choose to dwell on these universally acknowledged needs. They are fundamental in good farming. To neglect them is to make failure inevitable. Let me rather direct your thought to some of the needs apparent to every thoughtful mind, but alas, too often forgotten in the farmers practices. In agriculture, as in other callings, the im jortance of little things and the need of giving close attention to mastering the details of practical work are quite too frequently underestimated. Human nature is prone to give atten- tion to what are thought, often mistakenly, to be the larger problems of business and life, and so neglect the smaller, but as a matter of fact the essentials of success are more in the latter than the former. With this thought in mind if I can place before you definitely some of the losses, the dissatisfaction resulting from neglect of little things in agricul- ture, I am sure I shall do you a service. This lack of attention to little things cannot, as a rule, be attributed to ignorance of what should be done and of the evils and losses resulting from the neglect to do. The fact is farmers too often k)ioiv far better than they do. Insensibly and by degrees, they have become habituated to neglect important details in feeding and caring for animals, in sowing, cultivating, and harvesting crops. To illustrate, is there a farmer in my audience to-day, who can take me into his barnyard and show me a calf, a heifer, a cow or an animal of the cattle kind and say truthfully, that the animal has, from the hour of its birth, received such food in quantity and quality, as was adapted to its age THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 45 and growth ; that it has always been fed and watered with strict punctuality, at proper intervals; that in all the details of care and feeding it has received such attention as its owner kneiu would secure the largest returns in profitable development ? I tell you the farmers are few in number who can say this of any animal in their possession. Then think of the losses resulting from the simple neglect to take proper care to save seed corn, a loss some years amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of the foul weed seed sown witli onr cereal crops and grasses, farmers sub- scribe to the principle that like produces like, they expatiate on the value of clean pure seed and then plant corn that has a half dozen varieties on one ear and sow cockle and chess and then wonder and grumble because their crops are small in yield and inferior in quality. How many farmers can tell whether the receipts from milk, butter, cheese and stock sold exceeds the value of the grain and hay fed to the herd. What of the returns from the sheep and swine as compared with the cost of keeping ? What is the profit of growing wheat per acre with the market ranging from y5c to iJOc per bushel ? Does it pay to have large orchards on small farms or would the land pay better in grass or cereal crops? How many dairymen can speak positively of the milk yield of their cows and as a result how many poor cows are kept at a loss because there is no milk record? Here is a grapiiic description of the average dairy of twenty-five cows: Two extra, five very good, five good, five poor milkers, one kicker, two jumpers, and one that milks so hard that it costs all that it is worth to get it; of the remaining four, one has lost a teat and three are too old. My observation leads me to believe this description is not overdrawn. These simi)le, homely illustrations of neglect are apparent in the manage- ment of too many farms and might be detailed at much gi-eatcr length. They are serious enough to demand careful investigation. W hy do some of our educated farmers continue year after year in the same old ruts without apparently making any efl'ort toward better things in farm practice? Is it not in too many instances because they have not been trained in the details of good methods ? If we should look over our farm acquaintances in any locality I think we should invariably find that our most successful farmers are not those who work the most hours and the hardest at manual labor; they work however with all their energies ; but they have learned that the work of the hand needs to be directed, supplemented by the work of the brain. They have learned that it is the part of wisdom and to their mental and pecuni- ary profit to devote a reasonable amount of their time to thinking out and plan- ning their farm operations — to the keeping of such records of their receipts and expenditures as will enable them to determine with tolerable accuracy whether their crops and animals are profitable or not. They have leariit-d to value agricultural literature in book and periodical form. They take agricultural newsjiapers and read them. They are not men of one idea. Tliey ride no hobbies. They are clear sighted and quick-witted to see and apply good suggestions, from whatever sourcj they may come. Is there not a great lack of method in plan and labor in Agriculture ? While it is true that there is no other calling in which it is so dilficult to arrange details and methodize work, on account of variations of the weather and seasons, this fact does not absolve the farmer from making most strenuous efforts to plan and arrange his labor, system of crops, care of stock and all the details of his work in the most careful manner. The difficulties in the w^ay only make it more imperative that there should be no lack of plans of well studied. 46 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. well defined methods. Upon his fidelity and judgment in these particulars will greatly depend his success. I aver as my profound conviction that more farmers find their calling a hard and unsatisfactory one, and the returns discouragingly meagre because of this neglect to study the situation and to make such wise plans, as quite likely such a study would have suggested. I presume if we should turn the horoscope and recall our life experiences we could, many of us, bring forth from the treasure house of memory striking illustrations of this fact. This planing raid methodizing of details is the higher work in agriculture, here the power, the ability, the brain of the master ai'e displayed. You will recall the old saying of the Greek " I would rather have an army of stags with a lion for commander than an army of lions with a stag for com- mander." So in agriculture; if the master, the farmer, has method, plan, generalship, his helpers may not be of the best; difficulties may beset on the right and the left, but he brings things into line, and ultimately conquers. In agriculture we want the vigorous, well balanced brain, the methodical habits and discriminating judgment as much, aye, more than scientific knowledge and brawny muscle. AVhat I desire to say is that agriculture needs to appreciate brains and common sense brain work more than she has done. "While she discriminates closely and sharjjly between that which is really adapted to her needs, and that which is science, "falsely so-called," let her, at the same time, aceept the lessons which science has taught and experience proven, and have f.iith in the eiforts that are being made for the solution of the unsettled ])roblems in her domain. And this need of method or plan leads naturally to another. The farmer needs mental discipline, the grasp of mind, the habit of thought,, that results from the study of books, of men and things. It used to be the fashion for farmers to look with positive aversion, almost disgust, upon one of their calling known as a scientific book farmer. Possibly the pedantry, conceit, and unbalanced heads of some of these so-called sons of culture may have had much to do in provoking this antagonism. Be that as it may, in tiiese days we are not wont to find intelligent farmers who undervalue, or at least scoff at true culture as desirable on the farm. I do not mean by true culture any particular system of training, of educa- tion. (I might personally incline to that which is usually termed practical in a broad sense; but for present argument I choose to take even broader ground.) Any system of study in school, college, or university, the training secured in the competition of active business, by self study; any system that develops a clear headed, clean hearted, independent, self-reliant man will answer. There are maj)y roads to Rome, so there are many legitimate ways to such discipline as I have suggested, and one may have had all of the opportunities possible and yet have only the husks of culture, but lack the reality — the jewel. Educated fools and boors, and dudes, while not met with perhaps as frequently as illiterate ones, are much more repulsive to all sensible people who do not stand in awe of titles and tinsel, and merit con- tempt more than the uneducated. Some persons who want it known that they are educated are always advertising the fact in large type and leaded lines; they want to go to the top round at once — to be commanders-in-chief from the start. They want nice clean work, soft places, no drudging for them. Vacancies are not wanting in the ranks. In life promotions are usually made from those who earn them in subordinate positions. It is easy and quite too common for some of the so-called cultured to sneer at THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 47 drudgery. " But in every career, and agriculture is no exception, even the highest toil over details, takes the most time, and makes the heaviest drain on energies. In the sharp competition which our country feels now more than ever before it is the man who is willing to work with his hands, to master details" and attend to them personally, in short to engage in drudgery, who will find employment and promotion and their rewards on the farm as well as elsewhere. Education, however thorough, does not relieve anybody from the duties which devolve on our common humanity. And it is pedantry and conceit of the silliest sort, it seems to me, to vaunt our system of education, the one in which Ego was trained, and to berate all others as inferior. The truth is, all systems have their weak as well as their strong points. Conservative and temperate claims for any system to which we have pinned our faith, or which in a measure stands sponsor for the culture we may possess is the height of wisdom. We need to lay more stress on the practical uses of education, of culture on the farm and elsewhere. What can its possessor do?— not so much what be can say. The accumulation of knowledge alone will not answer, but dis- cretion, wisdom to use wisely, must complement the knowledge gained. Practical education is the cry on every hand, and yet how many of the educational institutions of the country are failing to give young men, and women too, such training as will make them of real use in the world. As illustraiiug this fact, permit me to call your attention to a brief extract from the annual report of Chief Constructor, T. D. Wilson, of the Navy Depart- ment. He sharply criticises the system of education by which it isattemptcd at the Annapolis Academy to fit young men to build and sail ships. lie says he finis that under this system tlie cadets are " compelled to devote exhaust- ing effort and a profligate sacrifice of time to acquirements which, so far as actual ship-building is concerned, are empty accomplishments and mere abstractions," and adds: " I must express the opinion that much of what is now considered deep professional learninfi^ is shallow schi)lastie pe Ian try. which cm only embarrass its possess )r wliea confronted with actual work. What is then required is tlie perfect knowledge of work- manship and material ; the ready perception of their excellence or defect : knowledge of men and money, and fertility of meclianical resources. It is only necessary under our laws for a candidate to have passed creditably through the Naval Academy to be immediately appointed as assistant naval constructor ; nor is there anything likely to prevent such men. without ])ractical experience or perhaps natural litness. from being intrusted at an early date with vast and complicated co istractions of the future navy. The Annapolis graduates are thrust upan the constructi >n corps without practical knowledge of sliip-yard procedure, and devoid of that all-important quality, experi- ence in the management of men." In writing this Mr. Wilson had in view only the naval academy and its graduates, with whom he has to deal, but the most of his observations may be generally applied to the educational systems in all our colleges, and when made general will be endorsed by no small proportion of our practical busi- ness men who have ever employed young graduates as assistants in their stores, shops or factories. Nearly all our colleges, and our academies as well, aim to fit boys for what are known as the learned professions, law, medicine, teaching and preaching, and the result is a profligate sacrifice of effort and time to acquirements which, so far as actual work in any other calling is con- cerned, are empty accomplishments and mere abstractions; and even in the professions the young man with all the advantage of a liberal education finds himself early in his career outstripped by those who have been '' knocked 43 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. about" in the world and have acquired knowledge of men and money and fertility of resources which they can bring into phiy at every turn instead of what is called " learning." Probably it is not to be expected or asked that colleges so revise their courses of study and change their methods of train- ing as to cure this, but so long as they do not a boy needs to learn a vast deal after he graduates before he can succeed as a manufacturer, merchant or mechanic; and whoever thinks that the possession of the diplom:i, for which he has been striving for years, opens to him the door to fame or fortune in any of these lines of business is likely to be taught by very bitter experience that about the most helpless of mortals is a man with only empty accom- plishments and abstractions to rely on. At a recent meeeting of the Industrial Association of New York City, William E. Dodge made some very forcible remarks, from which we quote as follows: ''Industrial education is a step forward, iind there can be no end to its growth. There have been a great many economic mistakes made; loo much attention has been paid to higher education, as it is called, and too little to useful pursuits. Manual labor has lost its dignity. I am connected with an institution that brings me in contact with many young men who need assistance. Many of these are college graduates. It is ditlicult to assist them because, while they have a smattering of everything, they know nothing in particular, and are compelled to take positions, such as errand boys, that are worth to them only $3 or $4 a wee'''. Our colleges are turn- ing out too many doctors, lawyers and clergymen. AV'hat we want is to throw the foice of the biains into the hands. Industrial education should be taught in all the schools, and intelligent, capable mechanics and farmers will be the result. Let me next call your attention to what, my observation has led me to believe, is a pressing and growing need in many, indeed, I fear, in most agricultural districts. I refer to the need of giving more attention, of tak- ing more constant, personal, intelligent interest in the common schools, the people's colleges, where probably nine-tenths of the youth of our State will receive all of their education, as far as schools are concerned. Those of us, and who does not? who remember gratefully the country schools, where our first lessons were conned, and our first inspiration quickened for an educa- tion, cannot fail to appreciate the sentiment of regard, if we do not fully agree with this rhyme of a local New England poet: •' Had I this tough old world to rule. My cannon, sword and mallet Should be the dear old distri^ t school, God's Bible aud the ballot." I do not wish to be thought an alarmist; but I cannot help feeling that the growing tendency to j^atronize the town schools results too frequently in the gross neglect of the country schools. The town and city schools have the number of their pupils increased and their revenue from tuition at the expense of the country; but the loss is not merely a pecuniary one. I do not hesitate to say, and I think I can marshal abundant evidence to prove the fact, if it should be questioned, that there is no place in the world where the children and young people living on farms can secure the fundamentals of a good thorough English education as well as in the district school in their own neighborhood; and, I may add, at so little expense and with all of the restraints and endearments of home life about them daily; provided THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 49 always that good teachers and such facilities for illustration and comfort are given as every school district, with the generous help of the State, is abun- dantly able to furnish. We boast of our High Schools, our Colleges, our University, and well we may, for they are worthy of praise ; but do we not too often forget that all of these are dependent upon the common schools. Without these feeders to the higher institutions of learning, there would be little need of colleges and University. It is true that from year to year we are sending out a large number of graduates ; but the tendencies of the times and their college sur- roundings too often lead them away from the farm — to believe that agricul- ture does not offer so wide, useful and honorable a field of labor as the col- lege-bred man has a right to expect. And so the towns and cities are over- crowded with men who might have made respectable farmers, with proper direction, but too often live from hand to mouth in the professions, and have pretty hard work to get the hand to the mouth at that. In the report of 1883 the Superintendent of Public Instruction gives the following statistics as to the occupations of the 2,992 graduates from the University of Michigan for the ten years ending July 1, 1879, and also from the Agricultural college for the same time. SUMMARY OF OCCUPATIONS. University. Bookkeeper Assayist Artist _. Architects -. Bankers Clergymen . Superintendents of City Schools Journalists College Professors Business Men Civil Engineers Teachers Druggists Unknown Physicians Lawyers Farmers, or one for every 150 gradu- ates 1 1 1 8 16 30 31 31 46 94 78 118 151 244 753 1,370 19 Agr'l College Ornduatrx for the ten yearsup to 1879 Related to Industrial Arts : Farmers 69 Fruit Culturists 8 Professors of Agriculture or related sciences 10 Instructors in Agriculture or re- lated sciences 3 Students in Agriculture or related sciences - . 2 Agricultural Editors 3 Apiarists 4 Engineers 4 Architect Landscape Gardener Veterinary Surgeon Sergeant, U. S. Signal Service Machinist — 108 Business men 26 Teachers 18 Lawyers and Students of Law 16 Physicians and Students of Medicine. - _ 9 Ministers and f-^tudents of Theology 3 Editor of Newspaper 1 Deceased 5 186 Nothing reflects more credit on the Michigan Agricultural College or has given it more reputation abroad than the fact that so large a number of the graduates are true to the spirit and teachings of Alma Mater and are engaged in agricultural pursuits. But suppose that a fair proportion of the graduates of oi>r university, colleges and high schools should engage in agriculture. The last report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for 1884, gives the number of graduates from the University as 401 in the classical, medical, law and civil 50 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. engineering departments; the Normal School 102, the Agricultural College 30, Adrian 19, Hillsdale, Olivet, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, not given, but a generous estimate will be 100, or say 650 from all. The high schools probably not so many, although the Superintendent of Public Instruction does not give the number. The census of 1880 gives the number of farms in Michigan as 154,000, and it is safe to say that more than one-half of our million and a half of population are engaged in agriculture. It is then evident at once that even if a fair proportion of the graduates of these institutions engage in agricultural pursuits the supply would not be at all adequate to the number needed, and we are obliged to look to the district schools for the education of the great mass of our farmers. Harper'' s Montlily tells us, on the authority of President Barnard, that the number of annual graduates in the United States is but in the ratio of one to about twenty-five hundred of population. Half a century ago, it was about one to two thousand. During that time the population has increased four fold, the colleges three fold, the aggregate number of students two fold. In other words the graduates have not kept pace with the increase of population. I do not refer to these facts in a critical spirit, or with any thought or desire to detract from the credit which is due to all of our higher institu- tions of learning, and to the grand men who have planned and made efficient our higher educational work in Michigan. To them and their work well done only cordial appreciation and praise, but I do it to round out and emphasise the proposition, generally overlooked in all our places for educa- tion, that for years to come at least a large proportion of our farmers' sons will receive all of their education in the county schools. The lesson I would impress is that, while we do all we can to encourage farmers' sons and daughters to avail themselves of the higher educational advantages of our colleges and university, firmly believing, that everything else beiug equal, the training thus secured will ensure greater success in life's work, let us not forget that in the country schools the farmers, the mechanics of the future are largely to be trained. It therefore becomes the sacred duty of every farmer, every citizen, and especially of every graduate and student of an agricultural college who desires agriculture to keep pace with other occupations and professions, to see that these schools are maintained at a high standard of excellence, so far as voice, vote and influence can contribute to such a result. But what of the Agricultural Colleges in this connection, some may ask? We have a goodly number of these, and they annually send out a large num- ber trained, as we hope, to combat these tendencies away from the farm, and to do yeoman's service in advancing the interests of progressive agriculture. Unfortunately, two theories prevail, and are advocated by the friends of the Agricultural Colleges. One is, that these colleges should educate young men for agricultural pursuits; that the animus, the morale of the institu- tion should be unmistakably and emphatically in this direction. While not expecting that all graduates shall foDow agriculture, and fully subscribe ing to the