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ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE
T
IS here that we draw the dividing line and proceed with the
history of the Agricultural College rather than that of the
University. Having seen the University established with its
integral college units, it is now fitting to devote our attention
primarily to the College of Agriculture, with only such references
to the University as occasion demands.
It will be recalled that one of the primary
purposes of the Land Grant Act of 1862 was to offer industrial
education to the people, or as the Act stated, "to teach such
branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the
mechanic arts." It was more from a sense of duty that the
Agricultural College was established than because of any
particular demand for that kind of instruction. It was at least
thirty years before agricultural instruction received any great
amount of recognition.
During these years, it must be remembered,
there was a general intolerance of "book farming" among both
farmers and non-farmers. The teaching of farming in the schools
was regarded as a somewhat futile task.
It was some time before the Agricultural
College succeeded in inducing students to take its regular
courses. The first year of the University the Agricultural College
had not come into existence. On September 5, 1871, "S. R. Thompson
was elected to the Chair of Theory and Practice of Agriculture
[later to be made dean], but not to enter on his duties
sooner than one year from the present," according to the report of
the Board of Regents of that date.
In his report for the year ending in June,
1872, Chancellor Benton stated:
SAMUEL R. THOMPSON
First professor of agriculture and first dean of the
college
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"The Agricultural College as a
co-ordinate branch of the University will also demand the
attention of the Board. The requirements of the law creating these
national schools make it necessary to provide for opening this
College in the immediate future. It is important to determine
accurately the limit of time prescribed by law, and not to allow
the land grant to revert to the general government in consequence
of neglect."
On June 25, 1872, the Agricultural College
was established by the regents and ordered to be opened.
It appears that, altho the Agricultural
College was formally opened for the year 1872-73, there were no
regular students. That year a course of lectures was given,
however. In his report Professor Thompson says:
"A small number of students have entered for
the regular course in Agriculture, but for the present year have
been pursuing preparatory studies chiefly. The work of
agricultural instruction proper, has consisted of a course of
lectures on vegetable physiology with reference to tree growing,
and a course of popular lectures on agricultural chemistry. These
lectures were very well attended. In general it is our intention
to furnish instruction in any department of agricultural
instruction which may be demanded, without, for the present,
insisting on regular courses of study; yet providing a regular
course for all who wish it."
So the second year of the University passed
by, apparently without any very enthusiastic enrollment in
agriculture. The third year seems to have turned out likewise, for
the report of Chancellor Benton for the year ending June, 1874,
stated that "the special instruction belonging to this department,
has not yet been in demand, and no solicitation has been used to
urge students into this course of study." Professor Thompson in
his report for the same year stated:
"But few students as yet have shown a
disposition to take agricultural studies, and these only in the
Preparatory department. I have seen a number of students who
desire to attend the Agricultural School as soon as they can be
accommodated with boarding on the farm, and can have employment so
as to earn a part of their expenses. When not otherwise engaged, I
have taught classes in the Academic department."
But the following year, 1874-75,
fifteen students entered upon the agricultural course of study.
These students enrolled gradually during the term, Charles
Brainard being the first to take up the work. The cause of this
unprecedented demand for agricultural knowledge was due largely to
the fact that the University had come into possession of the
present Agricultural College farm at the opening of that school
year and besides providing the students with an economical place
to board and room actually offered them remunerative employment.
In fact, Chancellor Benton stated that the enrollment in the
Agricultural College would have been still greater had it been
possible to accommodate the students at the farm house.
THE FIRST COLLEGE FARM
This brings us to the subject of the college
farm. It will be recalled that the Legislature in establishing the
University provided "that the Governor shall set aside two
sections of any agricultural college land, or saline land,
belonging to the State, and shall notify the State Land
Commissioner of such reservation, for the purpose of a Model Farm,
as a part of the College of Agriculture, and such land, so set
apart, shall not be disposed of for any other purpose." For some
years it was evidently the idea that some of the state lands or
land forming the endowment of the University could be set aside
and used for a model farm. Some of this land was actually selected
and used for a while. There is this notation in the report of the
regents for June 25, 1872, the same day the Agricultural College
was officially established and ordered to be opened:
"After a report from the Land Committee, on
motion of Regent Maxfield, the land selected by the Committee for
a model farm was approved, and the Governor requested to set it
apart for the use of the University."
Two sections of land were set aside for the
farm about this time. J. S. Dales, the present secretary of the
Board of Regents and a member of the University's first
graduat--
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ing class, recalls that it was in at least two or three
parcels, but the bulk of it was in the neighborhood of the present
fair grounds.
