Total yield, 11,481 bushels, or an average of 499 bushels per acre; cost for seed and labor on crops, 4.6 cents per bushel. If one-fourth of the labor on manure is added to the above, the cost per bushel for seed and labor would then be 4.84 cents per bushel.* As it is generally admitted by those who have had experience in root culture, that a good turnip crop furnishes one of the best preparations for the crops that are to follow in rotation, the improved condition of the soil and the value of the tops for feed should be taken into the account in estimating the cost of the crop raised. As these items cannot be stated acurately in money values, they have been omitted in the account of the crop already given. The increased value of the manure produced on the farm when turnips are grown might also be fairly entered as an offset to the cost of manuring the field for the crop. The tops of the turnips furnished a seasonable supply of good feed for more than a month last fall when the pastures had failed from the severe drought, and our stock came into winter quarters in good condition. As field No. 10 was depastured, no account was kept of its produce. The improved condition of the farm from the practice of thorough tillage and a liberal system of manuring for several years past, cannot, however, be shown in a statement of the yield of crops, unless a proper allowance is made for the unfavorable character of the season. In the management of the farm, as in former years, the leading object has been to illustrate as fully as possible the instruction given in the class-room, and to furnish the students an opportunity of becoming familiar with a consistent system of mixed husbandry, while the direct pecuniary results have been looked upon as matters of subordinate importance. The course of instruction in the class-room has embraced a thorough discussion of the principles of practical farm management; including rotation of crops, care and management of manures, cultivation of farm crops, animal husbandry, and the principles of stock breeding. Lectures have also been given on the planning and construction of farm buildings, the laying out and construction of drains and sewers, and the general construction and management of the various implements of the farm. * NOTE.-The difficulty of giving a positive answer to the question as to the cost of any single crop may be illustrated by the following memoranda, from the farm journal of the root crop of 1873: Cost of seed and labor on crop.. Cost of seed and labor on crop and one-half the labor on manure.. Cost of seed and labor on crop and one-half of the manure and one-half of the la- Cost of seed and labor on crop and all the manure and all of the labor on manure. Cents per bushel 4.23 4.74 5.25 5.76 7.37 In the above the value of the tops is not taken into the account and the manure is charged at 50 cents per load. If the value of the tops for feed is offset against the manure and labor on manure that could properly be charged against the crop, and a charge of $5 per acre is made for use of land, the cost per bushel would be 5.05 cents; but if $10 per acre is charged for use of land, the cost per bushel would be 5.88 cents. Again, if, as might be claimed, the cultivation of a root crop is equivalent to a summer fallow in its effects on the following crops, the cost of a summer fallow (which for illustration we will consider to be only equal to the labor charged for plowing and fitting) should be deducted from the labor on the crop, and no charge should be made for use of land, as no crop would be raised if the field was fallowed. With this basis, and offsetting the value of tops against the manure and labor on manure chargeable to the crop, the cost per bushel would be but 3.13 cents. These results are sufficient to show that the cost of a crop will depend to a great extent upon the data assumed in making the estimate. An inventory made Dec. 1st, 1874, shows the following property in the possession of the department: Pure bred cattle, $8,450 00; grade cattle, $575 00; sheep, $735 00; swine, $399 00; total farm stock, $10,159 00; farm produce, $4,049 15; horses, $750 00; total, $14,958 15. STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, } Farm Department, Dec. 1, 1874.) REPORT OF CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. To the President of the State Agricultural College: I herewith present my report of the Chemical Department for 1874. ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY. In Elementary Chemistry I have given my usual courses of lectures in inorganic and organic chemistry, with very full experimental illustrations. In the discussion of the metals, the values of ores, their treatment, and the methods of extracting the metals from their ores, have been discussed and illustrated. During the course in Elementary Chemistry I have met the class one evening each week for a chemical conversation, in which any subject relating to chemistry was brought up by the student and discussed by the teacher. The topics for discussion were all introduced by questions of the students, and the teacher was cross-examined by the students upon any topics embraced in his previous lectures. I am satisfied that these conversations were a great benefit to the class. They certainly were to me, because it enabled me to ascertain upon what points the class had embraced erroneous impressions. The attendance on these conversations was voluntary, and the interest which the class felt in them was revealed by the fact that it was very seldom that any member of the class absented himself. These conversations have been continued for two seasons, and the results are so satisfactory that they will be continued in the future. When I have been called away from the college by other duties, my assistant has delivered my lectures, to the entire satisfaction of the class. Whole number of students in Elementary Chemistry was 34. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. I gave my full course of lectures on Agricultural Chemisty to a class of 17. These lectures were illustrated by laboratory experiments. The class were very attentive, and manifested great interest in the subjects brought to their notice. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. The sophomore class passed through a satisfactory course in Chemical Analysis. This included the analysis of 100 substances in the wet way, including ores and mineral substances of commercial value. I gave a course of 20 lectures on blow-pipe, or analysis in the dry way, and the class made an analysis of 25 substances in the dry way, or determinative mineralogy. I also gave 12 lectures on volumetric analysis, and the class made 30 analyses in alkalimetry and acidimetry. Analysis by the volumetric method has attained such importance in the determination of the values of ores and commercial products, that I have given more attention to this method of quantitative analysis than formerly. Whole number of students in analysis 26. During any necessary absence on my part from the College, my assistant has satisfactorily superintended the class in Chemical Analysis. In October of this year, Mr. H. G. Bulkley, of Cleveland, Ohio, placed in the Laboratory one of his "Super-heated Steam Furnaces," generously donating the furnace to the Chemical Department. This furnace is now on trial, and gives promise of excellent results, especially in respect to the quality of the air admitted into the room, which is free from