idea that every young man is in duty bound to choose that pur- suit that promises the largest usefulness, it is but right to demand that the atmosphere, and all the influences of Agricultural College life should tend in no uncertain way in the direction of agriculture. The other is, that these colleges should train men to be scientists; that their graduates should THE NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 61 mainly devote themselves to scientific investigation. This is a pet idea fre- quently among those connected with the schools of agriculture that are an annex to a great State University, and have but few agricultural students. They propose to make up in quality whatthey lack in numbers, and so main- tain that these agricultural annexes are demanded and are of great impor- tance, because a small per cent of the few graduates are successful in the scientific, rather tlian the practical work of agriculture. This is a scientific age. The tendencies of the last decade or two have been very marked in opposition to the old and so long approved methods of education. Possibly we are swinging to the other extreme in our theories and practice, and laying too much stress upon so-called scientific training. True it is that science and scientific, so-called, cover a multitude of sins. Science is fashionable, and scientific is applied to almost everything. And so would-be aspiring scientists are often intemperate and arbitrary in their claims. One has said of such men, "Their intellects are mischievously crammed with science. How much we know is not the best question, but how we got what we know, and what we can do with it; and above all, what it has made of us. The tendency of training is now to subordinate the soul to that which should be merely its endowment and adornment, to turn the thinker into a mere walking encyclopedia, text-book, or circle of the mechanic arts; not to produce the highest type of man." Is there not danger that this clamor about science may, nay, does, often turn the heads of young men from agriculture? I have sometimes thought that there was too strong a putting of the claims and promises of science as opening the pathway to fame and fortune to young men, who have at Agri- cultural Colleges sought for a practical education, and too little stress and empliasis laid upon the field of honor and usefulness open before them on the farm, in actual agriculture. That the sympathies and labors of all inter- ested in Agricultural Colleges should tend mainly in this direction, rather than in the other, I most firmly believe. If it had been so from the begin- ning. Agricultural Colleges would have been less criticised and vastly more useful and popular with the people. Not that true science is to be discredited, nor one iota detracted from the large credit due to real scientific investigators, but in the language of one whose years and position in the scientific world give weight to his utterances: "I deprecate the claim to special attention made by inexperienced stumblers on forgotten or unnoticed facts, on the sole ground of discovery, and who babble over the most profound questions, when the amount of their efficient work in any branch of science is measured with a foot rule ; while those whose entire lives have been but one exhausting struggle with the shapes which people the darkness of science, speak with bated breath and downcast eyes of these great mysteries." So far as Agricultural Science is concerned, have we not too many claims and theories from scientists of the kind first described ? ready babblers on everything that relates to the theory and practice of Agriculture? (Go ye not after them. They are blind guides.) They offer floods of advice on subjects of which they have the most superficial knowledge. These penny- a-liners are ready to traverse any subject in Agriculture or Horticulture at a moment's notice. Wise in theory and ready in utterance, they rarely test their theories or practice what they preach. Bulwer in one of his essays tells an admirable story which illustrates the 52 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. follies of this class as well as the readiness with which those who are studi- ously intent on real improvement apply the knowledge that chance throws in their way. ■' A certain nobleman, very proud of the extent and beauty of his pleasure grounds, chancing one day to call on a small squire whose garden might cover half an acre, was greatly struck with the brilliant colors of his neighbor's flowers ' Ay, my lord, flow- ers are well enough,' said the squire, ' but permit me to show you my grapes.' Con- ducted into an old-fashioned little greenhouse, which served as a vinery, my lord gazed ■with mortification and envy on grapes twice as fine as his own. ' My friend,' said my lord, 'you have a jewel of a gardener ; let me see him." The gardener was called — the single gardener — a simple looking young man under thirty. ' Accept my compli- ments on your flower-beds and your grapes,' said my lord, 'and tell me if you can why your flowers are so much brighter than mine, and your grapes so much finer. You have studied horticulture profoundly.' ' Please your lordship,' said the man, 'I have not had the advantage of much education ; I been't no scholar, but as to the flowers and the vines, the secret as to training them just come to me, you see, by chance." ' By chance';' Explain.' 'Well, my lord, three jears ago, master sent me to Lunnon on business of his'n, and it came on to rain, and I took shelter in the mews, you see, and there were two gentlemen taking shelter too ; and they were talking about char- coal, and one said it had done a deal of good in many cases of sickness, and especiallj' in the first stage of the cholera ; and I took a note on mj^ mind of that, because we'd had the cholera in our village the year afore, and I guessed the two gentlemen were doctors. And one of the gentlemen went on to say that charcoal had a special good •effect upon all vegetable life, and told a story of a vine-dresser in Germany, I think, who had made a very sickly, poor vinej^ard one of the best in all those parts, simply by charcoal dressings. So I naturally pricked up my ears at that, for our vines were in so bad a way that master thought of doing away with them altogetlier. Well, before I tried the charcoal on my plants, I went to our nurseryman, who has a deal of book learning, and I asked him if he had ever heard of charcoal dressing being good for vines, and he said he had read in a book that it was so, but he had never tried it. He lent me the book, and I tried the charcoal in the way the book told me to try it, and that"s how the grapes and the flower-beds came to please you, my lord. It was a lucky chance that 1 ever heard those gentlemen talking in the mews, please your lordship." " ' Chance happens to all,' answered the peer sententiously, ' but to turn chance to account is the gift of but few." " His lordship returned home, gazed gloomily on the hues of his vast parterres ; he visited his vineries and scowled at the clusters ; he summoned his head gardener, a gentleman of the highest repute for science, and who never spoke of a cowslip except by its name in Latin. To this learned personage my lord communicated what he had heard and of the benignant effect of charcoal, and produced in proof a magnificent bunch of grapes which lie had brought from the s(juire's. "'My lord,' said the gardener, scarcely glancing at the grapes, 'Squire 's gardener must be a poor ignorant creatui-e to fancy he has discovered a secret in what is so very well known to every professed horticulturist. Prof. Liebig, my lord, has treated of the good effect of charcoal dressing to vines especially, and it is to be explained on these chemical principles' — therewith the wise man entered into a pro- found dissertation, of which his lordship did not understand a word. " 'Well, then,' said the peer, cutting short the harangue, ' since you know so well that charcoal is good for vines and fiowers, have you ever tried it on mine ":'' " ' I can't say I have ; it did not chance to come into my head." " ' Nay,' replied the peer, 'chance put it into your head, but thought never took it out of your head."" The lesson is plain. Science will not make the roses bloom, or fill the barns with plenty, unless its possessor has the discretion, the knowledge of details, the methodical habit of attending to little things on time in daily management. These must have been learned and have become a part of himself as much as the science, aye more, if he would achieve success in agriculture. Get all the science you can, but measure your acquisitions by the standard of utility, not display, and do not forget that the measure of our life's success depends greatly on our ability to have thought take out of our heads the ideas which are opportune, have fitness to the time, the place, and the work we have to perform. EVOLUTION IN FARMING. 5S EVOLUTION IN FARMING. BY J, H. PEABODT. [Presented at the Rochester Institute February 4, 1886. T I have read of remains of statuary found deep below the earth's surface, of Eoman causeways and roads, covered by the deposit of ages ; have seen the deep black soil of the western prairies, the infinitesimal growth of vegetable matter through countless ages ; have been down deep in the coal beds of Pennsylvania ; have endeavored to understand the geological theory of deeply buried rock strata, enclosing the fossil remains of gigantic reptiles, and asked wonderingly, when was all this done? The great forces of nature have been, and are, at work around us all the time. The bare coral rocks are being slowly covered by a soil that shall be food for vegetable life. The centuries have been rolled back as a scroll, and man seems to stand the great central figure, gazing at the boundless ocean of knowledge yet to be explored. With Nature's slow evolutions have his intelligence and knowledge kept pace? We think so, and will endeavor to confine this paper to the subject — Evolution in farming — premising with the remark that art, commerce, navigation, and agriculture are so closely related that it is hard to treat of the progress of either separately. An attempt to describe agriculture with prehistoric man is sim})ly specu- lation. It is difficult also to find data in regard to it in later history. The poet made his heroes all warriors and his heroines of the sensual kind. It seems to have been the original occupation of mankind when not at war. Joseph, the son of a farmer and successful stock man, made his greatest success in a corner on corn, but unlike our modern speculators, unloaded at cost when the poor cried for bread. David's record as a farmer is mostly confined to an account of the " set to " with the lion and the bear. Elisha was called by Elijah from plowing with twelve yokes of oxen, but was obliged to cook one of his teams to get dinner for the men. Cincinnatus' name goes into history as an agriculturist, as it seemed wonderful that a great man knew enough to plow. Cromwell, I believe, must have been a good farmer, but no doubt would have remained one of Grey's " Gems of purest ray serene," had not religious zeal and great ability brought him to the front in another capacity. Viewed in a more serious light, agriculture, being a peaceful calling, has been like the springs that feed great rivers. It has been to the constant, regular acces- sion of strong, healthful young blood of the country that great cities and manufacturing towns have depended largely for the brain and nerve force to stand the mental strain of professional and business life, and, as God has raised men up for great emergencies, so will He, in the future, allow the farmer to take his place among the great ones of the earth, if he will make himself competent and worthy. Through all the vicissitudes of time, the great change has been going on. I have not attempted to enter into partic- ulars, on account of the time, but if one will trace back the origin of dif- ferent varieties of fruit, grasses, grain and flowers, of domestic animals and fowls, and varied types of each class, of home surroundings and agricultural implements, he will discover the magnitude of my subject. A book might 54 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. be written on the plow. No better indicator of a country's advancement is needed than its plow, and the knowledge of its use. I always calculate I have a good workman if he knows how to thoroughly rig up a plow for all occasions. Evolution in another form is trenching on our domain. Chem- ■ istry imitates all the products that seem desirable. Do you want raspberry, strawberry, pine apple, or orange extracts? The chemist steps behind the soda fountain, and will mix 3^ou something that is better, apparently, than the fruit itself would make. Do you want butter? He will evolve it for you. Do you want honey? He can make it from glucose, or feed that to the bees and they will make it. I understand that eggs are made by scientific meth- ods, but class it as a canard, with the wooden nutmeg scandal. There is evolution in cheese, but we prefer the old fashioned kind that was driven to market, over the lignum vitas skim milk variety, that has done so much injury to the dairy interests. The impetus given by the application of steam to the industries has made itself felt in our calling. Printing has preserved the crystalized wisdom of the past. Invention has lessened the labor of the farm, and to-day it is to the man of intelligence, more than of brawny muscle, that we are to look for good farming. The last fifty years have shown the greatest advance. In horticulture great strides have been made. A large variety of vegetables are cultivated and used as food that were then unknown. Hybridizing in tree, plant, bulb and flower, natural selection and survival of the fittest have given us delicious fruits and healthful food, and canning, evaporating and preserving have kept them the year round. Some one has duplicated Har- vey's discovery of circulation by tilling the soil. Specialists are studying insect life. Breeding of improved animals has increased. Pomology, pisci- culture, forestry, irrigation, agricultural chemistry, in fact, all of the indus- tries connected with agriculture are being made the subject of investigation by learned men, and it is to be hoped that our Government will give it recognition by assigning it a cabinet position. Low prices and competition ai'e demanding new methods. Dairymen are eliminating unworthy animals, and "looking into the churn." Horsemen ask for a record of performance. Capital is draining the fields and brains fertilizing them. The school, col- lege, grange, press and institute are contributing their aid to the farmer of to-day, and let it not be said of us, as of Jerusalem, " But ye would not." The most important question to us now is not so much one of machinery as increased fertility and more thorough cultivation. "We revere the memory and cherish the virtues of the pioneers of fifty years ago, who toiled with the spinning wheel, flax brake, hand rake, wooden mold-board plow, sickle, scythe, cradle and ax, but cannot be satisfied with their fiints for matches, tallow dips, sanded floors, home-spun clothing, and simple methods of farming. They are gone, with the Walker line of stages and the red packet canal boat. We live in a different age. Insect enemies, climatic changes, competition, all require us to be on the alert. For us ships are loading with the products of other nations. Immense trains go thundering across the continent, bearing the fruits of the soil. Electricity gives the signals around the world, and is being harnessed to suit the needs of agriculture. Light and darkness, heat and cold, storm and sunshine, ice and steam, wind and water, man's reasoning powers and physical capacity are to pay tribute to God's infinite wisdom, to whom belongs the earth and the fullness thereof. Mr. Ball : Much of the drudgery of farm life can be saved by thought. EVOLUTION IN FARMING. Let us think more, work less and accomplish more. I mean this not for those who farm for fun but for those who live by farming. It is a pity that more of the thinking cannot be done by those who are practical farmers rather than by those who spend all their lives in theorizing. Dr. Wilson: Doubtless the improvements have been great, but are we wiser as to farming than our fathers? Considering their surroundings and •conditions I think to farm in the times of our fathers required as much brain as now. Mr. Van Hoosen : I agree with the paper. When I came here with oxen and other old-fashioned equipments we had less time for institutes and improvements than now. Some say our machines cost as much as doing things by hand, but they do it better. Mrs. A. E. Collins: One cause of evolution has been overlooked. People say, keep the boys on the farm. Is not a better way to bring city ability, •culture and thought to the farm and renew the city by sending the fresh blood of the country to manage their great affairs? Mr. Willits: As Dr. Wilson says, the progress is not so great as appears. Crops were rotated in the time of Virgil and evolution in agriculture has heen less marked than in other industries. Why? Because progress in agriculture is necessarily limited. We have to plow now as then. You can travel now 100 miles where Virgil went 10, but you can't produce ten times as much grain. In shops you find one man skilful in one thing. At that he works all the time. On the farm it is not so. You can't have the same degree of skilled labor. The farmer has to work at one thing to-day, another to-morrow. But there are compensations. You don't get ten times as much wheat as before but you get about the same price, and for that price you get ten times as much of manufactured products. WHiile a manufacturer may make a fortune in five years he may lose all in one. The farmer cannot make so rapidly or lose all at a stroke. Mr. Ball: I differ. This statement needs a grain of allowance. I think there has been as much of an evolution in farming as in other industries. The professor and I were boys together, and we followed or swung the old cradle. Now we can get on a reaper and carry an umbrella, and do much more. Those old needs and practices have passed away by evolution or improvement. If there is a limit to improvement on the farm, then the work of the Agricultural College is a waste of means. President Willits: I speak relatively. You cannot put twice as much work on an acre of land and reap twice as much. This can be done in manufacturing by a system of skilled labor. There is evolution, and I rejoice in it, but it is because lolieat cannot be produced much cheaper than it is, and has been, that its price remains where it is. Mr. Van Hoosen: Cannot one man make more wheat now than he could? President Willits : Of course, if he has more land. You must put the same labor on more land or else lie idle part of the time. Mr. Wm. Ball: Mr. Willits talks only of wheat. Now, while a man pre- pares for wheat he also prepares for the crop that follows. Our system is not now haphazard but works together, and one thing prepares for another. Agriculture advances parallel with other advancement, and they are mutually inter-dependent. Rev. W. G. Roberts: There have been gains and improvement, but with these there have been some losses. I remember when a farmer who raised 40 bushels of wheat was a great man. It took 10 to 20 men to harvest a crop 56 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. and it brought them together socially and in friendl}' competition. By these improvements two men will reap and store 20 acres of wheat. The Chatau- quan tells of a machine in California drawn by 20 mules and managed by 4 men which harvests, threshes, and bags 36 acres of wheat in one day. Mr. Newberry: We used to dig and hoe around stumps, to-day we blow them out with dynamite. I doubt if there is a limit to evolution in agricul- ture. We used to raise 15 bushels of wheat and 80 of oats, to-day we raise 50 to 80 bushels of oats. As to division of labor, it is involved in the question of cooperative farming. A man who makes a sewing machine by himself can- not have division of labor. If he has capital to employ many men he can. So in farming ; one man by himself has to do everything. If he can buy an immense farm and emplo}' many men he can divide his men and have each one confined to one thing. Prof. Carpenter : Relatively the increase in farming crops, or in what one man can do is less than in mechanic arts. Say production has increased 100 per cent and may increase still more, yet how much more can the indi- vidual do? Perhaps he can plow 50 per cent more. Perhaps he can reap 20 times as much. Whereas in mechanics how is it? In cloth making is it 20 times only? It is nearer 1,000 times. In agriculture such a gain cannot be, for one reason your machines are only in use a little while at a time and the interest on cost goes on all the time. So you have to make a greater gain in using machines to make it worth while. Mr. Van Hoosen : We used, as farmers, to do all our own manufacturing, making cloth, soap, etc., now we have divided it all up and so realize division of labor. STYLE IN FARMING. BY PROF. L. H. BAILEY, JR. [Read before Institutes at Grass Lake and Quincy.] We must foster every advantage which shall increase the farmer's influ- ence. We must make the farm pay in two ways rather than in one. It is not enough that we demand influence. The first necessity in the demand is the desire to demand. We do not want preferment until we want it. The desire must be individual, sincere. We often clamor because our neighbors clamor. We want a mouse-colored mare because Smith has one. We want more farmers in Congress because it is the fashion to want them. The farm is not so isolated from the heart of fashion that it receives none of its impluse. Desire once alive, we must measure its consequences as if its ful- fillment were in our own hands. Many of us would be miserable if all our prayers Avere answered. Our desire once trimmed and tempered, we must make ourselves worthy of it. As a rule, all men find their true level as do the waters of the sea. The ebb and the flow of influence and position are not haphazard. Our station is for the most part, if not entirely, just where it deserves to be. "The world owes me a living," says one, and he folds his hands. "But you must dun her for it," says the other as he clutches his spade. STYLE IN FARMING. 