During the years 1872-73 something was
accomplished along the line of actual farming on the original farm
belonging to the college. When, on June 25, 1872, the Agricultural
College was established and ordered to be opened, $1,000 was
appropriated for improvements. Out of this $1,000, but $63.40 was
expended on farm improvements, $44 of which went for breaking the
land. Money to the extent of about $500 was expended under the
direction of the chancellor, however, for "things not specially
used in or belonging to the Agricultural Department, but in other
departments as well," including philosophical apparatus,
chemicals, etc. The balance of this first appropriation went back
into the treasury, but at the December meeting of the regents
another appropriation of $2,000 was made and Professor Thompson,
who was now in charge, was directed to buy implements and hire a
farmer to take charge of the farm.
Anderson Root of Cass County was engaged at
$50 per month as the "farmer." He began work February 1, 1873. Mr.
Root was "an experienced and successful farmer, and came
recommended by a large number of the leading men in his county,"
according to Professor Thompson. A three-horse team for plowing
and breaking was purchased for $435. The starting of the work on
the farm was quite an event. A number of the implement companies
gave implements, or threw off part of the regular price.
Individuals promised various donations. Governor R. W. Furnas and
Mr. Abbey of Richardson County, and J. D. Spearman of Sarpy County
gave Poland China pigs. Hon. John Taffe gave a quantity of
imported sugar beet seed, while Senator Hitchcock supplied the
college with eight volumes of Congressional documents and some
seeds. Volumes of reports were received from the boards of
agriculture in various states.
Farming operations were under way in
the summer of 1873. In his report for the year ending June 26,
1873, Professor Thompson states:
"The land broken east of R. R. last season
was plowed deeply and 61/2 acres of it sown to wheat and 41/2
planted in corn. The nine acres remaining, of that piece east of
R. R. has been broken and planted in sod corn. For the purpose of
keeping the team employed until the breaking season, 16 acres of
land contiguous to ours was rented at $2 per acre and planted in
crops. The crops now in the ground are: 23 acres of corn; 5 acres
in oats. 6 1/2 in wheat; 1/2 acre in sugar beets (4 kinds), and
about an acre in garden vegetables and experimental patches of
wheat, barley and oats, sown with seed imported from Europe and
furnished us by the National Agricultural Department at
Washington. With the exception of one piece of corn, which has
been injured by the squirrels, the crops are all in excellent
condition. In addition to farm work, the Farmer has done
considerable team work, plowing, dragging and cultivating on the
'University campus."
EXPERIMENTS WITH SUGAR BEETS
This year, 1873, marked the beginning of
agricultural experimental work, now carried on on such a large
scale at the Agricultural College. The sugar beet industry which
was many years later to become of great importance in the North
Platte Valley was the subject of much inquiry, even at this early
date. In his report Professor Thompson states:
"During the spring and summer I have taken it
upon myself to secure a thorough and extensive trial of the
capabilities of our State for the production of beets suitable for
the manufacture of sugar. With this end in view, I presented the
subject to the attention of the State Board of Agriculture at its
last meeting, where I met with a cordial response and instant
co-operation. Gov. Furnas, President of the Board, immediately
ordered a quantity of seed from Europe, notice was given through
the press and in response to requests I have distributed seed to
something over 100 different persons in twenty counties.
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"I have written a number of articles
for the papers, and in every way in my power endeavored to bring
the value and importance of this experiment to the attention of
the general public.
"Persons receiving seed agree to cultivate,
and report to the State Board, sending specimens of beets to the
Agricultural College for analysis. It will be seen that this
arrangement will bring a large amount of additional labor upon the
faculty of the Agricultural College, but in view of the great
importance of the experiment, it has seemed to me that it ought to
be undertaken. In sending out this seed, I paid $6.32 postage,
which I have not charged in my account, since I was not certain
that it was a legitimate expenditure under my department or not. I
would be pleased to have the Board instruct me on this point."
The following year Professor Thompson was
obliged to report that the results achieved from distributing the
sugar beet seed had been so meager that the State Board of
Agriculture did not think it wise to continue it another year,
altho he personally believed ultimate success would greet the
experiment. The half acre in sugar beets on the farm yielded at
the rate of ten tons an acre. "Of the various new kinds of small
grains which we tried last year, but one kind of oats was thought
worthy of trial again this year," Professor Thompson stated in his
report for the year ending June 23, 1874. "We have now growing and
in good condition, small plats of two new kinds of oats, one of
barley and one of wheat. . . . The six acres we had in white
Mediterranean wheat produced 101 bushels of superior wheat. Part
was sowed again the present year, and the remainder sold at an
average price of fifteen cents above the ordinary wheat. Some of
it which we had ground produced flour not inferior to winter
wheat."
