Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1872 [PAGE 33]

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29 of insects, and the ravages of vegetable diseases, render imperative increased knowledge and skill on the part of the cultivator, while the demand of the age calls loudly for general intellectual and moral cultui'e fully equal to that given to the other pursuits and professions of life.

INSTRUCTION.

The instruction is both theoretical and practical. The class room recitations and lectures are supplemented by instructive practice in the fields arid plant houses. In connection with the lectures upon methods of obtaining and perpetuating new varieties of plants, students have practical exercises in cross-fertilizing, seeding, grafting, budding, etc., as a part of their regular education. So, in connection with the studies of ornamental plants and grounds, the care of the green houses, etc., constitutes an essential feature of the student's work. Ladies and gentlemen alike engage in the studies and exercise of the course.

APPARATUS.

To furnish the practical portions of the course of instruction, the school is well provided, and the means of illustration are fast accumulating. Of 130 acres of land devoted to its use, twenty are planted with forest timber trees, including nearly all the valuable kinds, both native and introduced. An apple orchard of 1,200 varieties is just coming into bearing, nearly 400 varieties of pears are growing upon the horticultural grounds, 25 varieties of cherries, 40 of grapes, and many kinds of raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, etc. The nurseries are well filled with young ornamental and useful plants, and in the vegetable gardens, a large collection has been made. An arboretum and a botanical garden have been commenced, in which it is proposed to gather all the native and hardy exotic plants, so far as practicable. Twenty acres are devoted to the building and ornamental grounds, where much pains are taken to make both summer and winter ornamentation attractive and pleasing. A fine green house, 24 by 70 feet, exclusive of wing, is filled with a rich collection of plants, many of which are choice and valuable kinds. Two other structures afford ample room for the propagation of a large stock of plants, and illustrate the different modes of heating. The cabinets contain many illustrative specimens, and the library has hundreds of volumes of the best horticultural literature known to the world.

CONTRIBUTIONS.

Besides the amounts appropriated from the general fund of the University, the State has granted, by special act of the Legislature, at two