57 The farmer is coming to the front. It is because he deserves it. It is be- cause his aspirations are higher. But he cannot lift himself by his boot- st-'aps. To-morrow the world will not recognize him more than it does to-day unless he has made advancement. The secret power of the mower and the reaper is this : It gives us more leisure for the development of the mind and the heart. If they fail of this their mission is a curse; let us return to the scythe and sickle. We do not need improved machinery and better stock so much as we need to know the possibilities of what we have. We need better school houses and pleasanter homes. If you will put it on a plane of dollars and cents, we must advertise. Here is a secret which we have not learned. We need to profit by the example of the merchant who adorns his windows and who insists that people must know that he has opened a new case of calico. If we demand influence and recognition we must let the world know what we have and what we are. Make it recognize you whether it would or not. The farmer must advertise himself as Avell as his cabbages. But we must generally resort to stratagem. We fail to catch the butterfly if we chase its irregular flight over the meadow, but the still hunt beside a thistle brings us a captive. We must not say to the Goddess of Liberty, " I demand representation," but we must invite her to sit in our vineyard and to eat our stuffed turkey. In other words, we must attract men, we must aim at style in farming. Herein lies the greatest need of our agriculture. I rode over the Green Mountains. There were farm houses deserted and great farms returning to nature. The bleak homesteads stared at me. " Hap- py were the young men and women who escaped this desolation for the city," I thought: " Surely the decimation of these farms is not due to poor soil or commercial conditions, but to unattractive homes." A decrepit' school- house yawned on a bare and dusty road-side. The place itself told me why the seats were whittled and why the scholars never got beyond the ''rule o' three." I did not blame them for preferring to trap woodchucks in the ledges. If I found a home adorned within and without, I usually found young people anxious to settle near the homestead ; I found kindly senti- ments and courteous manners. I visited the fruit markets of a great city. Fruit at the same quality sold for far different prices, but that which sold the best bore a neat label with a picture of an attractive residence. It came from " James Lee, Beech Grove Farm." When afterwards I visited the little village near which this farm lay, I found both the farm and its proprietor to be the most popular in the neighborhood. If I asked why, I was told that "Mr. Lee has a beautiful farm and a nice family." When I visited his farm I found that his success was no mystery. The goddess of position and influence sat in his front yard. I knew the man by his premises. He advertised. A farm near an eastern city is popular and prosperous because it is attractive. A half acre of embellished lawn is more profitable to its projirietor than a d'ozen cows. Our sons leave the farm and we blame the college or the school. We should as often blame the home surroundings. The man never lived wl)0 was educated too much for the farm. America ought to become the rural queen of the world, and the coming farmer must recognize this fact or go to the wall. It»is one of the signs of the times. Pioneer days give place to days of relaxation, too often to days of actual decay. Then conies the sturdy and studious improvement and adornment, attended by the rapid elevation 8 58 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. of the farmer and his calling. This last stage has become a part of the life of New England, it has spread itself over many of the beautiful hills and valleys of New York, and Michigan must feel its influence. I was surprised at a recent gathering of New England farmers to hear a spirited commen- dation of all efforts towards rural adornment, and that, too, for the sake of the pure adornment itself. Landscape gardening is not planting a fine tree or making a gravel walk ; a picture is not a canvas or a paint-brush. The most important part of landscape gardening lies under a man's hat. Two men view the same land- scape: one sees a half dozen trees which will make ten cords of stovewood; the other sees a picture. Poetry, music, sculpture, painting, landscape gardening, are essentially the same and yet entirely unlike. They exist in the mind as the ideals of beauty, — beauty of expression, not of form. So far they are alike. They differ in the manner of communication. Poetry is communicated in words, music in sound, sculpture in the expression of form painting in combinations of form and colors on canvas, and landscape gardening, which combines much of the ideal of them all, endeavors to express itself in the arrangement of natural objects. Landscape gardening, therefore, becomes the most real of the ideal. There must be an apprecia- tion in the mind before any picture or any landscapes can give us pleasure. "Everything the individual sees without him corresponds to his state of mind," says Emerson. The artist and the landscape gardener care not so much for the exact form of the landscape, or the kinds of objects which enliven it, as for its expression, the impression it conveys to the beholder. If the scene is gloomy, why is it gloomy? If gay, why is it gay? Victor Hugo, in his last written utterances, recognized this vital truth: "Form to the sculptor is all and yet nothing. It is nothing without mind; with the idea it is everything. As we should expect, there have been in vogue two methods of dealing with nature in reference to ornamental gardening. She has been imitated and interpreted. Here lies an important difference with we must grasp. It is the difference between success and failure. Yonder field is a pleasant landscape ; in the vale is a brook, winding its way through banks of ferns and thorns, while beyond are clumps of prickly ash, red with clustered berries and half hiding the crest of a knoll u[)on which the maples are bedecking themselves in autumn colors. The imitator is a literalist. The scene pleases him, and he endeavors to reproduce it exactly upon his grounds. " He holds the mirror up to nature." He must have the brook, the ferns and the thorns, he must build his knoll and plant his prickly ashes and his maples. The interpreter is an economist — he feels the force of the stoic's adage: "How many things there are which Diogenes can do without." He studies the gay scene before him, he reads its expression, he notices the cut and the colors of nature's frock. He finds that the expression does not depend upon the brook or the bank, or the ashes; he has learned that the scene is gay because of bright colors and no deep shadows. Then he need build no knolls, need dig no brooks, need not even plant the ashes and the maples, for the other trees may do as well. So, with Emerson, the landscape gardener comes to " value the expression of nature and not nature itself," to "give the gloom of gloom and the sunshine of sunshine." . We have now mastered the first and the greatest difficulty in landscape gardening; in fact, iu all fine art. But if we would ornament correctly we STYLE IN FARMING. 69 must understand more than this. We must understand something of the laws of harmony and contrast in color, laws of form and of perspective. You tell me that I aim too high, that we cannot concentrate nature in the door-yard. We cannot aim too high if we carry sufficient ballast. I do not expect that anyone here will apply in detail all that I say to you. But if we do not know what perfection is we cannot know what imperfection is. The longer the ladder the higher I can climb. " Hitch your wagon to a star," said Emerson. Our next difficulty is to contract nature into the space of the front yard without crushing her bonnet. A young man visited a famous garden; he was disappointed. He saw no great trees overladen with flowers and perfume, no magnificent fountains, no birds of paradise. He sat down quite out of patience. Presently he began to admire the long and enchanting views in this direction, and that he saw sheep and cows within the borders of the garden. He expressed surprise to the gardener that the garden was so very large and that the cattle did not browse the plants. The gardener laughed. Here I will let you into a secret, a secret which is a vital principle in landscape gardening: The landscape gardener always aims to deceive the beholder. A truthful deception is an evidence of skill. Small gardens which look like large ones are always cheapest and best. AVe must let nature build hills and valleys and rivers. Burke wrote: " Designs that are vast only by their dimensions are always the sign of a common and low imagination. No work of art can be great but as it deceives. To be otherwise is the prerogative of nature only." Discard the prevalent notion that to ornament successfully demands profuse expen- diture of money. The farmer's yard demands no fountains, no statues, no expensive plants, no rows of beer bottles about the flower-beds. The farmer of all others can court simple nature to his purpose. It is not strange that keen enjoyment ceased when the old couple moved from the old house into the new. I have seen as many attractive premises about old log houses as I ever nave about our modern buildings. The narrow winding path, the wild gooseberries and hazel in the fence-row or scattered over the yard, the honeysuckle and roses that clambered over the doorway, the great gnarled trees and the picturesque well-sweep, all combined to form a fairer rural picture than scarcely we behold to-day. There mothers and daughters ^rew up with a keen but untaught sympathy with nature. There our thoughts revert whenever again pure nature claims our reflections. About the log house centers the choicest poetry of rural life. You know why it is. "When we build our new houses we somehow conceive the notion that we have outgrown nature. We must take straight walks, we must plant our trees and shrubs in rows or in corresponding clumps, and then we must trim our evergreens — not prune them — we must trim them into absurd shapes and then endeavor to admire the idols we have made! We try to force nature into a band-box and laugh conceitedly if we imagine that we succeed. " Insult not nature with absurd expense, Nor spoil her simple charms by vaia pretense; "Weiglit well tlie subject, be with caution bold, Profuse of genius, not profuse of gold." I speak of the natural style of landscape gardening. There is another and an older style of ornamentation which is known as the artificial or geometrical. This latter style is adapted to cities where space is limited 60 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. and all the surroundings are geometric and formal. In this style we make our walks and drives straight and we shear our evergreens. It is this style of ornament which springs up first in a new country. The settler tires of his irregular surroundings and almost unavoidably casts his premises into regular figures. It is curious, also, that his grounds, if he pay any atten- tion to ornament, will likely be a faint echo of the surrounding scenery. If tiie scenery in his neighborhood is rocky and precipitious he will most likely desire steep walks and piles of rocks. In fact the distinctive char- acters of thi-ee peculiar countries have been impressed upon the artificial method of laying out grounds, so that we speak of three schools of geometric gardening. The Italian school is characterized by steep flights of stone steps and massive walls in keeping with the broken character of the country. The French school builds long and broad avenues, while the Dutch school lays the foundations of ornamei:t in long and straight canals and low, grassy terraces. The natural style of ornament has also received different inter- pretations. It originated in England with a refined and rural-loving people, and has spread wherever rural taste is exalted. With the advent of natural gardening, all terraces and walls and fountains were destroyed, and no ornament, save what nature chose to grant in an open field, was introduced about residence. This was Kent's school. It was long ago superseded by truer methods. The nearest approach to this school at present appears in our bare and bleak farm premises. The bareness of Kent's school prepared the way for a revolution in ornamention, and the Picturesqiie school ap- peared. Now everything must be rough and uncouth in form — banks steep and broken, old and decayed trees. The Picturesque had its day, people tired of artificial wilderness, and Repton's school was ushered in. This took the good qualities of Kent and the Picturesque and combined them to suit individual circumstances. As it took different form upon different premises, it required more skill in its management than did the old methods. But there was one radical error in the teaching of Repton ; he advised the planting of trees and other plants in thick clumps where they were to grow unmolested. The weak were soon crowded out by the strong, the most delicate and often the most beautiful could not exist. During the early part of this century choice plants were introduced in great numbers from foreign countries, and they could not be displayed to advantage in the heterogeneous massing of Eepton's method. Hence arose in England the so-called Gardenesque school, which, while it retained the leading features inaugurated by Repton, scattered the plants over the lawn those of similar sizes and shapes usually in the same or contiguous clumps. We find ourselves living in a fortunate age. Old methods and stereotyped rules have fallen, chiefly because they have been put into practice. Our ornamentation should be preeminently selective ; Ave should select the best ideas wherever they may be found. AVe learn from the history of the art that it is unsafe to follow fashion in ornamenting a home. Fashion may be tolerated in dress or in manners, where a change can be made to suit the whim, but in the permanent exterior adornment of a home we should beware of vagaries. Fashion has cut amusing frolics of late in the colors of resi- dences. The old fashion or custom of painting houses a glaring white has given way to the squaw-like fashion of tricking out in incongruous red, pea-green and squash-pie colors. We look for a speedy change of sentiment iu this direction, and hope to see the neutral and less expensive drabs and browns, which are never incongruous with themselves or their surroundings. STYLE IN FARMING. 61 come into general favor. But these are less permanent, and therefore less serious, fashions than those which have to do with the selection of trees and the laying out of grounds. Fashion which pleases to-day may disgust to-morrow. The worst part of the freeze is the thaw. Let us discuss a few fundamental principles of artistic but inexpensive adornment. We must get our pleasantest prospects from our commonest places, from the windows of the sitting-room and the dining room. A little thoughtfulness in the placing of our residence will often add a constant blessing. I visited a friend on the pleasant slopes of the Green Mountains. There was not a pleasant prospect from any of the windows of the residence, yet from the barn-yard a noble mountain whose indistinct summit was wreathed with fitful garlands of cloud stood boldly before the observer. That farm would have been worth ten per cent more if that mountain had been framed in a window. Appropriate to yourself trees of nature's planting, build your residence near them. They are to-day what your own planting will be twenty or fifty years hence. We are to apt to think that a sandy knoll and a "good well o' water" are the only requisites to a desirable site for a residence. Our residences are often too near the highway. A remove of four or five rods is none too much for convenience and pleasure. We must have lawn. All attempts at ornament are well nigh folly without one. Might as well try to paint a picture without a canvas, or to build a house of paint and shingles, as to construct an attractive residence without a lawn. The requisites for a good lawn are the requisites for good corn, a fertile and thoroughly subdued soil. You cannot make a lawn by tickling the ground with a stick. Prepare the ground thoroughly, even if it requires two years to accomplish it, sow the seed very thick, mow the grass as often as it reaches three or four inches in height, top-dress it in the fall, and enjoy it as long as you live. Do not grade every thing to a dead level or to a continuous slope. Simply correct the little irregularities of the surface. Do not build terraces. Grading is expensive. The natural undulations of a verdant sur- face are more expressive than trees or flowers. The undulating sweep of the prairies is grand beyond expression. A flat surface is rarely beautiful. By a singular optical illusion it usually appears to be concave. If our grounds appear to the best advantage they must look larger than they really are. We must aim to inciease an appearance of extent. A verdant and unbroken lawn must again be our first requisite. The objects which appear to be farthest away are those which possess the least number of colors. Distant hills are enveloped in a continuous haze of blue. The remotest objects in a picture possess the fewest colors. A tree upon a continuous lawn appears to be a little farther off than one at the same distance which stands among flower beds, and drooping trees whose trunks are hidden commonly appear to be a little more distant than those with exposed trunks. These illusions are of course more apparent to a stranger who has not learned the actual distance to the objects. We should plant our trees in such a manner as to form long views towards certain objects from our windows or porch. The narrower the views the longer they will look. I stand on the railroad and see the rails converge and converge until they meet away in the distance which appears like miles when it may be less than one. These slender views are vistas, "linked sweetness long drawn out." If there is a good landscape in your neighborhood, make it a part of your premises. Bring in the clump' of trees on your neighbor's hill. Bring in the spire from the village church. Bring in the ravine and the thicket by the roadside. Here is a case of legit- 62 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. imate theft. Make every attractive object visible from your windows. Cut out the trees that hide them, or if they stand out bare and unadorned, plant trees which partially conceal them. In other words frame them and hang them as pictures in your garden. The green sward will form the bottom of the frame, the sky the top, the trees the sides. Never lay open the whole of a scene or it will look bare. Moreover, we always enjoy an object the most when we have but little of it. We always deceive ourselves with the fancy that a half hidden object is larger and finer than it really is. This whole matter is a simple one: it consists simply in the selection of our objects and then in planting or cutting out trees. To be sure our trees must correspond to the objects beyond them. If the object is a low and round-topped hill, plant round-headed trees ; if it is aspire mix in a few — a very few — Lombar- dy poplars. A weeping willow is in taste by a brook or pond, but it is out of place near an ordinary building. Lombardy poplars, the most ill-used of all trees, are to be recommended for a distant hill, or in very small numbers near a high and long building or about a church with a spire, but they are out of place in most yards, especially when planted in abundance. If our premises are not large enough to allow the planting of tiees, we can use shrubs in a similar manner. If we would expose glimpses of attractive objects, we must hide unat- tractive ones. If Smith's barn stands in front of your window, plant trees or vines to hide the most undesirable parts of it. If it stands squarely across the road from you, and if your house is near the highway, persuade him either to move it, or to paint it, and move his barnyard behind it. The value of trees is seldom fully appreciated. Much of the common estimation concerning them is nothing more than sentiment. There are two common extremes of sentiment which are always opposed to rural beauty. The one extreme has to do with the immediate neighborhood of the resi- dence, the other with more distant views of landscape. It is certainly a common fault with country homes where any attempt is made toward ornament, that too many trees and bushes are allowed to grow. It is perfectly proper, indeed highly necessary, that in the first days and years of ornamenting a barren home, one should plant thickly of a variety of trees and shrubs. There should be small groups of spruces and decidu- ous trees of the rapid growing sorts, which will soon afford shelter and pri- vacy. But it is none the less important that those clumps should be thinned just as fast as the individual trees begin to crowd each other. To be sure, one loves the trees which he has planted and nourished, but it must be borne in mind that sentiment should never stand in the way of beauty and utility. I do not like the hackneyed advice which urges us to plant ornamental trees at such distances as will be proper for them to occupy twenty years hence. Such advice is discouraging; we must live in large part for the pressing present. Moreover, twenty years hence is but a point of time, and it does not pay to forego the pleasure of nineteen years in order to enjoy the perfec- tion of the twentieth. What I always recommend to owners of unadorned places, is to plant thickly; get an immediate effect. And immediately thereupon I urge the injunction, strongly underlined, do not neglect to thin out as soon as the trees tegin to crowd. One symmetrical and vigorous tree is worth three one-sided, stunted ones. Clumps of trees soon grow into tangled thickets, the delight of mosquitos, moulds, and vermin. They shut out sun and health, and shut one in from enchanting glimpses of distant views. The attractive clump STYLE IN FARMING. 