Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1918 [PAGE 424]

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4l8

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[July I?,

case of dental men, the deposit to be refunded upon the return of the material. Very truly yours,

VICTOR E. EMMEL

On motion of Mr. Carr, these deposits were required as recommended.

E X P E R I M E N T FIELD ACCEPTED

(22) A recommendation from Professor Cyril G. Hopkins that the University accept an experiment field at Alhambra, Illinois. This field contains about forty acres of land and is donated to the University by Adolph Hitz and is described as follows: the east one-half of the south one-half of the southeast quarter of section 14, township 5 north, range 6 west of the third principal meridian. The deed is on file in the Secretary's office. Appended is a letter from Professor Hopkins explaining the mode of conducting such an experiment field, with some account of the probable cost of operation. July 11, 1917 President Edmund J. James, University of Illinois

MY DEAR PRESIDENT JAMES :

I have your letter of July 9 in which you ask for an estimate of the expense to the University of conducting an experiment field, such as I have recommended to be established at Alhambra on 40 acres of land donated by Adolph Hitz. While this will of course fluctuate from year to year, because under adverse weather conditions more work is usually required than under favorable conditions, I think a fair estimate for the average yearly local expense is $600. The annual income from such an experiment field will vary from less than $5 per acre on the untreated plots, especially in poor seasons, to more than $40 per acre from the well-treated plots in good seasons. Sometimes the total annual income from an experiment field exceeds the total local expense, and on such land as we have under consideration at Alhambra I believe the annual income will approach very cfosely to the average annual local expense, after the field is well under way. The outside experiment fields of the Department of Agronomy are operated in groups, with one of our regular departmental men in charge of five or six different fields; and for each field he employs local labor as needed, the regular plan being to arrange with a dependable experienced farmer to do most of the field work, furnishing a team when necessary. This local farmer is not retained on any yearly or monthly salary, but he is paid for the actual time devoted to the University work. Our departmental men look after the experimental fields very closely, and they do not stand around and watch the local men do the work, but