In the grasshopper times of the seventies
Prof. Samuel Aughey was giving some attention to the injurious
insects of the state, laying a foundation perhaps for the economic
entomology of today. Among the insects with which he concerned
himself were the Rocky Mountain locust, the chinch bug and the
Hessian fly.
WHAT KIND OF A FARM?
There was at this time considerable
discussion as to just what kind of a farm the college farm should
be. This same question was to prove a troublesome one for years.
In his report for 1873 Professor Thompson raises the question:
"In planning our future work in the
Agricultural College, the first question to be settled is, shall
we aim to present a model farm, beautiful in its location,
harmonious in its arrangements, exact in its divisions, neat in
its keeping, and profitable in its working, or shall we arrange
for an experimental farm, where it shall be our main business to
discover new agricultural truth, rather than to exhibit what is
old. The model farm will make the best showing to the general
public and will incur less expense, but in the long run the latter
will be of more real service to the State."
PURCHASE OF THE PRESENT COLLEGE FARM
The land set aside for a "model farm" was not
considered particularly desirable, and efforts were being made to
secure another farm. About September 1, 1874, the college came
into the possession of the present college farm by purchase from
Moses M. Culver. Professor Thompson's question as to the kind of a
farm which should be built up was apparently not entirely settled.
Experimental work was to be carried on, but it was the hope that
the farm should also be made entirely self-sustaining. Regarding
the purchase and development of the new farm there is this
notation in the report of the Board of Regents for 1874:
"At its session, June 23, 1874, the Board of
Regents deciding that no sufficient portion of the two sections of
saline land, which had been set apart by the Governor for a model
farm was suitable for that purpose, a committee was appointed by
the board to secure, if possible, a suitable farm for the college,
to be paid for from the proceeds of the two sections named.
"A purchase of a well improved farm at a
moderate distance from the University was effected. The farm
contains 320 acres, for which $55 an acre was paid. The farm is
well adapted to the purposes of the College, and is in a high
state of cultivation, having over four miles of Osage Orange
hedge, four to five years old; twenty
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five acres of young timber three and four years old;
three hundred apple trees, fifty peach trees; a good stone house
of ten rooms; a good frame barn, granary, etc.
"The provision made for the payment of this
farm was by the sale of a portion of the saline land set apart for
the use of a model farm. Of this land sale was made to the amount
of $22,500, on such terms as the committee thought would enable
the board to meet the payments on the land purchased for the
College Farm.
"For improving this farm, furnishing teams,
utensils, and well-selected breeds of cattle, and thus to enable
the Agricultural College to accomplish effectively the work for
which it was organized, the Board have appropriated during this
year $6,800, which, with a former appropriation of $2,500, will
furnish this department with ample appliances for experimental
purposes, and after the present year, it is expected to make it
entirely self-sustaining."
More light on this transaction is found in
the regents' report for the two years ending December 1, 1876:
"That there may be a clear understanding of
the farm, the cost of the same, and how paid, the following
statement is submitted:
"It is doubtless well known that according to
the law under which the University was organized, the Governor was
authorized to select two sections of the public land for a model
farm. This was accordingly done. The Regents, however, deeming no
sufficient part of said land suitable for the purposes of a farm,
decided to purchase a farm of 320 acres of M. M. Culver, east of
Lincoln, for the agreed sum of $17,600. In part payment of such
amount they traded a portion of the said two sections of land at
an agreed price of $5,700, and also a certain lot in Lincoln, of
which by some means they had become the owner, for $350 more, thus
reducing the amount to be paid to Mr. Culver to $11,550. This
latter amount they agreed to pay within five years from the time
of purchase--June, 1874--with interest at 10 per cent, payable
annually, and executed written obligations, in the form of notes,
accordingly. The interest on these obligations has been paid as
required.
"The remainder of the two sections of land,
except about twenty acres, hereafter mentioned, was by them sold
to other parties on five years time, with interest and time of
payment the same as stated above, for the agreed sum of $16,800.
The interest on said sum falling due annually has been paid to the
extent of $720 only, as shown by the statement of the Treasurer.
The said remaining twenty acres of land, together with the
improvements thereon, was conveyed in part payment for the house
erected on the farm during
the autumn of 1875, at the agreed price of $2,500. The
house cost the sum of $3,895, and is commodious and substantial,
very much enhancing the value of the farm."
The house mentioned above stood on the campus
for nearly fifty years, being torn down in the fall of 1923. A
note to posterity was discovered by workmen tearing down the
house. The note was written on a block of wood and the block had
been placed in the wall above one of the doors. It read:
"To whom it may concern: Know ye that this
15th day of December, 1875, that the sun shines bright and the
roads are dry and you can work out in your shirt sleeves.--J. W.
Beatty."
J. W. Beatty, it was recalled at the college
campus, was one of the carpenters employed when the building was
erected half a century ago by M. L. Hiltner.