63 has become an unsightly tangle, and soon all the trees will have become so lop-sided that one cannot be removed without laying bare an unsightly side of its neighbor. This is no exaggeration. The most difficult matter to press home to most people, in the way of ornament, is the fact that there should be constant and systematic thinning. It is a mistake to suppose that the surround irgs of a home should be fixed. The universal law of change applies to the private grounds, as well as to the orchard or garden. Not long since I visited a worthy farmer who desired my advice in regard to the improvement of his front yard. I looked it over, and advised him to remove a great Norway spruce, a balsam fir, an apple tree, a large chestnut, three smaller Norways, a large red cedar, a fringe tree, and several bushes. He discussed the trees seriatim. The great spruce he could never spare, because it was the first one set in the township; ditto with the fir; the apple tree bore good fruit; the horse-chestnut was the largest specimen in the neighborhood; the three small Norways were thrifty and attractive; the red cedar had been " backed in " in an early day from the wood at a great expense of muscle; the fringe tree cost him a d6llar, and the bushes were all attractive when in flower; therefore he could spare none of them. I could not improve his yard ; and when he must look at the evening sky to note signs of to-morrow's weather, and when his wife must know who it is that is passing along the highway, they must either go some rods away from the house or scrooch under the trees. An attractive house on a distant hill is eniirely hidden; in fact, there is no great outside world from the windows of that residence. This is all radically wrong. The landscape gardener is often upbraided for his so-called impractical notions, his ''fine theories of beauty," but woe to the gardener if he ever entertains notions so much at variance with laws of happiness and health, as does he who hibernates in a prison of tangled trees. No, rather have an open field with the fresh verdure of the greensward and the crisp play of winds, and an over-abundance of sunlight, than a house hidden in gloomy foliage. But let us have the golden mean. Keep the front of the house open to the world, and never allow a tree to hide a desirable view. Last spring I moved into a new house. From the front porch I could see nothing but an ordinary grove, although but a few rods beyond it were fine college buildings with their constant play of life and frolic. I cut many trees from that grove, none to its detriment either, and now as I sit at my dinner-table I can see through the grove to an attrac- tive view beyond. This vista may be "impractical" as the common expres- sion goes, but I am confident that I can relish my meal better than I could if I were shut up to my own dining-room and the bit of gravel path which lies in front of my window. Now it is singular that these same people who would cling tenaciously to every old tree about the house, would often mercilessly sacrifice every beau- tiful great tree in a distant landscape. Rural landscapes are pre-eminently beautiful when there are drooping elms and rotund maples, dotted here and there over little eminences in pastures, in cornfields, and along highways. He is a reckless tenant who would rob nature of these isolated beauties for the sake of the stove-wood they contain. In rocky New England, where the farmers can not covet every foot of land, the grand old trees are pic- turesque. In our western country it is not always so. It requires some judgment, to be sure, to know when to cut a tree and when to let it alone, but it is judgment, nevertheless, which pays the effort it costs. 64 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Trees and bushes never appear to better advantage than when seen in natural clumps. But to interpret an attractive natural clump is one of the most difficult problems in ornamental gardening. It is almost impossible for an inexperienced person to plant trees in nature's regular irregularity. He will get them in rows, in squares, in a long and irregular belt, or in an even-bordered clump. The finest natural groups are those which possess bold curves of large trees and recesses or bays of smaller ones. In such groups the large trees heighten the boldness and the small ones heighten the retirement. Then, to construct a group, draw an irregular outline, with deep bays aud large, rounded projections, and plant the largest and most rapid growing plants near the border of the projections and the smallest ones near the borders of the recesses. The interior of the clump should be made up of the largest plants also. Upon the immediate borders of the group it is customary to plant low bushes to give a desirable taper from the greensward to the body of the groujD. The most difficult part of this whole operation will be to plant the trees in such a manner that they will appear not to have been planted. '-'Throw up a handful of peas and plant a tree wherever a pea falls," is a gardener's rule. Some years since a clump was set at the College by an intoxicated man, and he set the trees in exact rows in two directions. Our grounds should be cut up as little as possible by walks and drives. The more continuous the lawn the larger it will look, and the more easily it can be cared for. There is a prevalent notion that walks must be crooked, and we occasionally see extravagant forms of such vagaries. In a certain eastern city is a fine residence with a cork-screw walk leading from the front gate to the residence, but if the person is not intoxicated by the appearance he can walk in a bee-line through the center of the cork-screw! Landscape garden- ing never demands extravagant forms. A walk should never appear to go where it does not go. A direct and gently curved path from one side or both sides of the premises is the most desirable. The carriage drive should enter at one side and approach the side of the residence, reach the kitchen door and veer off towards the barn. Directly in front of the house there should be a well kept lawn of small extent, with enough shrubbery to inter- cept the gaze of passers-by, but not enough to conceal desirable views. It is pleasanter to secure side views of the highway than direct front views, and especially so if the residence is close to the highway. The flower-beds should be at one side of the residence, nearest the common windows, and in but partial view from the highway. A front yard full of flowers possesses the same fault as a person with an over-gaudy dress. For ordinary ornamental purposes, common flowers and native shrubs are the best. We know them. The craze for exotics simply because they are exotics is drawing to a close. The craze has been of great benefit, because it has taught us the value of native plants by instituting a means of com- parison. A friend valued his visit to Italy because it taught him to appre- ciate the sunsets of Michigi.n. Many exotics are beautiful and vigorous everywhere, but many more are not so. They demand of the farmer too great an expenditure of time and money. Our woods and fence-rows are nurseries. All our shrubs are worthy of cultivation. We do not know how to propagate them all to advantage, but we can transplant them. They should be taken up early in the fall with a liberal amount of earth, and stored for a couple of months in a warm cellar or cool greenhouse. The plants will then make roots. They should be placed in a colder place, as LIGHT SOILS— HOW THEY CAN BE WORKED. 65 out of doors on the south side of a bnildiug with a protection of mulch. In the spring plant them and they should all live. Give them some culture. Always plant the smallest leaved and prettiest plants near the residence. Pines are too coarse for the immediate vicinity of the house. Their proper place is in a windbreak, or rather distant screen. Much of our territory is wasted between highway fences. We are over generous with our roads. Their sides are bare, weedy, unsightly, useless. In most places highways two rods wide are preferable to those which are four; we could then have better and pleasanter roads. We need to concen- trate our efforts. Still we pride ourselves on our highAvays. AVe have mis- taken land for roads. We have sacrificed comfort to boast of generosity. " In thy rags we see thy vanity," they said to Diogenes. But we possess the means of making our extremity a blessing. The judicious planting of trees and shrubs would render our highways attractive. Trees in rows along the sides of straight and level highways are not out of taste, teaching to the contrary notwithstanding. But we need variety. With a change of surface we should have a change of verdure. Bushes in irregular and natural clumps are pre-eminently in keeping in low places and especially along water courses. Our native bushes should not be lost to common knowledge. Here is an opportunity to rescue nature along our roadsides. Clumps of tall trees appear to best advantage on eminences. They exaggerate the unevenness of the surface. Here is a subject which demands a lecture, provided the lecture would arouse energy. The whole subject of rural ornamentation is one which demands study and attention, rather than lavish expenditures. It is not beyond the farmer's grasp. Successful farming must combine with itself enough style to render it attractive. Like all style it may fall into errors of gaudiuess, impropriety or even ridiculousness; nevertheless, to ignore all ornament is to strip our agriculture of every pleasing garment. Agriculture cannot make much advancement so long as it is characterized by bareness. The boys and girls will leave us for more attractive pursuits. We must grapple with the problem. The first requisite is to screw our courage up to the sticking point. LIGHT SOILS— HOW THEY CAN BE WORKED TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE. BY DAVID GEDDES, OF SWAN CREEK. [Read before the Farmers' Institute in East Saginaw, February 13, 1886.] Agriculture has for its chief aim profitably to avail itself of the powerful forces which nature places at our disposal for the increase of animal and vegetable life, and that increase is based upon the employment of certain agents wliich are essential to these forms of life. It will not be amiss, then, to state briefly what these agents are, and to this end it is necessary to analyze the products of our soils, and the simplest way to do this is to burn them, and we find a portion of the plant goes off in the shape of gases, and the remainder is left in the shape of ashes. It will then be seen that our 1 66 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. plant has been composed of parts or elements, which are respectively called the organic or inorganic parts of the plant. That which burned away was the organic part, and that which remained — the ashes — the inorganic part. Chemistry teaches us that these parts are composed of cei'tain elements, fourteen in number, and that these same elements exist in animal and vege- table life. The organized part of the plant consists of four gases, ox3'gen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen; the inorganic part, of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, oxides of iron and manganese, chlorine, phosphoric acid, sul- phuric acid and silica. Xow, this is the starting point. Experiment shows that plant life, for its development, must always find and set in motion these elements, but that it combines them in an infinity of proportions and in a variety of structures. The gaseous or organic part is found to be nine times the weight of the inorganic part, or the ash. Now, the organic part is composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, all of which, if we except the latter, are received by the plant from the atmosphere, and the remaining one-tenth, or organic, part of its supjiort is received from the soil ; BO that in reality all the fertility that can be restored to the soil by hand of man is but insignificant compared with what is supplied from the great storehouse of nature — the atmosphere; yet, insignificant as this inorganic element is, it is absolutely necessary to the life and growth of a plant, so much so that if any of it be absent (any of the ten elements, potash, lime, etc.), the plant cannot be produced to perfection. !Xow, the absence of any of these, or any undue portion of one or the other, would make a barren soil, and hence a soil may be rich in one element and poor in another, and conse- quently a soil may be only partially poor. It will be found that our worn- out lands in Michigan are so by continual cropping with some particular class of plants, such as wheat, oats and timothy hay, and these lands are only poor in the elements which 'these take more largely from the soil than any other, that is phosphoric acid and potash. I by no means say that this is all that is wanting, bui these are the principal elements. It will always be found that the relative productiveness of different soils is intimately con- nected either with an abundance or a deficiency of phosphoric acid and pot- ash. Eoot crops especially have ashes rich in potash, and the failure of roots on lands which formerly produced good crops, I^ can safely say, is due to the exhaustion of available alkalies. But supplying one element does not necessarily make the soil grow good crops. In a great number of cases an analysis of soil would be of great service. It is an easy matter to restore fer- tility if Ave know what elements of plant growth are absent or lacking in availability, and what manure contains these elements in the cheapest and most available form. I do not know whether our farmers would or could conveniently analyze their soil, but certainly it would pay. I have known an endless amount of money spent on salt, lime, and other manures, without any benefit, simply because the soil did not require these ingredients. The general cause of the sterility of soils is either the absence of certain constitu- ents indispensable for the growth of jDlants, or the presence of others which exert an injurious or poisonous action; and hence an analysis is often neces- sary in order to find out what injurious element preponderates, and what to apply in order to neutralize it. On the supposition, then, that we know exactly what food our soil is lacking in, how shall we best restore it? And this gets us right into the midst of the controversy on fertility and nitrogen — whether the latter is supplied by the atmosphere totally or partially, or • LIGHT SOILS— HOW THEY CAN BE WORKED. 67 ■whether it has been supplied to the soil in the shape of nitrogenous manures. This brings us again to barnyard manures and artificial manures, and the office humu3 plays in fertility; and this again leads to the question: Can the fertility of a sandy soil be restored by any other means than by returning to the soil the straw and grain upon which they grew, or in other woids, by barnyard manure? and if there is any other way, is it available to our farm- ers ? And is it profitable ? Admitting that barnyard manure would have kept up the fertility of the soil if applied in sufficient quantities, the question arises, will artificial man- ures answer the same purpose without the aid of barnyard manure? The experience of Mr. John Prout, a prominent English farmer for the last twenty years, says it can, for he has made farming on a sandy soil for this lengh of time profitable without the application of barnyard manure. He started twenty years ago with 450 acres of poor land, and has used nothing but artificial manures, and the result is he has made business pay, and has doubled the value of his estate in this time. lie sells all the wheat and straw at auction, and buys artificial manures. Mr. Prout's system has shown conclusively that the great supply of nitrogen, which was supposed to come from manure, applied to the soil, is, in reality, largely taken from the atmosphere. By careful experiments made by Dr. Voelker, of this soil, and the chemical analysis of the crops taken off it, it was found that Mr. Prout was only supplying thirty-eight and a half pounds of nitrogen year by year, and seventy-one pounds was exported from the farm in the shape of grain, etc. The question now arises, where did Mr. Prout obtain this nitrogen? It was not from the soil, nor was it supplied in the manure, and tlie infer- ence is it came from the atmosphere; if this is the case, the fertilization of worn-out soils resolves itself into simply this: Supply the inorganic or min- eral element and the rest comes from the iitmosphere. Now, it is well known that barnyard manure contains for its bulk comparatively a small proportion of essential salts fourteen pounds in a ton), such as potash and phosphoric acid. Good wood ashes have twenty times more potash and ten times more phosphoric acid than a given quantity of barnyard manure. But, of course, the question arises again, will these substances of plant food in such a concentrated form, be equally distributed to become at once available? This is another point; and with this again comes the physical or mechanical condition of the land, which, strictly speaking, would not come under the subject in question, for it simply says restoring fertility, although I may say here, parenthetically, that I am fully persuaded that but little of our soil, in the strict sense of the word, is really worn out. A great quantity of our supposed exhausted soil has a sufficient quantity of plant food, but it is not available, owing to its physical condition ; or in other words, for the want of proper drainage and thorough culture. Liebig says: " The influence of mechanical operations of agriculture upon fertility of a soil is remarkable, and often borders on the miraculous." I know land in Saginaw county which was considered sterile, which, by drainage and thorough culture, brought forth good crops. I have seen land heavily manured and rich, chemically speaking, yet by bad culture it failed in production ; for this reason I have no doubt manures often receive credit due to good tillage, and I am strongly of the opinion that thorough culture, stirring the soil, is our cheapest manure. But this is not the point; the supposition is that the soil lacks the necessary elements of plant food, and the question is, how to restore its fertility. No rule can be laid down which will cover every case. 68 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. After knowing what elements the soil lacks the question arises how tO' obtain these most cheaply. We shall have to resort to different methods of keeping up fertility, according to what materials are cheap and what are dear. There is no royal road to enriching land. Plant food should be considered in a commercial light, and there is no doubt science has so far advanced that a commercial article should be placed on this market contain- ing all the elements of available plant food. Mr. John Front finds that the commercial system of manufacturing manure in the long run is the cheapest, and that, all things considered, manure, whether made in the barnyard or in the factory, Avas simply j^ro- duced by capital and labor. The question is whether our animals are the cheapest manufacturing machines of plant food, or whether it cannot be made cheaper than in the barnyard. It will generally depend upon circum- stances and the facilities people have of procuring manure. There are only two ways that suggest themselves — either to buy manure or to plow under green crops. If manure is obtained at anything like reasonable prices, to buy is the most direct way of increasing production. Farmers living in the vicinity of cities have easy access to manure, which can often be bought very cheaply. If our cities had any sufficient system of collecting night soil, and pondrette companies were started, this would be a great source of obtain- ing a cheap supply of rich manure. The apatite mines of the Saginaw valley are an endless source of plant food. If it could be placed within the reach of the farmer he would want nothing else to restore his worn out sandy lands. A farmer should look around for every available means ^'or obtaining plant food. There are often means within his own reach which he neglects to utilize. There are but few farmers that have any means of saving their liquid manure, which is allowed to drain oil and stand in cesspools around the barnyard. This liquid manure contains more plant food — essential salts — than the solid in the ratio of 9 to 7, and hence it can be seen what a loss is sustained on every farm. Then these ashes, the inorganic part of the plant. How many save these and do not trade them off for a bar of soap? To a great many sandy soils ashes have in reality all the elements that are wanting — potasn, phosphoric acid and lime. Indeed, the action of ashes on potash plants, such as potatoes, corn, turnips, etc., is wonderful. I have experimented for years on a sandy soil with ashes for these crops, and I have found the results in the yield corresponding to what should be expected from their chemical composition. In a country like Michigan ashes can be obtained cheaply, and if the theory of others is correct that the nitrogen of plants is mainly derived from the atmosphere, ashes may be looked upon as containing all the essential elements the plant receives from the soil. Plowing in green crops is the only remaining way left of restoring fertility to a sandy soil ; but a green crop, to be of much service when plowed under as mannre, must be the growth not of a worn-out sandy soil, but of soil well supplied with plant food ; and green-crop manuring, to be effectual, should be subsequent to barnyard or artificial manure, and should be the second stej) in restoring fertility. Restoring fertility to a sandy soil any way must be a gradual process, and no one can expect to recuperate a sandy soil by one or two manurings. It is easy enough to keep up fertility of the soil by plowing under good, heavy crops of clover, buckwheat, etc., when your land is in good heart, but when it is poor is another question. Last year I saw a direct application of manure, and the plowing of green crops experimented with on a poor sandy soil, and I am fully persuaded that LIGHT SOILS— HOW THEY CAN BE WORKED. 69 the loss of one crop compared with the increased production of two will amply pay for the buying of manure at a high figure. Then there is another ■question, Avhether it would not pay better to cut green crops and feed it to stock and return it to the land. There is no doubt that clover is the manurial crop that can be plowed under. The chemical effect of plow- ing under clover and other green crops is simply to return to the soil all the ■elements of plant food tliat the plant lived upon. Then I say: " A good crop of clover, which has produced one heavy crop ■of hay, and which has been allowed to stand for seed, will add to the land a fertility for wheat which could not be attained with the heaviest practical •dressing of guano." But to this I further add: "The clover must be treated so that it will produce and leave on the ground the greatest possible amount of leaf and roots, for in these two portions of the plant consist the virtue of clover." But as I said before no one's means should be relied upon by the farmer. lie should study the nature of plants and his soil, and draw plant food from all sources by plowing under green crops, using com- mercial fertilizers, ashes, barnyard manure, (by keeping a good stock of animals) in fact everything that will make two blades of grass grow where only one grew before; experience, a knowledge of agricultural chemistry, circumstances and the intelligent application of capital and labor, should dictate to the farmer more than anything else which is the best practice to pursue in restoring fertility to a sandy soil. What would be a profitable practice to one farmer might not be to another. Proper drainage, thorough culture, and rotation of crops can be profitably practiced by all farmers, and will make up for a great many deficiencies in plant food. A good rotation is the following, beginning with a rich clover sod. Cut the clover the last of June, and let the second crop grow until about the first of September, and manure very heavy with well rotted barn- yard manure, all that can be ploughed under. After two weeks the clover will grow up through the manure, and with proper care may be plowed under in good shape. Then cultivate well until late in the fall, and the sod will te well decomposed and in good shape for a crop of beets or carrots in the spring following. Put in the seed without plowing in the spring, and by this method of culture a crop can be grown with very little trouble and will keep our sandy soil in a rich and fertile condition. By the use of clover and barnyard manure land will grow two good root crops, with a top dressing in the spring. After fall plowing the next crop should be oats or barley, well seeded with clover, about eight quarts to the acre, and then plowed under in the fall and sowed with wheat, and again seeded with clover and timothy and left for two years, and plowed down. By this process our sandy soil can be kept up as rich as any soil and be very early tilled. Beets and carrots should be sown as early as the 1st of IMay, and turnips from the 2nd of June to the 1st of July. Potatoes from the middle of May to the middle of June; be careful in planting your potatoes and not get too much seed in the ground or you may grow small potatoes. The great secret in growing a root crop is attending to them in proper time and in the proper way, so it may not cost any more ^o grow them than a potato (^op, com- mencing to work in tliem as soon as they are out of the ground, and do not be afraid of getting them too thin. I sow twenty-eight inches between the rows, and cultivate with a horse. There should be no coarse or raw manure put on hind for a root crop in the spring, for coarse manure will cause your roots to grow crooked and prongy. 