the arid and burnt property so often found in hot-air furnaces. The construction of the furnace is such as to exclude any possibility of furnace gases mixing with the air brought into the room. CHEMICAL PHYSICS. There has been a full course of recitations in Chemical Physics (using Miller's) with ample experimental illustrations. Chemical Physics is so intimately associated with fundamental questions in practical mechanics that a very thorough course in this study has been insisted on. The class exhibited commendable interest in this study. Whole number of students, 17. METEOROLOGY. I gave 24 lectures on Meteorology to the Junior Class. These lectures gave the latest facts and principles in Meteorology, including the valuable results derived from the U. S. Signal Observations. A complete set of Meteorological Observations, taken thrice daily, on the plan of the Smithsonian Institution, have been taken during the year. These observations have been taken continuously since April 3d, 1863, and published in the Reports of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. They are the only complete set of Meteorological Observations for the period named taken in our State. They are yearly becoming more and more valuable for reference, and will be of interest for all classes of scientific men as well as the agriculturist and pomologist. New and more exact instruments have been ordered for this kind of observation. PUBLIC LECTURES. In the course of the Wednesday afternoon lectures by members of the Faculty, I have given three lectures on the following topics: "The Struggle for Life," ""Stimulants," and "The Meteorology of Central Michigan." OUTSIDE WORK. By reason of my connection with the College and the opportunities thereby afforded me for certain classes of investigations, I have accomplished a considerable amount of work outside of my regular class-room duties. I call your attention to this outside work because I have been able to do such work mainly in consequence of the facilities afforded me in this laboratory. I am sure that you will agree with me that any labors undertaken for the public good, which do not conflict with my duties at the College, should be considered due to the State which has so liberally sustained this College. STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. Having accepted a position on the State Board of Health of Michigan, I spent all of the vacation of last winter in work for this board, preparing articles on Hygiene of School Buildings, Illuminating Oils, and Poisonous Wall-papers. These articles have attracted some public attention, and have, I trust, borne fruit in increased safety to property, health, and life. All of the present vacation has been devoted to work for the public,-in preparing articles for the Board of Health, which will appear in their report for the current year,--and in a tour of sanitary inspection of some of our State Institutions, undertaken at the request of the "Board of State Commissioners for the General Supervision of Charitable, Penal, Pauper, and Reformatory Institutions." AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. As member for Michigan of the Section of State Medicine and Public Hygiene, of the American Medical Association, I prepared an extended report on Drainage of our State, as affecting the public health. It was published in the Transactions of the American Medical Association for 1874. STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY. As chairman of a committee of the State Medical Society, I prepared a report on Ventilation of the Houses of the Poor, which was published in the transactions of that society for 1874. It was republished in the Journal of Social Science for Sept., 1874. Respectfully submitted, R. C. KEDZIE, Prof. Chemistry, Mich. State Agricultural College. December 28, 1874. REPORT OF THE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, } To the President of the State Agricultural Society: The report of the professorship of English Literature can vary only in minor particulars from year to year, but those particulars make up the success or failure. The duties embraced under this title, and associated with it the past year, have involved instruction in class-room by lectures, lessons or re hearsals, at an average, more than three hours daily; private instruction in preparation of orations, etc., at least an average of one hour daily. Subsidiary duties have been a general oversight of the library, preparation of the annual catalogue, and care of general arrangements for Junior exhibition and Commencement. During the first three months of the past year there were added the duties of president pro tem. Under my tuition the senior class have taken a course of thirty weeks in French. Fifteen weeks were devoted to the first part of Otto's grammar, with written themes daily except Mondays, when a general review of all the exercises of the previous week took place. For the remainder of the course the class read and reviewed about sixty pages of Otto's reader, with nearly the whole of Part 2d of the grammar in accompanying lessons. The progress on the whole was quite satisfactory. Two members of the class of twenty failed on the first examination, and one on the second; but these were able to pass after a second review. The same class pursued with me the study of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy. Eleven weeks in the first allowed us to complete the usual textbook and review the most of it. The latter was taught in a course of twentyfive lectures with reviews. All passed fairly in both studies, and some did most creditably. These classes numbered twenty-one. The Junior class took with me the usual course in Whately's Rhetoric, embracing conviction, persuasion, and style. Three weeks of the term of seventeen were given to study and exercises upon the same subjects in Day's Rhetorical Praxis. The class numbered seventeen, and all passed examination fully. The rhetorical exercises of the seniors and juniors have been confined this 'year to their original declamations. Of these there have been prepared under my direction and delivered: At commencement, 21; at junior exhibition, 16; at Wednesday exercises, 112; at class exhibitions, etc., 6; total, 155. The Sophomore class has had the usual course of eleven weeks in English literature, embracing some forty lectures upon the origin and growth of the language, the progress of the literature from age to age, with an attempt to trace the causes of change, and biography of nost famous authors, attended with critical examination of their works, style, and influence. The last is far too brief to give satisfaction to either teacher or pupils. The class numbered twenty-two, of whom twenty passed successfully the closing examination. The other two were absent. The voluntary class in Shakespeare was not begun until after the president's return, was then suspended upon the approach of junior exhibition, and afterwards was not resumed. Only a part of one play, the Merchant of Venice, was read; but the attendance and interest for the limited time were excellent. Upon the whole the year has been satisfactory, though during too much of the time a sense of weariness had diminished the vivacity and energy so essential in successful teaching. It is to be hoped that the re-arrangement of studies for 1875 will to some extent relieve the unequal pressure which is the cause of this. Respectfully, GEO. T. FAIRCHILD, Professor of English Literature. |