There seems to have been considerable
difficulty in collecting the money due for parts of the original
model farm that were sold, and some of the contracts were
cancelled, and the land resold. The report of the Board of Regents
for the two years ending December 1, 1880, straightens the matter
out. "The debt which matured June 25th, 1879, was paid," says the
report, "and the title to the farm has been made perfect. The
appropriation made by the legislature of 1879, with other funds
realized from the sale of lands set apart for that purpose, was
applied in discharge of the debt, and the funds and securities
remaining in the hands of the Regents were transferred to the
State Treasurer, as directed in the act of the Legislature making
the appropriation." The Legislature had appropriated $8,000, which
together with $5,984.50, evidently received from the sale of parts
of the old farm, was sufficient to wipe out the debt on the Culver
farm. Securities, presumably representing mortgages on the parts
of the old farm which had been sold, were transferred to the State
Treasurer, to reimburse the state for the legislative
appropriation.
In June, 1875, Professor Thompson reported
that there were 171 acres of crops "now in the ground," including
55
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acres of wheat, 18 1/2 acres of oats, 19 1/2 acres of
barley, 68 acres of corn, 3 acres of broom corn, 1 acre of sugar
beets, and 6 acres of miscellaneous crops. "These all, except the
sugar beets, which the grasshoppers twice destroyed, are in a
highly promising condition at this writing," he stated.
IMPROVING THE FARM
The "thorough-bred" cattle owned by the
college included a Shorthorn bull named, "Excalibar," a Shorthorn
heifer "Hasty," a Devon bull "Oxus," a Devon heifer "Dianthus," an
Ayrshire bull "Haylord," an Ayrshire heifer "Nettie," a Galloway
bull "McNeil," and a Galloway heifer "Snowflake."
Hogs were represented by the Essex, Poland
China, and Berkshire breeds, about twenty-four in all. In poultry
there were "fair specimens of buff Cochins, dark brahmas, light
brahmas, Houdans, black-red game bantams, and white bantams."
The new farm demanded a number of
improvements. In his report Professor Thompson stated:
"The farm was found to be in a fair state of
cultivation, but excessively weedy, and most of the inner hedges
grown up with grass. A systematic war of extermination has been
begun upon the weeds, and a portion of the hedges put under
cultivation. There were not funds at command to justify more. The
piggery which was on the road front, and in plain sight from the
farm house, has been removed to the grove west of the orchard. . .
. A pasture containing about fifteen acres, lying near the farm,
has been enclosed by a four-board fence. Cost $283.45. A cattle
shed, twelve by forty, has been built adjoining the barn, and the
small barn-yard enclosed by a high board fence. Cost $97.30. The
poultry house on the old farm was moved up and supplied with a
spacious yard, surrounded by a lath fence six feet high. Cost
$119.73. The stone kitchen, attached to the farm house, but
hitherto unfinished, was floored and plastered outside and inside,
a chimney built to it, and a bedroom partitioned from one end.
This arrangement adds largely to the capacity of the house. The
spouting on the main building was repaired and extended to the
kitchen. Cost $161.35. A coal house, twelve by sixteen feet,
adjoining the kitchen, was put up and
divided into small compartments for the use of students
and the farmer. Cost $48.28."
A large well, six feet in diameter, was dug
at the rear of the farm house, and water, drawn by a windmill
pump, was piped to the piggery, pasture and farm house. A
75-barrel tank was placed at the well, to insure a supply of water
at all times. "The whole scheme is a complete success, and
practically solves the water problem for all time to come," said
Professor Thompson in his report. "Entire cost, $591.23."
Among the articles of "illustrative
apparatus" purchased for the department were a dynamometer, for
testing the draft of plows and other agricultural implements,
skeletons of a horse and a cow, "for use in studying the anatomy
and physiology of domestic animals," and hay and stock scales,
together with some books. It will be recalled that the large
dwelling house, torn down in 1923, was added to the farm campus in
the fall of 1875.
INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE
But in the same way that Professor Thompson
was in doubt as to whether the college farm should be simply a
model farm or an experimental farm, Chancellor Benton was worrying
himself as to what kind of a college the Agricultural College
should be. Plainly, the first few years, there was not a great
demand for agricultural instruction, and this same situation was
to continue for many years. Whatever attraction the college farm
had for students seemed to be due to the fact that it was a cheap
place to live, and one could be furnished employment enough to pay
at least a good part of one's college expenses.
The first agricultural courses offered in the
College of Agriculture endeavored to strike a happy medium between
a technical school and the arts college. There were, in fact, two
courses of study, one a four years' course, running parallel with
the scientific course in the University and leading to the same
degree, and a shorter course which
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