70 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Mr. KobertUre: Jethro TuU held that cultivation without manure was all sufficient. In our farmers' club it is thought that a cheaper way than cultivation or manuring, and one producing equally good results, is to cover the surface between rows with cull lumber. Dr. Kedzie : Keeping the soil covered induces capillary action. Liebig said that the farmer need only apply mineral, or as he called them, soil elements and no air elements, and that by analysis of the ash you could tell precisely the manure needed for each plant. Bat his theories did not work well in practice. As to the quality of commercial manures for sale in our markets, the last legislature passed a law providing for their analysis and imposing penalties for fraud. [The text of this law will be found in full on another page of this report.] As to whether it is cheaper to buy commercial fertilizers or to produce the manure on the farm I take issue with Mr. Geddes. I think that in ordinary cases a man cannot afford to Ijuy commercial manures. At the market rates for such things a ton of clover hay would be worth $12.00 a ton simply for the manure it would make. FARMING ON LIGHT SOILS. BY C. L. HALL OF NORVELL. [Read before the Farmers' Institute at Grass Lake, Feb. 16, 1886.] My experience has been mostly upon light soils, and I find that they are- not store houses of fertility like the deep black soils of the west, to be drawn on at pleasure; but that each crop taken from it reduces its fertility. I find too, that it contains but very little inert plant food that can be mad& available by turning it up to the action of the frosts and the heat of the sun, as is the case with heavier soils, and if we expect it to produce continu- ally we must feed it. We must sell but little to be consumed away from the farm, as that robs the soil of so much of the elements of fertility. Then what kind of crops shall we raise and what style of farming is best adapted to this kind of soil ? In the first place, I would have every acre not in crops seeded down to clover as it is a well-known fact that there is no fertilizer so cheap as red clover, and wherever it has been raised and a rotation of crops has been prac- ticed there has been no apparent loss of fertility. But the great difficulty upon light soils is the failure to get a good catch of clover. This failure is due mainly to two or three causes. Where seed is sown on top of the ground and left to take care of itself the spring is often so dry that the seeds never sprout and if there is moisture and shade enough for it to come up, the hot sun of a week will dry the soil^elow the roots and it dies. Then where the seed is sown upon freshly harrowed soil and harrowed in, the earth lies so loosely about the seed that it never germinates. This difficulty may be overcome in a measure by the use of a roller drill, the rollers passing over the ground presses it down firmly leaving a narrow hard bed for the seed, the first rain that comes washes the soil down firmly on top of the seed and FARMING ON LIGHT SOILS. 71 it seldom fails to sprout, and being a little below the surface of the ground it is not so easily affected with early drouths. The principal crops upon light soils should be clover, corn and rye. I find that wheat draws heavily upon light soils and does not yield as much in proportion as corn. A light soil that will produce 20 bushels of wheat per acre will produce 100 bushels of corn, while a natural wheat land in rela- tively as good condition will produce 30 to 35 bushels of wheat and no more corn than the light soil. Since it is doubtful if it pays to raise wheat on heavier soils, why should I raise wheat at all? Light soils are not natural pasture lands, so I should keep but little stock on the farm through the summer; 100 sheep turned on to clover in the spring will keep down and destroy enough to fatten 200 wethers in the winter. Having no stock on the farm through the summer it gives a chance to cut plenty of hay, and after the hay is off the clover springs up again and makes an abundance of fall feed. In August, buy cattle or sheep suitable for fattening, (the number to be governed by the size of your hay-mow or corn-crib) and turn on to your clover early enough to prevent its seeding, as I do not think it pays to cut clover seed. This stock should make a vigorous growth by fall when they should be taken up and made to consume the straw, cornstalks, hay and coarse grain through the winter and be fat ready for the spring market, leaving nearly all that grew on the farm converted into a fertilizer that sup- plies the wants of all kinds of crops. With this mode of farming the princijjal crop of grain should be corn. We should therefore give it the most attention. It should be planted upon clover sod, all the manure that has been made the previous winter should bfr hauled out and spread upon the corn ground, and if 20, 30, or 40 acres is planted, let the manure cover the entire ground, spreading the best upon the poorest places. Before plowing, sow plaster at the rate of 75 pounds per acre. Plow not to exceed six inches deep, harrow thoroughly, work four feet each way and plant three kernels in a hill. Begin cultivating before the corn is up, with a spring-tooth cultivator made for the purpose, with pole and handles, cultivate until the corn is two or three inches high, then change to a large tooth cultivator and cultivate deep until harvest, going- over the last time with a fine tooth to level the ground. As soon as the corn is cut, or not later than the Ip-st of August if the corn is not cut, cultivate and sow to rye and drag it in. This will make good pasture in the fall and early spring. If the land is poor, seed down and cut the rye. The rye Avill make excellent feed for cattle wheij ground with corn. If the land will bear it, pasture until the rye begins to head out and then plow it under for fal- low; sow to wheat and seed down again, two crops is enough for light soils. The soil needs to be shaded from the hot rays of the sun through the long summer months. But it needs no rest. Keep seeded to clover, sow plenty of plaster, and utilize every load of manure that is made on the farm and it is possible to get a living off a sandy soil. Pre?. Willits: Some years ago I bought an old stock farm with barns and yards that covered ten acres. J ust back of the barn in sod was a three acre calf lot. I removed the barns and plowed that area and raised such a croj) of corn that you would not believe me if I should tell of it. The soil was light, sandy, and the crops held for a while and then through a strip in the middle two or three rods wide the crop failed, the corn was yellow. There was no good sub soil. Now what can you do with such a strip ? 72 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. Mr. Hitchcock of Sharon : Some men speak as though they would sell sand}^ land for |50 and pay 180 for clay, and there they would miss it. The trouble is they don't understand the nature of sandy soil. A productive soil contains all the elements of plant growth, and if the farmer by growing successive crops of wheat or otherwise, takes from these elements au undue proportion of some of them so as to destroy the equilibrium he destroys the fertility of his soil. As to plaster, fifty pounds per acre is enough, because it is all that a sea- son's rainfall can dissolve. As to leaching of sandy soils it is trifling and the chief advantage of top dressing is due to its value as a mulch added to its value as a manure. Prof. Johnson : All clay soils contain a percentage of sand and all sandy soils contain a percentage of clay, and the lightest sands have the least clay in them. A loamy soil has about 60 to 70 per cent of clay and 30 to 40 per cent of sand. We increase the fertility of sands by making them more reten- tive. We can winter more stock on light soils than we can summer. Thor- ough culture of light soil makes it more retentive of moisture and fertili- zers. Soil analysis can do little in testing the value of soils for agriculture, as there is such a great variety in the conditions of fertility. Let each study his own soil and its possibilities. Pres. Willits: Do I understand the gentleman that the value of a sand depends upon its proportion of clay and that clay would be the best manure for sand? Prof. Johnson : Clay would be a valuable dressing for a sandy soil if it could be well mixed with it. Mr. Stark: Prof. J., I understand, says that fertility depends on the pro- portion of clay in a soil. Now suppose a man with a sandy farm has a clay bank, should he haul the clay bank on to his farm ? Prof. Johnson: That depends on the quality of each. Mr. Piatt: Mr. Ball said that clover on sand is shorter, more nutritious and better than the long growth on clay soils. If he will sow twice the seed on his clay he will get three times the crop he could on sand and of as good quality. I have two acres of sand on my farm and have to put three times the manure on that spot and get less crops in everything, unless it be of corn. Wheat looks well on that piece but doesn't thresh out well. I am in favor of clay or clay loam. * Mr. Van Hooten, of Sharon : I have always been a farmer. In testing we say the proof of the pudding is chewing the string. So the test in farming is experience. In Ontario county. New York State, I bought twen- ty-seven acres. It had six acres of plastering sand (no quick sand) and some brick clay and some blue clay. I seeded the whole and it came up well on the sand and not so we)l on the clay. I found that in the sand the roots went down eighteen inches and made a crop while in clay there was not enough vegetable mould to grow the clover and it died. How to bring the clay to grow the crop that the sand did, either of wheat or clover was the question. I tried mixing the soils. There was a muck bed near and I mixed muck with sand and put them on the clay and jiut clay and muck on the sand and plowed and cultivated and got bigger crops on the sandy ground than on the clay. The clover roots on the sand penetrated deeper than on the clay and tliat was the reason of its excellence. Some one said if he had a sandy farm he would sell it for $50 and buy clay for $80. I differ with him. Before he can make his clay farm produce SOIL EXHAUSTION. 73 what his sand farm would, I can raise euougti on the sand farm to pay for the clay farm. I am a Dutchman. President Willits asked how to make one part of a field equal another, se a fertilizer; charcoal, vegetable mould from the forest, leaves with lime, hes, plaster to make seed catch, and sow the large clover, because its roots will penetrate the farthest, and hence do more good than the small clover. Wm. Ball, Hamburg: I agree with last speaker. I think he will make his farm pay. I was born on a heavy clay farm in New York State and reared on one in Washtenaw county, part of which was heavy clay and am now on a farm having all kinds of soil and I like them all. It is true that jou could buy a clay farm with the produce from a sand while you were getting a clay farm ready to produce. It is also true that a clay farm has more strength in it, but it is harder to get it out. Larger crops of wheat can be raised from clay well tilled than from sand well tilled, and of corn from sand well tilled than from clay well tilled, and of barley from a mixed loam. As a balance sheet of the whole, my experience has been that the finest improvements are found on lighter soils. Clays holds out longer because they have more originally and give it out more slowly. As to the clover. On very strong land the heavy crop does fall and get wet and sour. The suggestion to sow more seed is the true remedy. SOIL EXHAUSTION". BY H. A. LADD. [Read before the Farmers' Institute at Grass Lake, February 16, 1886. The soil is a deep subject, and requires more than a pen to dig to the bot- tom of it. But I will confine myself to the soils with which I am most familiar, such as your farms around here are composed of, gravelly and sandy soils. Heavy soils lose fertility, but they have plenty left, while a poor, «andy soil doesn't have to lose much to become worthless. The general opinion, as to why these soils are so poor, is that the good- ness leaches out of them, and the waters that soak into the earth carry it down beyond the reach of plants. Now, as China is a very rich country, and as I have been unable to discover any of this fertility any deeper than it has been plowed, I have come to the conclusion that, if it does leach down, it must go clear through and come out on the other side. Rather than accept that explanation, I have abandoned the theory entirely. If the fertility does leach down, it is in such small quantities that we need not try to prevent it. I can find but three ways that vegetable humus, ov fertilizing matter, can escape from the soil. One is by crops removed; but with a proper rotation and mixed husbandry, this need not impoverish the soil. Another is, by surface wash. Some idea of the importance of this cause of waste can be gained when we think that, through the countless ages since creation, these waters have been descending in the form of rain, washing the solul)le por- tions of the hills into the hollows, and carrying it down unnumbered rivers, to be lost in the sea, while the waters returned again for more. Scientific 10 74 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. authorities estimate that the Mississippi daily pours into the sea the nitrogen equivalents of two thousand tons of nitrate of potassium, the most valuable of plant foods; while an acre of ground does not average over two tons. One thousand acres daily, or three hundred and sixty-five thousand yearly^ washed down only one of these great rivers. Now, the class of soils that are the most injured by washing, are the hard, gravelly soils; while the sand and loose gravels, which are poorer, as a rule, do not suffer so much from this cause. Probably the most of you who own such soils have noticed that barnyard manure, plowed under, will almost entirely disappear after one or two seasons; while on clayey soils it may be seen for years. Now, as I am satisfied that it doesn't leach out, and being plowed under, it can't wash out, I conclude it must burn up. All vegetable matter, at a proper degree of temperature and moisture, rapidly decomposes. Science teaches us that decomposition is a slow process of combustion ; that a stick of wood that rots down in the woods gives off as much heat as though burned. Sand, in a dry, hot day, attains a degree of heat probably double that of clayey soils. (I have not tested it with the thermometer, but with my bare feet when a boy.) In examining the con- dition of manure that was plowed down for corn last spring, and turned back for oats this fall, I find some looked as though it had been burned in a charcoal pit. The heat had been so great during the drouth that it had actually turned it black. You can readily see what a waste there must have been if there had not been some growing crop to utilize the gases driven off, and to protect it from the burning rays of the sun. There is no question in my mind but that this power of sand to absorb heat is the cause of its pov- erty in the state of nature. Is it any wonder, then, that the settler found this section of Michigan almost a desert (where the Indians burned it bare every time it got dry enough), and thought they had a good catch of clover if they got one plant to grow every four feet. Yet these same soils, the past season produced an average of nearly twenty bushels of wheat per acre, a yield greater than any State in the Union can boast of, an achievement of which we are proud, but which does not satisfy us, as we can do still better. Ask these old farmers who have helped to create this change, what haa caused these light soils to come to the front rank as farming lands. With- out an exception they all say "clover and plaster," some add, *'and sheep." We can all see the effect of this treatment. Some seem to think that the clover with its tap root goes down after that fertility that has leached out and that the plaster draws moisture from the air to nourish it in times of dioath, I believe it does bring up mineral foods from the subsoil, but if I believed in leaching I would not dare sow clover for fear the fertility would all go down the holes that the roots made, thereby rendering it worthless for short-rooted plants like wheat. And as for plaster drawing moisture from the air it is rather absurd, when if put in a barrel in the barn it will dry it up till it falls to pieces. It is the only thing that was ever known to- dry out a salt barrel. Clover seems to possess more good points than any other plant. One of these is the tap-root already mentioned. This is the great universal practical subsoil plow. Another is its mechanical effect on the soil ; it acts as a dam to the waters, causing them to settle into the ground where they fall, leaving their plant food instead of carrying it away and washing the goodness out of the soil. It also, by its thick growth of top, acts as a mulch, prevents evapora- tion, cools the ground, stops this burning up of plant food in sandy soils,. SOIL EXHAUSTION. 75 aud on account of its being cooler than other plants, condenses more dew laden with fertilizing matter. Why is it that plaster, which by chemical analysis, contains almost no fertilizing matter, is able to produce forty times its own weight, or one ton of hay from fifty pounds? ^Yhy, although not able to draw moisture does it destroy the effect of drouth and sometimes keep clover green and growing a week later than clover not so treated. The primary effect seems to be to combine with the gases escaping from the soil changing them from an inert to an available form. This being taken up by the plant produces a greatly increased growth of top, which in turn produces the indirect but most important effect. By this increased growth of top it keeps the sun from heating the ground, •i-etains more of the rains that fall and condenses more dew. By its use we not only save our own soils from loss, but we can draw down and condense the gases that have escaped from the fields of our neighbors who do not use plaster. This theory, it seems to me, explains the reason why we cannot see any benefit on rich soils. The plant will attain sufficient- growth without any aid, and therefore the primary effect would be greatly lessened and the secondary effect wholly lost. At the present time there are other agents employed to keep the soil from losing fertility. One of these is salt, which has the merit of being cheap and certainly helps keep the soil moist and cool, thereby reducing its ten- dency to loss by carbonizing. Is it better to plow under a crop of grass worth ten dollars per acre for hay or cure it and feed it to stock? By the latter plan we can return four-fifths of it to the land as manure, which, with the roots later in the season is worth more than the roots and tops turned under early in the season. T tried the former plan once, but shall not again. Shall we buy phosphates or complete manures, costing 1^ to If cents per pound, and which are only plant food to raise wheat which is only worth 1^ cents per pound? There are some chemical fertilizers that give promise of good results, but have not been put to the test of practical application on out- farms. Next to clover in importance comes barnyard manure, which I think is greatly under valued, the farmers, as a class, not making half what they might, and letting half go to waste in their yards, while of what they do draw to the fields, not over half is ever appropriated by growing plants, thus reducing the supply to one-eighth of what it should be. Still another way to increase the value of our fields is by thorough cultivation. A summer fallow, if kept thoroughly worked, will keep moist and draw dews, thereby gaining in rich- ness. A good rule, if you can follow it, is to never let a crust form on a tilled field during the summer months. There is no doubt in my mind but that a system of tiles on our j)oorest hill sides would be of great benefit, but probably not enough to pay for the tile. They would draw the water down through the soil, keep the surface from washing, and also act to increase the moisture in time of drouth. Cole's "New Agriculture" proves that this theory is correct, but does not prove that it is profitable. I have become so impressed with the importance and correctness of the theory that excessive heat is the cause of the universal poverty of dry sandy soils, that I recommend anything that will keep the surface cool, such as all kinds of mulch. Straw, which is of small value as a manure, may exert an influence equal to phosphate if applied to the 76 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. surface. I would never plow under manure on such soils unless I planted some crop to utilize it before it could be burned up. Although acknow- ledging that poor sand is the poorest soil, I do claim that rich sand is the most valuable of any soil on the face of the earth, especially in wet or cold seasons. In connection with the subject of manures I would like to ask the opinion of the farmers present if it is good economy to go to great expense and labor to compost our manures when the heat generated and lost is just what our corn crop needs in its early stages of growth. I got this scientific doctrine down one cold winter and kept it down till spring, but sweat it out during the summer at the little end of a manure fork. Believing that the time has come when we can succeed only by raising the crops with the least possible amount of manual labor, it seems necessary that we should know what we* are doing, and why we do it, that we may work in harmony and not in oppo- sition to the wonderful unchangeable laws of nature. Let us, while trying to fill our pockets, not do it by robbing our lands but by clothing them, and assisting nature to beautify the earth. Mr. Stark, of Webster: I never lived on very light or very heavy soil, but have a happy medium, a gravel, though it is often called a light soil. I can endorse the emphasis of the paper as to benefits of mulch. My experience is, if you can cover a soil it will recuperate and become rich. When a plank is removed after lying some time you are surprised at the richness of the spot. I think clover is chiefly valuable as a shade. Light soils may be very good, are easy to work, but they won't stand drouth. Wm. Ball : As to filtration, any farmer who has a manure pile that has lain for years on the lightest soil can test the question by digging a little way under the pile. The soil soon loses all discoloration. The water filtrates through and the sediment is left. The subsoil has little to do with leaching. A good subsoil has qualities of its own irrespective of leaching, and is also a favorable index of the character of the surface soil. As to the comparative merits of light or heavy soils, where do we find the best buildings — on clay or light soil? — on light soils. Clay holds Avater in drouth, but also at other times to the detriment of the crop, and light soils produce value at less cost than heavy soils. I like the paper, particularly the part about clover, manure, and plaster. I often wondered why plaster has less effect now than 20 years ago. It is because our soils are better fed now and are less hungry. Cut a fine crop of clover on light soil and you have excellent hay. Cut the same area on clay and you may have twice the weight, but it is of stalks and juice and not leaves, nor will it produce more beef than the one ton of better hay from the light soil. EED CLOVER. BY PROF. "W. J. BEAL. [Read at Institntes at Hudsonville, St. Louis and Okemos.] Although in a general way this is a plant familiar to all our farmers, its great importance to the agriculture of our country demands that we keep ■fe RED CLOVER. 77 trying to learn still more of its habits and peculiarities. The expression, " To live in clover," has become proverbial, and is another way of designating a good living. With a field of clover knee high, or up to the eyes, means fat cattle and swine and bunchy sheep. Some one styles the plant as ''The red plnmed commander-in-chief of the mannrial forces." Ked clover was known and prized over 2,000 years ago by the Greeks and Romans, but it can hardly be said to have been cultivated, even in the sim- plest way, till used in England about 1G33 — 253 years ago, or 44 years before the cultivation of perennial rye grass, and nearly 100 years before that of any other of the true grasses. For a long time it was propagated by scattering the seed in the chaff, as it accumulated at the stack or barn. Plants have their kinships — their rich relatives and their poor connec- tions, as well as people, or any of our wild or domestic animals. The clo- yers belong to a royal family of plants known as THE LEGUMIXOSiE, OR PULSE FAMILY. The fruit of such plants is usually in the form of a pod or legume, as a type of which, we have that of the pea and beau. For the technical defini- tion of the family, you will consult your botany. The Pulse Family con-, tains, at the lowest estimate, G,500 species, and is excelled in numbers bj one other only, viz. : the Compositai, which includes asters, golden rods, sunflowers and dandelions. Plants of the pulse family are widely distributed in every climate and in all kinds of soil. They vary in size from the little pussy clover to the giant locust trees of Brazil. We comprehend only a small portion of their uses and wealth when noticing those species which are cultivated in the United States. Red, white, mammoth and alsike clovers. Lucerne or Alfalfa and Sainfoin fill a place which could not well be supplied in our pastures and meadows, while peas and beans are scarcely of more importance than the peanut which would be missed in our country groceries and on the corners of the street, as well as by the people of Africa and the tropical islands. The Pulse Family is the most wonderful of all the families of plants in the enormous numbers and variety of its useful products. Its wealth is fairly bewildering. It contains barks of great use for tanning leather, many delicious perfumes, valuable medicines, tough fibres useful for cords, ropes or coarse cloth. It abounds in durable timber and in ornamental and fragrant woods. For gums it beats the world and supplies also many valuable coloring materials. It is well suplied with ornamental species. In the scientific description of a plant which has been so long and so well known, there is scarcely any chance for originality. The following comes about as near the mark as any and is mainly from Hooker's Flora of the British Islands. trifolium, l. trefoil, clover. Herbs, usually low. Leaves digitality, rarely pinnately 3 foliolate; stipels adnate to the petiole. Flowers capitate or sj^iked, rarely solitary, red, pur- ple or white, rarely yellow; bracts small or 0, sometimes forming a toothed involucre. Calyx teelh b, subequal. Petals persistent; wings longer than the keel, the claws of both adnate to the staminal tube. Upper stamens free; all the filaments or 5 of them dilated at the tip ; anthers uniform. Style 78 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. filiform, stigmas oblique or dorsal ; ovules few. Pod small, in dehiscent, 1-4 seeded, nearly enclosed in the calyx. Found in the north, temperate and warm regions, rare in southern ; species, 150. T. PRATENSE, L. RED CLOVER. BROAD LEAVED CLOVER. COMMON CLOVER. MEADOW TREFOIL. More or less pubescent, leaflets oblong, stipules membranous, free portion oppressed to the petiole, heads terminal, sessile globose, at length ovoid, sub- tended by opposite leaves with much dilated stipules, calyx-teeth slender setaceous, erect or spreading in fruit, the lowest longest. Pastures, roadsides, etc., both wild and cultivated; ascending to 1,900 feet in the Highlands [of Great Britain] ; flowers from May to September. Annual, biennial, or perennial. Stems G — 24 inches, solid or fistular, robust or slender. Leaflets i, — 2 inches, often marked with a white spot or hmal band, finely toothed; stipules often 1 — 1-|- inches, with long setaceous points. Heads \ — li inches diameter, pink, purple, or dirty white. Cahjx- tuhe with a two-lipped contraction in the throat, strongly nerved; teeth not exceeding the petals, very slender, unequal. Pod opening by the top falling off. Found in Europe, North Africa, Siberia, Western Asia to India; ■introduced in North America certainly before the Kevolution. Red clover usually has a large tap root with numerous branches extending in all directions. Sometimes the tap root is short, and soon equalled by its branches. The roots rarely ever extend less than two feet below the surface, as in moist compost land, or where the surface is very rich. Where the subsoil is at all open and inclined to be dry it is not unusual for the roots of clover to reach down six feet or more below the surface; however, the main bulk of the roots are usually within a foot of the surface. Various experi- ments" and careful estimates have shown that fully one half the weight of a clover plant is below ground in the form of roots. Concerning the stems and leaves I shall speak more in detail in the para- graph which treats of variation of the plant. The flower is irregular, papilianaceous, and its structure rather difficult to understand without considerable study of specimens or good illustrations. The nectar is secreted by small glands at the base, on the inside of the tube formed by the cohesion of the nine inferior filaments, and accumulates around the base of the ovary. In the center of the flower is the pistil, the style of which curves upwards, carrying the stigma a little beyond the anthers. The tenth stamen is free and for most of its length is turned to one side, making it quite easy for the long tongue of a bee to reach the nectar. In the words of Miihler, "^If now a bee inserts its proboscis beneath the vexillum, while it clings with its forelegs on to the alse (which are coherent with the carina), resting its middle and hind legs on a lower part of the inflorescence, the carina and alse are drawn downwards, and the stigmas .and anthers are thrust up against the under side of the bee's head ; the stigma, standing highest, receives the pollen brought by the bee, and instantly after- wards the anthers dust the bee with fresh pollen. Cross -fertilization is thus insured ; self-fertilization may take place as the bee draws back its head, but is probably neutralized and superseded by the immediately preceding cross- fertilization. In order to reach the honey in this way (to the bottom of the tube) an insect must possess a proboscis at least nine to ten m. m. long. The pollen is accessible to all insects which can press down the carina, and such RED CLOVER. 79 insects, whether they reach the nectar or not, will perform cross-fertiliza- tion." In a former report for 1882, which is now scarce and hard to get, I reported various experiments of my students, together with some made by myself to show that BUMBLE BEES ARE A GREAT AID IN FERTILIZING THE FLOWER OP RED CLOVER. The following single experiment will serve as an example. Two fine bunches of the first crop of clover apparently alike, were covered with mosquito netting. No insects were seen about either, except what are men- tioned below: On June 29fch, a bumble bee was placed inside of one netting and seen to work on the flowers. On July 10th, two more bumble bees were introduced and seen to work, and on July 12th more bumble bees were introduced, and were seen to Avork on the flowers. On July 31st, fifty ripe heads were selected from each plant, and the seeds carefully shelled and counted. The fifty heads on the plant where the bumble bees were excluded yielded seeds as follows: 40 heads yiel 6 " 1 1 •• 1 1 Total led one each .-. 6 2 , 5 9 The fifty heads on the plant where bumble bees were inserted and seen to work under the netting, yielded seeds as follows: 25 heads yielded 2 " " one each 2 5 •' " twoeach 10 3 • • ' ' tliree each , 9 3 •• " foureach... 12 3 •' '* five each ■_ _ 15 1 •' " seven. 7 1 '* " eight 8 • 1 •' •' nine 9 1 •' " ten 10 1 ■• " twelve 12 Total 94 In the above experiment, both lots of heads were covered alike with net- ting, that no one could say the difference in yield of seed was due to the fact that one lot was covered and the other not covered. Above, it will be observed that where the bees were seen to work on the flowers the yield of seeds was nearly four times that where the bees were kept away. But j^erhaps the two plants would not have yielded the same number of seeds had they been treated in every way precisely alike. In reply to this suggestion, I can offer the following, which shows that in six examples selected at random, only one was found in which the yield of seeds was nearly twice the number found in the heads containing the fewest seeds. 80 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. On September 13, 1882, I selected of the second crop of red clover, five plants within ten feet of each other, which seemed to be much alike. They had not been covered in any way. The seeds from fifty good heads of each plant were shelled out with the following results : 1,2G0; 1,275 ; 1,4G0; 1,485 ; 1,820. It will be seen that fifty heads from plant number five coiitaiued only about one-third more seeds than fifty lieads from plant number one. In another place fifty heads selected from one plant yielded 2,290 seeds, nearly twice as many as plant number one in the first lot. Mr. Darwin cov- ered one hundred flower heads of red clover by a net and not a single seed was produced, while one hundred heads growing outside yielded by careful estimate 2,720 seeds. lie says: " It is at least certain that bumble-bees are the chief fertilizers of the common red clover," It may not be out of place to say here that experiments with white clover, show that visits of honey bees increase the yield of seeds enormously. In one case eight protected heads yielded five seeds, eight visited by bees yielded 236 seeds. This is an increase of over 47 fold in favor of the laees. A large number of carefully conducted experiments made by many per- sons on a great variety of plants sliow results quite as remarkable as those above cited. Here the bees and bumble-bees not only make use of a waste product, but help the plants as well. Most botanists now believe that odor and showy flowers are advertisements for attracting insects, and that nectar and surplus pollen are the wages to compensate insects for services rendered in fertilizing the flowers. If this be the case, should not the farmer seek to encourage meadow mice which make the nest sought by bumble-bees in which to rear their young ? The bumble-bees, at least, should be encouraged. THE SLEEP OF LEAVES. This can in no way be compared to the sleep of animals, but refers to the fact that the leaves of clover take different positions at night from those assumed during the day time. This difference in position is caused by tur- gescence in the "pulvinus " which is the name applied to a mass of small cells of a pale color found in a certain portion of the leaf stalk. Experiments show that leaves kept open or spread apart, contain more dew in the morning and hence become cooler than those which appi'oach each other. The leaves crowd together or "sleep" for the same purpose that pigs crowd together on a cold night, viz: to keep warm. It has been found that the leaves which sleep do not remain quiet during the night, but continue, without exception, to move during the whole twenty-four hours. All non-sleeping leaves are also in incessant motion, circuninutating. The sleep of plants is a mere modified form of this universal circumnutation. During a warm, dry day, leaves also assume the sleeping position which aids in checking evaporation. There are more *' sleeping " plants among the LegummoscB than are found in all other families put together. A LITTLE AGEigULTURAL CHEMISTRY. Of the thirteen elements necessary for plant growth, the farmer usually need take but little care, excepting in the supply of potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen, and of these three nitrogen is the most precious and costly to- obtain. All agricultural plants draw much of their food from the atmosphere, and of those used by the farmer probably none are much exceeded by clover in. RED CLOVER. 81 the large proportion of mitriment thus derived. In this respect other legu- minous crops are much like red clover. " Clover seed is the best manure that a farmer can use." Clover has been called "a trap for nitrogen," :is it collects and presents large quantities of combined nitrogen in a form ready to nourish growing crops. In the words of Dr. Kedzie, "With an adequate supply of combined nitrogen all the other chemicals of agriculture become active, while a limited supply of active nitrogen correspondingly limits the action of the rest. For higli farming or the raising of exceptionally large crops, the great want is an abundant and cheap supply of ammonia and the nitrates. " An acre of good clover will make 5,000 pounds of hay, containing 282|- pounds of minei-al matter or ash. In this ash will be 97^ pounds of potash, 96 pounds of lime, 34| pounds of magnesia, and 28 pounds of phosphoric acid. The hay will also contain 108 pounds of combined nitrogen." The roots and stubble contain fully as much of these elements as the hay. Baron J. 13. Lawes found that in autumn after the last crop of clover was cut, that remaining above ground and to the depth of 27 inches, was examined : Pounds per acre, dry. Stubble, etc., above ground contained --- 2,669 1st uineinches " " - 3,017 2d " " " 273 3d '• " " 191 Total .-.- - 6,152 This was between three and four times as much dry matter as the residue of the barley. In the words of Kedzie, "The clover hay, or sod, contains enough phos- phoric acid for more than double an average crop, enough nitrogen for morei than four average crops, and potash for more than six average crops of wheat! If any person were preaching the gospel of agriculture, he well might hold up the triple leaf of the red clover as the eymbol of a trinity of blessing to the farmer, furnishing for his cereal crops, from otherwise inadequate sources, a suflicient supply of potassium, phos- phorous, and nitrogen. If I were designing an emblematic seal of our national agriculture, I would make the central figure the clover leaf. For the farmer it is the most effective trap for nitrogen within his reach." The late George Geddes of New York, said: "It has been demonstrated beyond a doubt that clover and plaster are by far the cheapest manures that can be had for our lands — so much cheaper than barnyard manure that the mere loading of and spreading costs more than the plaster and clover. Plow under the clover on the more distant fields when it is at full growth. A very considerable part of the cultivated land of Onondaga county has never had any other manuring than this clover and gypsum, and its fertility is not diminishing. The cost per acre is $2.32." The following as to the use and management of red clover is gleaned from Harris' Talks on Manures : " Clover is, unquestionably, the great reno- vating crop of American agriculture. A crop of clover equal to two tons of hay, when plowed under, will furnish more ammonia to the soil than twenty tons of straw-made manure, fresh and wet, or twelve tons of ordinary barn- jard manure. I prefer to make the clover into hay and feed to animals, as they seldom 11 ({ 82 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. take out more than from five to ten per cent of all the nitrogen furnished in- the food, and less still of mineral matter. If 3'ou plow it under j^ou are sure of it. There is no loss. In feeding it out you may lose more or less from leaching and injurious fermentation. As things are on many farms, it is perhaps hest to plow under the clover for manure at once. As things ought to be, it is a most wasteful practice. " Clover is good for wheat ; plaster is good for clover. The roots run deep, drink large amounts of water, and can live on very weak food. The clover takes up this food and concentrates it. The clover does not create the plant food, it merely saves it. To improve sandy land, instead of plow- ing the clover under or feeding it off, mow the crop just as it commences to- blossom and let the clover lie. There would be no loss of fertilizing by evaporation, and the clover-hay acts as a mulch. Mow the second crop about the first week in August." The following computation of the relative money value of one ton of various foods for producing manure is from the experiment of Mr. Lawes : Cotton seed meal... $27.86 Linseed cake 19.72 Beans 17.73 Wheat bran ..- 14.59 Clover hay 9.64 Indian meal 6.63 Meadow hay 6.43 Oat straw 2.90 Potatoes -- 1.50 Turnips .86 All agricultural plants draw most of their food from the atmosphere directly or indirectly, and of those used none are exceeded by clover in the large proportion of nutriment thus derived. If the stubble and roots contain more than half of the manurial value of red clover, and if live stock only appropriate from five to ten per cent of the nitrogen, and the other 90 to 95 per cent goes back to the field or the dung heap, it certainly must be the best practice, as a rule, to feed red clover instead of plowing it all under. I have not seen a more concise and valuable summary of this matter, than the one by the late Dr. Voelcker, as found in the journal of the Eoyal Agri- cultural Society of England, for 1868. 1. " A good crop of clover removes from the soil more potash, phosphoric acid, lime and other mineral matters, which enter into the composition of the ashes of our cultivated crops, than any other crop usually grown in this country." 'i. " There is fully three times as much nitrogen in a crop of clover as in the average produce of the grain and straw of wheat per acre." 3. " Notwithstanding the large amount of nitrogenous matter of i.sh con- stituents of plants in the produce of an acre, clover is an excellent prepara- tory crop for wheat." 4. "During the growth of clover a large amount of nitrogenous matter accumulates in the soil." 5. "This accumulation, which is greatest in the surface soil, is due to decaying leaves dropped during the growth of clover, and to an abundance of roots, containing when dry from If to 2 per cent, of nitrogen." 6. "The clover roots are stronger and more numerous, and more leaves fall on the ground, when clover is grown for seed than when it is grown for RED CLOVER. 83 hay ; in consequence more nitrogen is left after clover seed than after hay, which accounts for wheat yielding a better crop after clover seed than after hay." 7. " The development of roots being checked when the produce, in a green condition, is fed off by sheep, in all probability, leaves still less nitrogenous matter in the soil than when clover is allowed to get riper and is mown for hay; thus no doubt accounting for the observation made by practical men that notwithstanding the return of the produce in the sheep-excrements, wheat is generally stronger and yields better, after clover mown for hay, than when the clover is fed oft* green by sheep." 8. " The nitrogenous matters in the clover remains, on their gradual decay, are finally transformed into nitrates, thus affording a continuous source of food, on which cereal crops specially delight to grow." 9. " There is strong presumptive evidence that the nitrogen which exists in the shape of ammonia and nitric acid, and descends in these combinations with the rain which falls on the ground satisfies, under ordinary circum- stances, the requirements of the clover crop. This crop causes a large accu- mulation of nitrogenous matters, which are gradually changed in the soil into nitrates. The atmosphere thus furnishes nitrogenous food to the suc- ceeding wheat indirectly, and so to say, gratis." 10. "Clover not only provides abundance of nitrogenous food, but deliv- ers this food in a readily available power (as nitrates) more gradually and continuously, and with more certainty of a good result than such food can be applied to the land in the shape of nitrogenous spring top dressing." The above conclusions should be posted up and read daily by every farmer till they are intelligibly fixed in his mind. Owing to the great depths to which the roots penetrate the soil, — fre- quently six feet or more, — they help to bring up a run-down farm; they bring the valuable ingredients from a great depth and store a large part of them in the main bulk of roots near the surface, where they are available for future plant growth. WHERE WILL RED CLOVER THRIVE ? . Red clover is well adapted to many portions of the temperate regions of the earth. It likes best a soil of clay loam rich in lime, but will thrive bet- ter than Timothy and many other fine grasses where the land is sandy or gravelly. On good grass land it is usually the custom to sow Timothy with red clover, although it blossoms some three weeks later. Many prefer to sow orchard grass with clover, as they flower and are ready to cut at the same time. Timothy is well adapted to sow with the large or late clover. Red clover is not only a general favorite in the United States from Maine and New Jersey to Iowa and Illinois, but is very valuable farther West and South. For Kansas: Professor Shelton reports that it deserves a prominent place in the list of forage plants. In some very dry seasons, it fails almost entirely, but during the favorable seasons it flourishes abundantly, and yields more — both of hay and pasture — than is generally obtained in the East. When land is once seeded, it never runs out, as is the case in the Eastern States, but thickens and spreads continually by self-seeding. He believes that nowhere are such large crops of clover seed grown as in Kansas. In Mississippi : Professor Phares says red clover grows most luxuriantly 84 FARMEES' INSTITUTES. on all their lands with tenacious red or yellow clay subsoil, even though the soil be thin; and once set, it remains as long as the farmer desires, pro- vided he does not mow more than twice each year, nor graze too heavily. In Georgia: The late C. W. Howard says, "This is the most valuable herbaceous plant to the Southern farmer. It bears grazing admirably, makes excellent hay and in large quantity, and thrives on land of moderate fertility. The doubts as to whether red clover would succeed at the South have been dispelled. At the South it lasts for several years." Red clover is valuable to enricli the land and hence to enrich the owner; it is not excelled by any forage crop as a wholesome summer pasture for swine, and some have spoken very highly of its use in winter when fed to swine in the form of hay. For soiling, a good growth of red clover is verj valuable and it has often beeti packed into the silo to feed as ensilage in the winter. AVe have ample testimony from a great variety of sources that red clover with a liltle gypsum and perhaps a top dressing of some other fertilizer, is one of the best ways to smother and kill out our worst weeds. The following was furnished by special request by J. S. Woodward, now one of the editors of the Ihiral New Yorker : " Canada thistles have long roots which store up nourishment during the latter part of summer and fall to feed the spring growth. I kill the thistles without the loss of a crop, as follows: Have the land rich, if possible, at least have it well seeded to clover and by top-dressing with plaster, ashes, or by some means get as good growth to the clover as possible. As soon as the clover is in full bloom, and here and there a thistle shows a blossom, mow and make the crop, thistles and all, into hay. After mowing, apply a little plaster to quickly start the growth of clover; you will find this to come much quicker than the thistles. As soon as the clover has a good start, from July 20th to August 5th, plow down, being careful to plow all the land and to fully cover all growth. Then roll and harrow at once, so as to cover every thistle. But few thistles will ever show themselves after this, and they will look pale and weak. When they do show, cultivate thor- oughly with a cultivator having broad, sharp teeth, so as to cut every one off under ground. In two days, go over with a sharp hoe and cut off any that may have escaped the cultivator. Watch the thistles, and keep using the hoe and cultivator until freezing weather. You will see them getting scarcer and scarcer each time and looking as though they had the consump- tion. By plowing this field just before freezing up, you will have the land in the finest condition for a spring crop. This plan not only kills thistles, but ox-eye daisies and other weeds. It is much better than a summer-fallow, and without the loss of any crop," PUTTIXG IN THE SEED. Too little care is exercised in selecting the seed, as most of it contains more or less seeds of pernicious weeds, and especially does this caution become more and more necessary as the country becomes older. The troublesome weeds of a farm can generally be directly traced to foul seeds sown with grasses and clovers for the meadows and pastures. In the northern portion of the United States numerous experiments seem to clearly indicate that it is best to sow seeds of red clover in spring. In some sections it is sown even before freezing ceases, but many now practice RED CLOVER. 85 sowing just in time for the young plants to begin growth with the first early vegetat.'on. If sown in autumn, especially late, the young plants are very likclv too feeble to survive the winter. If sown at all in autumn, the date should be early enough to give plants a good start. In the warmer parts of our Union, clover is often sown in autumn or in winter. Clover seed is most generally sown where wheat and some Timotby were sown the autumn previous, though it is not unt'requently sown in spring with a thin seeding of oats or barley. It is a common practice with our best farmers to barrow the ground very lightly before sowing the clover seed. This benefits the wheat as well as favors the growth of the clover. Where no grass seeds have been previously sown, at the West the farmer sows G, 8, or 10, or even 1-2 pounds of clover seed to the acre, but at the East 20 or 30 pounds is not thought too much. In Great Britain, which possesses a moist climate favorable to the develop- ment of grasses and clovers, it is the practice to sow much more seed than is usually sown in the United States. There are 1G,000 clover seeds to the ounce or 150,000 to the pound. In ten pounds there would be 1,500,000 seeds. In England farmers often sow seeds of grasses and clovers enough, if all grew, to produce 10,878,000 to 27,000,000 plants, which is ten to tifteen times the amount thought sullicient by our V-'estern farmers. The Englishman seeks to get large numbers of fine, small stems instead of fewer large, coarse ones. In various poi-tious of our country, isolated farmers have sown clover in the spring on well prepared land without the presence of another crop, and they get a crop of grass or clover the first year. This practice needs more thought from the average farmer. CARE OF THE YOUNG CLOVER. It has often been shown beyond question tluit the young plants will be more certain to live, and will grow faster and become stouter, if not sown with a grain crop. If the wheat is thick and large, the clover is likely to suffer; if the wheat is thin and light, clover is likely to become large and crowd it. It must not be forgotten that young clover is most generally greatly bene- fited by even a very light dnsting with gypsum, say one-fourth to half or even a bushel to tlie acre. Sheep and swine must not be allowed to feed young clover, at least very long, because it may be much damaged or even killed. Clover needs a little time to get its roots well established, and this can not be done without the aid of green tops. Clover fails "to catch " for a great variety of reasons. The soil may be ver/ much "run down"; or the seed is poor, sown too late, the ground too rough, not harrowed nor raked ; the oats or wheat get the start and choke it out; the weather in spring is too dry, too hot; the young plants are fed too closely. The frosts of spring may kill the young plants. "WINTER KILLING AND REMEDIES. Red clover not unfrequently " winter-kills " or "heaves out," and the dead plants in spring stick up out of the ground several inches, especially in winter when there has been a little snow on the ground and frequent alternations of freezing and thawing. To prevent winter killing, see that the plants are well established in autumn and that they are not fed off closely. Thorough tile draining is a, 86 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. great benefit. A moderate amount of tops left on the ground will often be of some assistance, or a very thin mulch of straw put on after the ground has just hecome well frozen. An early mulching of straw has sometimes done more harm than good. Ko attempt should be made to save red clover over to a third year, as such efforts are not successful. As spring approaches and the ground warms up, it is rather discouraging to find the clover killed out. The proprietor often plows up the ground and puts in another crop, thus leaving the land in a still worse condition for the next seeding to clover. He raises millet, or Indian corn or rye, or buys of his neighbors a supply of winter feed. In case of partial winter killing the writer cannot help thinking that too little attention has been given " to patching up" such as meadows in spring. By this is meant to harrow, re-seed, and if possible, top dress with some sort of manure. THE BEST TIME FOR CUTTING CLOVER FOR HAT. The following is from Prof, H. P. Armsby: ''What has been shown to be true of meadow hay in this respect applies also to clover. The earlier it is cut, the more concentrated and digestible the fodder, while as it grows older, the crude fibre increases and it becomes coarse and less easily digested. In regard to the advantages of early and frequent cuttings, the experiments do not all give such striking results as those on grass." It is not my purpose and time will not permit giving a full account of what is already familiar to good farmers, viz: the curing of clover for hay, but I will give a brief account for your consideration of the method prac- ticed by the Hon. L. N. Bonham, a member of the State Board of Agricul- ture, Oxford, Ohio. He has long since abandoned the old method of his fathers and now puts up his clover hay in the mow the same day it is cut. The hay is far better and the labor and risk in making it are far less. He selects a bright day for starting the mower and begins as soon as the dew is off. By 11 o'clock, he cuts as much as can be hauled in between 1 and 5 o'clock. The clover is turned before dinner. By 1 o'clock it is dry enough to rake into windrows if the day is a good one. After 5 o'clock the mower cuts some for getting in the next day. His mow is quite tight and he packs the hay in snug, pre- ferring to put wheat or straw or something on top of the hay. He wants to keep the air out and pack it well. In this way, clover put in the mow, warm and dry the day it is cut, will keep brighter and purer and sweeter than if cured longer in the field. Of course it is not dry, but quite free from external moisture. SAYING CLOVER SEED. The proper time to cut for seed is a difficult one to state, especially as the heads ripen unevenly. The heads should be examined, as the first ripened frequently contain few seeds, but sometimes more than the heads which blossom later. Some farmers have observed that clover, when cut quite early, from the 5th to the loth of June at the Xorth, is more certain to seed well than that out later. In some instances they report double the amount of seed from the clover which was cut early. Considering its high price, if there is any prosjiect of greatly increasing the yield of seeds more experiments are much needed. Some were suggested in the paragraph which treats of the agency of bumble RED CLOVER. 87 bees in fertilizing the flowers. In England, Dr. A. Voelcker tried some dif- ferent sorts of manure for this purpose with results by no means satisfactory or conclusive. Probably the efforts were made in the wrong direction, as indicated in the preceding paragraphs. For securing the seed, red clover is ordinarily cut with a reaper which delivers the clover in small gavels. In this way the clover is moved to one side and is not damaged by the tramping of the horses. The clover is allowed to lie until it is well dried and probably black and brittle. It may need turning once or more before dry and ready to thresh or draw to the stack or the barn. Clover seed during the harvesting will stand a good deal of abuse and not lose its vitality. During a very unfavorable season for curing, when there was much rain, I tested samples from about sixty different farms in Michigan and found they averaged 85 per cent of good seeds, rarely going as low as 75 per cent., though one lot went down to 25 per cent. Some went up to 98 per cent. RELATIVE VALUE OF DARK COLORED AND LIGHT COLORED CLOVER SEED. Dark colored, bright looking seeds are generally considered the best. The results obtained on testing numerous samples in different seasons indicate that there is no difference in favor of the dark seeds either in vitality or the quality of the plants which they produce. It is generally the case that all the seeds, or nearly all, from one plant resemble each other in color and size. Some plants produce yellow seeds, others produce dark ones, others produce seeds of mixed colors. Clover is usually threshed and cleaned with a machine made for the pur- pose. The yield runs from less than a bushel to the acre to two bushels a fair yield, four bushels a fine yield, or even six bushels an exceptionally good yield. VARIATION OF RED CLOVER. The late Professor James Barkman of England (in Jour. Eoyal Agr. Soc, p. 446, 1866), says the American red clover is a much larger and coarser plant and more hairy than that cultivated in England, doubtless due to a longer and warmer summer. The wild clover, as early introduced into Europe, is usually the small hairy plant that we meet with [in England], and greatly different from that •described by Sinclair, which is larger and quite smooth. The Professor adds that " both when wild and when cultivated, it is perhaps as protean in form as any plant the farmer has to deal with. Some are more perennial than others; all are more or less hardy, more or less productive, and these differ- ences have a high significance. However, it seldom happens that any particular type can be obtained pure, though the value of the seed varies just in proportion as it is so. '' There are three desiderata with regard to clover: " 1. A good sort or sorts. " 2. Pure seed of the sort. "3. Seed from a known and suitable climate." The Professor goes on to describe six of the leading varieties, none of which are Just like those I find in Michigan. Not long ago our seeds of red clover came from Europe, and already we have a great change in the plants. 88 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. I have for some years past studied quite carefully in different sta^res of growth, at different seasons., and on different soils, many hundreds of pliints. I have preserved some of the plants and seeds of a few of the most striking. There is nearly, or quite, a month's difference in the time of producing the first crop of flowers. Some plants stool out and send up many stalks; others few. On hot, dry days some plants wilt, while others show no signs of wilting. Some plants are tall and large, or slender; others are short, even where the soil seems to be uniform ; some are erect, even where there is nothing to crowd them; others spread out at once, even where somewhat crowded. The leaves and stems of some plants are densely pubescent ; others are nearly smooth, and between these are all gradations. In tliis respect the same plant varies a little at different seasons. The stems vary much in length and number of branches and in the color. On some plants the leaves are dark green; on others light green. The leaflets often contai a a light spot, which varies in shape, size, and intensity. Some are destitute of any trace of spots. Some leaves are firm and a quarter or mo)e thicker than, others; some are thin and flabby. Some leaflets are as broad as long; ot lers are elliptical, lanceolate. The stipules vary in shape, color, and i^osition taken. The heads of flowers vary in size and shape, and so far as seen were sessile, with an involucre of two leaves. The calyx tube and the lobes of the calyx vary in size and hardiness. The petals vary in length, direction taken, and differ in color from dirty white to pink and bright scarlet. Varying with the season, and pi'obably with the plant, the pistils contain each from none to two, three, or even four seeds. There is a marked difference, as before observed, in the color of the seeds. Of some plants observed, I give the following bi-ief description: Plant No. 1 is early, stems purplish, few and small, erect, quite hairy, leaflets spot- ted, rather narrovv, leaflets of the involucre, lance-elliptical. Plant No. & ^= hite, stems few, stout, s])rawling, quite smooth, purplish, leaflets rather narrovv, with scarcely a trace of a spot. Plant No. 17 is very late, stems long, of medium size, spreading, g.'een, quite hairy; leaves light green, spot inconspicuous. Plant No. 19 is a seedling of dark seed. The stems come up early, are numerous, large, tall, erect, smooth, purplish; leaflets rather broad, thick, very dark green, with no trace of spots; flowers dark colored. THE ilODEL PLANT. I have begun a few experiments in a very small way by selecting and rais- ing ditferent races of red clover. This variation in red clover in our fields is a broad hint at the results which may be obtained by care and study. For the Northern States we need a red clover which starts early, grows rapidly, has numerous erect, rather stout stems which are not large. If too woody, the stems make coarse food ; if they contain too little woody matter they will not be stiff enough to stand up well. The plant should be rather hairy, as such plants usually endure hot, dry weather best. The plants should seed freely, and to aid in this, if possible, the tube of the flower should be short enough to permit honey bees to reach the nectar. The tongue of a honey bee when stretched out is six to seven micro-milli- meters in length, while the tube of the carolla of red clover is nine or tert micro-millimeters. It seems by this, there is a wide breach to be gained in growth of tongue or shortening of flower before the honey bee can sip the RED CLOVER. 89- nectar at the bottom of the tube. The tono^ue must elongate one-third or the tube of the carrolla shorten one-third. The occasional visits of bees to the flowers of red clover may be accounted for by supposing they seek pollen or they seek the honey which has filled a considerable portion of the floral tube. The upper portion of this honey can be reached, even with the tongue of the ordinary honey bee. I again call your attention to what has frequently appeared in former reports and lectures of mine. To raise seed of clover which shall produce plants that are more hardy, larger, more vigor- ous a)id more prolific of seed, mix seed grown in remote localities. CLOVER SICKNESS. This is a term used in Great Britain to indicate a failure of the plants to thrive after they have once started. Many observations and experiments have been made and much has been written on tlie topic in regard to the- cause and remedies. Except in a very few places in the older portions of the United States, no trouble of this natur*^ has appeared on this side of the Atlantic. Kecent investigations by Kutzleb show that clover sickness is not due to parasites, to lack of nitrogen, to lack of water, or to unfavoi-able physical properties of the soil, but to a deficiency of easily soluble potash, especially in the subsoil.* It is not improbable as our country grows older, that repeated crops of clover may so deprive the subsoil of the potash that clover sickness may become common. HOVEN. This is a term applied to cattle which have become sick and bloated after eating too heartily of clover which was fresh and wet. At such times, till the cattle have become used to the feed so as not to be greedy, they should be turned off the clover after eating for a short time. TRIFOLIUM MEDIUM L. MAMMOXn, GIANT, OR PEA VINE CLOVER. COW- GRASS [of ENGLAND]. The following description of the typical form as it appears in England, i& mainly from hooker's FLORA. Plant slightly hairy ; leaflets oblong, obtuse, or acute; stipules herbace- ous, free portion spreading; heads sub-globose, terminal, often shortly peduncled, subtended by opposite leaves; calyx-teeth setaceous, spreading in fruit, lowest, a little longest. June to September, perennial. Stems,. straggling, flexuous, often zig-zag. Leaflets, 1-2 in., rather rigid, almost quite entire, ciliate. Ileads^l-l^ in. diam. Flowers, | in., rose-purple. Calyx-throat with a ring of hairs, tube 10 nerved glabrous; teeth reaching, half way up the petals. Pod, often dehiscing longitudinally. Distri- buted in Europe, Sibei'ia, Western Asia; introduced in North America. This clover is Trifolmm medium Vind so named along time ago by Linnaeus- The common name might with propriety be " medium red cluver." I men- tion this fact because farmers have lately got in the notion of calling the early red clover "medium " clover. Mammoth clover is quite similar in appearance to the early red clover,. but it flowers later, with timothy, is very often a perennial and is adiijtted ♦ Note.— H. P. Armsby : Science p. U6, 1883. 12 -90 FARMERS' INSTITUTES.. for permanent pasture ; the stems are larger, more inclined to spread ; the leaflets are narrower and often destitute of a light spot, the flowers are hright red and larger than in Triflolmm pratense and form less compact heads. The samples found at the Agricultural College and in many other places :show all grades of intermediate forms. These two species seem to be freely hybridized. At my request, my friend A. C. Glidden, of Paw Paw, Michigan, has ■made numerous inquiries in reference to its value in his portion of the State -where it has been largely grown. L. B. Lawrence, of Little Prairie Ronde, Cass Co., who owns a large prairie farm, has grown it for many years. He considers it less hardy than the other species ; it is more liable to "heave " in the spring, and often grows ■so rank as to kill itself by the burden of stalk on the surface. He thinks the roots are smaller and that it feeds on the surface, and does not work in the subsoil like the other species. He formerly pastured this clover till the first of June, when he allowed it to flower and seed, which would often come off early enough to plow for wheat. He has recently run over the field with a mower, clipping the tops about the first of June, and allowing them to remain as a mulch, while the new growth forms seed. D. Woodman, of Paw Paw, once sowed a field in equal divisions of the two kinds, and the mammoth clover furnished double the amount of feed for pasture, as compared with the other half of the field. The season was a dry one. The prevailing sentiment is that the mammoth clover does not make as good hay as the other species; it is often coarse and woody. Another point should not be overlooked. They all agree that the mammoth clover is much the most productive of seeds. As this is the case we may expect it will soon hecome more common than it is at present. Farmers will select the large Ikind to raise seeds to sell, and many times this seed will finally be purchased "by farmers and sown, supposing it to be the early or round-leaved red clover. In managing this crop, it should be understood that if left without pasturing or mowing in spring, there will be a small crop of seed. " In Central New York," says Professor Roberts of Cornell University, ^' of late years we mow the seeded land but once, and pasture in the fall the ;abundant second growth. Since 1878 the clover-root beetle, Hylastes trifolii, Miihl, has worked upon clover to such an extent that it invariably fails tlie •second year. This has caused us to change from a five to a four year rota- tion, viz., hay, corn, oats, and wheat. Prof. Beal added some comments on the increase of insect enemies to the ■clover, but said that the parasitic enemies of these insects are also on the increase. At Hudsonville the following discussion took 'place after the reading of the paper. Mr. Densmore: As to plowing clover under, when should it be done, in blossom or when seed is ripe ? Prof. Johnson : lu preparing for wheat, plow under early and cultivate till time to seed, so as to get the clover so decomposed that it will be in good con- dition to feed the young wheat. When plowed later I get less benefit. Prof. Beal : My idea exactly. In England it has been found that plowing under clover stubble after cutting off the seed gives better results than plowing RED CLOVER. 91 binder the whole crop. As a rule it is better to feed clover off before plowing under. Prof. Johnson : We sow timothy in the fall with wheat and in the spring when the ground is well settled, sow clover. We have little trouble on our soils (chiefly clay) in getting a good seeding. On light sandy lands it may be better to sow in the fall, though in this case the wheat is apt to be checked by excess- ive growth of the clover. President Willits : I have heard a prominent cultivator assign as a reason for feeding down before plowing under, that to plow under the whole causes it to sour and leaves the soil in bad condition. Prof. Beal : There is nothing in the souring idea. He probably plowed under so near to the time for wheat seeding that it had not sufficiently decayed to be of use to wheat. President Briggs : About Grand Rapids we had some experience with clover sickness. Some assign this to excessive use of plaster. Rest from clover cures the trouble. We like mammoth clover even for hay and much better for pas- turage, chiefly because it holds on longer in the season than the smaller variety and is good through July and sornetitnes into August, depending on seasons. Our soil is neither particularly light nor heavy. The clover sickness was on light soil. Prof. Beal : I think mammoth clover the best kind for planting with timo- thy if tmiothy is to be used at all. I am surprised to hear of this clover sick- ness. I have seen some of it. May this difficulty not be due to insects or fungi ? Mr. Hamilton : My early experience was on clay land, and there plowing under clover produced much better results than pasturing. Here on gravel soil I have not found plowing under so good. I cannot get a wheat bed suffi- ciently compacted below after plowing under clover. On heavy clays this point is rather an advantage. Mr. Briggs : The proper time and manner of seeding depends on the sea- -fions and is uncertain. If you sow in the fall you run the risks of the winter. I prefer to plant when the land is settled in the spring and then harrow ivell with a light, fine-toothed harrow. Don't be afraid ! You will benefit the wheat instead of hurting it. I use the shoe drill to sow clover and thus get it ^ to ^ inch deep. Think it will not germinate if much deeper. Dr. Godfrey : I have practiced the method of curing clover mentioned by Prof. Beal, viz: putting it in the day it is cut and it is thus green, loses very little by scattering, and I can often get the price of timothy for it. Mr. Morton : Twenty years' experience on soil near Grand Rapids leads me to expect the best results from sowing clover in the fall and timothy late in the spring. Putting clover into the barn the same day that it is cut can only be done if it grows very thin on the ground and wilts very quickly. I cut in the morning when the dew is on. As soon as the dew is off I cock up and let it sweat (if the weather permits) and put it in the barn damp and green and have no dust. Dr. Godfrey: Jamestown has no such soil as Mr. Morton mentions. My clo- ver crop is so heavy that the track clearer cannot make a way for a team the next time around. Mr. Beaumont : At what stage do you cut ? Dr. Godfrey : The earlier the better, as soon as the heads are beginning to turn. Secretary Clark : I see no difficulty in this question in view of the facts iregarding ensilage, which is simply fodder stored when wholly green. I use a 92 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. tedder and put clover in the same day it is cut when I can get around to it. Of course it will not do to put it in with dew on or outside dampness. Dr. Godfrey : I dump my clover at the bottom of a tight barn and pitch my wheat on top of that. !^^r. Beaumont : Does your mow sweat ? Dr. Godfrey : I don't know. Secretary Clark : Does the steam never hurt the wheat ? Dr. Godfrey : Never. Mr. Moody: Can wo get more benefit from permanent pasture than from plowing and re-seeding? Mr. Moody asked to see the hands of those who pre- ferred ])C'rnianent pasture, and three hands were raised. Those who preferred reseodini,'- showed 100 hands. Mr. Moody: My permanent pastures stood long drouths and I think we ought to keep some fields in this shape, particularly new fields while the Btuni]is are rotting. Mr. lliuks: I tliink we will come to a time when the soiling system will suiK'rscde ])asturing. Mr. Fritz: Does Mr. Moody think a permanent pasture better than one- re-seeded? Mr. Moody: I do. Mr. Sl);i\v: I voted in favor of permanent pasture, ^fy father lived in a great did ry country in Ohio and there they pursued that })olicy. In Leu iwee County they do the same and my own experience is in favor of permanent pasture.-'. Mr. lIufTman: The Oliio practice 1^, to frequently change pastures, not to let cattle run too long on one pie^e. In tliis way permanent pasture is best. I know of fields that have stood forty years in pasture, but tlie cattle arc only allowed to run a short time on each field. Mr. Keid: I woultl like to ask those from Ohio if they think Michigan soils as well adapted to permanent pasture as Ohio soils. I qui'stion it. I am not familiar with Ohio soils, but think in general that permanent pasture is not a good ])olicy on Michigan soils. Mr. Moody: Most of us have certain fields which are well adapted to per- manent i»asture, even though some of our fields may not be so. High and sandy soils need clovering ami re-soe>ling to keep them in condition. Prof. J5eal: Many of us have ancestors from Great Britain, where permanent pasture is common. It is true that dani]) soils will often do better as per- manent pasture, but uplands and lighter or dryer soils should be re-seeded. Secretary Chamberlain pays that a lield ])lowed once in three years will pro- duce three times as much hay as the same land un])lowed. Clover and timothv, our ])rincipal hay crops, are not suited to permanent pastures, whereas meadow fescue and some others of the more common English grasses will do better for such puri)oses. Mr. Fritz: The chief trouble of our permanent pasture is, as stated, the kind of grass used. Permanent pastures are. best with a great variety of grast^es, often as many as twenty-five or thirty, and this gives tlavor and qualiiy to the butter. So in our meadows, by sowing a greater variety of grasses we would get better results. Mr. Shaw: As to permanent meadow the trouble is in p:isturing as soon as mown. You can't mow and pasture too. Keep your cattic otf and you'll get one-third more hay. Farmers complain of grasses running out. The trouble is they are killed out by pasturing after mowing. Clover will last ten years if not pastured. SOURCES OF NITROGEN OF PLANTS. 93 Mr. Fritz: Does any one know of a good grass for sandy land? ■Prof. Beal: Ked clover. SOURCES OF NITROGEN OF PLANTS. BY TKOF. R. C. KEDZIE. [Read at Rochester and East gaginaw Farmers' Institutes.] Oat of the sixty-five or more simple or elementary substances known to the -chomist only thirteen are found in tlie crops grown on the farm. Tliey have Leon called the chemicals of agriculture. Out of this bakers' dozen of ele- nieutiiry bodies, all the plants grown on the farm are formed. They do not all appear to be of equal import nee in plant life; some appear to confer a high quality and great nutritive value to the plant, while others appear to pos- sess little distinctive character. Some seem to be present in so large quantity in all ordinary soils that every plant finds enough for its wants. On the other hand a few are in such nioderate amount in many soils and the available stock is so soon diminished that plants find difficulty in obtaining the supply required for producing large crops Three substances in these chemicals of agriculture stand out in bold relief, imparting high quality to crops, augmenting their product, yet soonest exhaust- ed in the process of cropping. Tiieso are potas ium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. Wherever a field has been exhausted by cropping, the exhaustion consists in the absence in available form of one or more of these three substances. The dead cotton fields of the South and the tobacco lands of Virginia have been killed by the continuous removal of these three chemicals by changeless cropping. These dead fields shall find a resurrection when these elements are again restored, or when the slow but healing hand of nature shall bring into active form these elements of fertility now locked in insoluble combinations. Biit we need not go South to find sick and dying fields. Wherever you find a farm that is run down and out of condition by continuous cropping, always taking off and never restoring the materials for plant growth, you may safely isay that the farm is deficient in available sup[)ly of these three substances. Tliese three are preeminently the chemicals of agriculture, and in determining the value of commercial nianures these are the only substances taken into account. The last legislature passed a law regulating the sale of commercial fertilizers, and this law req'iires an exaot statement of the quality of each of these three substances in fertilizers offered for sale in this State. These three substances have a commercial value as fertilizers as well recognized in the mar- ket as the price of wheat and pork. When it is said that nitrogen in the form of ammonia and nitrates is worth eighteen cents, phosphorus in form of solu- ble phosphates is wo th twelve cents, and soluble potash is worth five cents a pound, it is affirmed that under suitable conditions the farmer can afford to pay such prices for these articles to use as fertilizers on his farm, because the increase of the crop will joay for the outlay and still afford a net profit to the farmer. In this passing allusion to commercial fertilizers it is not my design to start a boom for guanos and super-phosphates, but rather to show the subordinate 94 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. position they now hold in Michigan farming. When to buy and when to- abstain is a question of highest importance to the farmer, and requires careful consideration and mature Judgment. A kind-hearted duchess was shocked to hear that some of her poor neighbors had died for want of bread. " How dreadful ! If these poor people c uld not get bread, why did they not bvy calces and not starve in this absurd way ! " Tl)e farmer Avho neglects to make availa- ble the natural supplies of these prime factors of fertility lying dormant in his soil, but rushes off to get commercial fertilizers to take their place, is buying cakes of the duchess. The farming that pays (the only farming worth consid- eration) derives the bulk of these three materials from the soil; and commer- cial fertilizers, if used at all, come in to supplement the soil supply, not to take it place. But the theme for discussion this evening is not manures in general or com- mercial fertilizers in particular, but the sources from which plants derive their supply of nitrogen. No subject has awakened keener controversy than the sources of nitrogen for plants. For more than a hundred years this matter has been before the supreme court of science for adjudication, and chemists of highest rank have appeared on the witness stand to give the results of years of laborious investigation and experiment on this subject. It was easy enough to show that nitrogen " in the active form," in the condition of ammonia or nitric- acid, or in combinations capable of ready conversion into ammonia or nitrates,, would readily contribute to plant growth. Yet the question continually came up, " Are these the only sources of nitrogen for plants? Can nitrogen in the so called inert form — as humose nitrogen of the soil, or free nitrogen of the air — contribute to plant nutrition ?" To one unacquainted with the peculiarities of this most peculiar substance, these questions would seem frivolous. The great reservoir of nitrogen is the atmosphere. The leaves of agricultural plants, representing in many respects both tlie mouth and stomach of the living organism, are surrounded and floo-led with nitrogen every moment of their life. Why, then, cannot the plant drink from the cup thus constantly pressed to its lips the needed element for which it languishes ? Yet the almost unanimous verdict of chemists is that atmospheric nitrogen is not the source of nitrogen for plants. A few chemists, such as Vielle of France, and lately Atwater of this country, teach that the free nitrogen of the air is one source of supply for growing plants. Yet the great body of chemists consider atmospheric nitrogen incapable of contributing directly to plant nutrition. Though dying for the nitrogen that penetrates it at every pore, the plant must yet take up the poet's wail, " Thou art so near, and yet so far." Wliile thus summarily dismissing the plant supply of atmospheric or free nitrogen, the question comes up about the humose nitrogen of the soil, or " the inert nitrogen of the vegetable matter of the soil." It seems to have been taken for granted that this combined nitrogen belongs to the same class of inactive materials as the free nitrogen of air. The question for our consideration this evening is whether this classification of the nitrogen of the soil with free nitrogen of the air as alike and equally incapable of contributing to plant life, holds true of every kind of plants grown on the farm ? It is a significant fact that the organic matter of the soil contains an aver- age of 2 per cent of combinations of nitrogen, about the same amount that is found in well fermented barnyard manure. The humus of the soil thus con- tains from 2,500 to 6,000 pounds of nitrogen to each acre of arable soil taken to a depth of 12 inches, more than enough to supply the nitrogen for a score- SOURCES OF NITROGEN OF PLANTS. 95 of the heaviest crops ever raised. "What is the office of this combined nitrogen, Tvhat relation does it bear to plant nutrition? To summarily dismiss this large amount of combined material by calling it inert "of no more use than the free nitrogen of air" is to make a hasty generalization. Is it incapable of assimi- lation by all kinds of plants and agriculturally to be considered " light as a puff of empty air?" Has not the epithet "inert" been applied -without due consideration? Four years ago I began a series of experiments on the relations of this organic nitrogen of the soil to plant growth, and three years ago I read an. article on this subject at the Farmers' Institute, at Armada. The quantitative estimation of the nitrogen in these experiments had not then been made. The experiments have been continued year by year, and the results of these trials and the estimation of the nitrogen are now given. CONDITIONS OF THE EXPERIMENT. In order to determine whether any material is essential to the growth of a plant we endeavor to raise a plant in the entire exclusion of this one material,, every other substance found in plants being furnished in sufficient amount. If the plant makes complete growth, growing "from seed to ripen perfect seed," and makes a healthy growth in complete absence of any given substance, then we say that substance is not necessary to the growth of that plant. But if the want of any given element is uniformly attended by unhealthy growth and incomplete development, then such substance is said to be essential tO' plant growth. Nitrogen is one of these essential elements, and no plant can make perfect growth without it. If now a plant is supplied with every chemical element of growth in available form except nitrogen, and this only in some particular form of combination,, the question is settled that the plant can obtain its supply of nitrogen from this particular combination if it makes perfect growth under these conditions.. So also if one class of plants will make complete growth under these conditions, while other classes fail to make such perfect growth, the question is settled about the relative power of these two classes of plants to supply themselves from this source of nitrogen. For this purpose an artificial soil must be used from which all other forms of combined nitrogen are excluded, and no form of combined nitrogen obtain access to it in the form of rain or dew, which usually contain ammonia and nitrates in small amovint. The body of such artificial soil was made of silicious sand which had been, heated red hot to expel any ammonia and nitrates; the vessels used to hold the soil were new flower pots which had been heated red-hot for some time ; the mineral matter was supplied by wood ashes, and a little pure soluble phosphate of lime ; the water was distilled and made as free as possible from ammonia ; the plants grown in a glazed room, freely exposed to light, but shut off from rain and dew, and finally 13 per cent of swamp muck was added to the soil as the source of combined nitrogen, this muck being a fair representative of the average humus of the soil. A part of the nitrogen of humus is called active because it is readily con- verted into ammonia by boiling with caustic lime, but a part is incapable of readily forming ammonia, and hence is called inert. In order to discriminate between the active and inert forms of the nitrogen of humus, two parallel series of experiujents were carried on, one with humus in the natural state, and one 96 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. ■with liuniua that had been boiled for three hours with water contain'ng lime iu the caustic state, this series l»eitig labelled " humus without ammonia." A num- ber of kinds of plants were used iu these iuvestigatiims, but the discussion of results is eontined to two plants — red clover representing our great tnanural crop, "the nitrogen producer" of Vielle; and wheat, our great cash crop, representing " the nitrogen cousumers." NITKIFICA.TION. During the season of growth a part of the inert nitrogen of humus may be ■changed into active form by nitrification. This process may be modified by the action of tlie growing plant, but would in other respects be the same in all of the series. It could not be estimated in the soils in whicli the plants were growing without changing the conditions of the experiments and deranging the conditions of growth. As its benefits would be given to all the ])Iants of a given ser es, no elfort at a separate estimation was attempted, the ol)ject being rather to determine the dilference iu capacity of these two classes of plants to Gccure nitrogen from a common source. PLANTING AND HARVESTING, The seeds for these experimental plants were planted the latter part of Feb- ruary and the plants gathered the fore part of August. The time of planting was selected because the chemical laboratory was iieated by steam from latter part of February for balance of the college year and danger of freezing obvi- ated. Tlie first year Clawson wheat was used as one of the experimental plants. This is a winter wheat, and, l^eing grown under the conditions of spring wheat, it did not head out or attempt the formation of see 1. The next year fall planting of all the experimental plants was employed and the [)lants carried through the winter by stove heat, and in summer the plants were carried to the greenhouses; but a few days of intensely hot weather and neglect of ventilation burned up the i)lants and the year's toil in experiment ended in disastrous failure, though the [)lants at one time gave good promise. The next year a spring wheat was used which headed out and gave promise of results of value, but just before the plant was harvested a mouse went through ten heads. What he gathered I don't know and he never told, but the experi- ment was a failure. 1 mention these things as illustrating some of the diffi- culties and accidents of experimenting. In 1885 the Minnesota Amber was used in the experiment, and the results were satisfactory both in wheat and clover. All of these crops, when their scientific value had not manifestly been destroyed by accident, were gathered, dried, weighed and finally their contents of nitrogen determined by analy- ses, involving an amount of work not recognized by persons who have never attempted similar investigations. RESULTS. To get a clear idea of the results of these experiments I present them to you under two forms : I. The relative increase of the total crop as compared with the seed from Avhich itgrevr. II. The relative increase of nitrogen in the crop compared with that contained in the original seed. The seed is taken as the unit of comparison both for the total crop and the content of nitrogen. SOURCES OF NITROGEN OF PLANTS. 97 HUMUS IN THE NATUKAL CONDITION. The Clawsoii wlieat (1882) gave an increase of crop 60 times that of the seed, and the nitrogen increased 25 fold ; while the clover for 1883 gave an increase 3,188 times that of the seed, and the nitrogen was increased 1068 fold. In 1885 the Minnesota spring wheat gave an increase of crop 200 times that of the seed, and 116 times the quantity of nitrogen, while clover the same year gave an increase in crop of 11,405 times the weight of the seed, and the nitrogen was increased 3,892 times. HUMUS DEPRIVED OF NITROGEN. The wheat (1882) grown in a soil where the humus