SB441 Agricultural Research at Kansas State Agricultural ...Agricultural Research at Kansas State...

CONTENTSPage

Organization of the Station by the College ............................................ 3

Hatch Money Used for Building .............................................................. 3

Facilities for Early Experimental Work ................................................ 6

Acquisition of Land .................................................................................. 6

Obstacles to Progress .............................................................................. 11

Land Purchased for Experimental Work ................................................ 12

Purchase of Livestock .............................................................................. 13

Physical Plant .......................................................................................... 15

The Library ............................................................................................... 20

Agronomic Investigations ........................................................................ 20

Wheat Variety Tests ........................................................................ 21

Corn ................................................................................................... 21

Alfalfa ............................................................................................... 22

Sorghums ........................................................................................... 23

Fertilizer Investigations ................................................................... 24

Horticultural Investigations .................................................................... 25

Orchards ............................................................................................ 2 6

Forests and Shelterbelts ................................................................... 28

Museum .....................................................................................................

Livestock Investigations ........................................................................... 30

Feeding Experiments ........................................................................ 31

Carp Culture ..................................................................................... 32

Investigations in the Natural Sciences .................................................... 33

Chemical Investigations .............................................................. 33

Entomological Investigations .......................................................... 3 6

Botanical and Zoological Investigations .......................................... 37Meteorological Investigations .......................................................... 37

Summation ................................................................................................ 39

ON THE COVER

A view of the campus about the time of the enactment of the Hatch Actin 1887. The picture taken from the top of the right wing of AndersonHall, looking north, shows the Horticultural Building in the center, the“Old Armory” in the distant left, and the Stone Barn in the distant center.

Agricultural Research atKansas State Agricultural College (KSU)

before enactment of theHatch Act (1887)1

LELAND E. CALL2

Agricultural research hasbeen recognized from the be-ginning as a proper functionof Kansas State University.Authority to engage in suchwork was granted by the Kan-sas Legislature in one of theearly acts setting forth thefunctions of the institution.On March 3, 1863, the legisla-ture approved “an act for thegovernment of Kansas StateAgricultural College for thebenefit of agriculture and themechanic arts.” Section 9 ofthis act stated that, “TheBoard of Regents shall reportannually the progress of saidCollege, regarding any im-provements and EXPERI-MENTS made, with their costand results, and such othermatters, including State andindustrial and economical sta-tistics as may be supposed use-ful.” (1)

The citizens of the Statealso recognized agriculturalresearch as not only a properfunction but as a duty of theinstitution. They were oftencritical of the College in earlydays for not being more ac-tive in agricultural investiga-tional work. This is manifestfrom early records whichshow that the President of

the College felt at times anobligation to defend the insti-tution for not being more ac-tive in this field of work. Inan article entitled “Farm Ex-periments, in Agricultural Col-leges” the president expressedhimself as follows: “How farshould these colleges, as such,prosecute experiments in agri-culture? has to be answered.That these colleges should bethe first to feel the need, andthat they should make effortsto find the accurate knowl-edge wanted, was to be ex-pected. . . . But to teach andto investigate are separate un-dertakings, either of whichmay take the whole man. Sothe first duty of these collegesto give “a liberal and practicaleducation” to the youth un-der their influence may pre-vent even those natural inves-tigations which a professor ofagriculture or horticulture de-sires.” (2)

It was chiefly due to the de-sire upon the part of the gen-eral public for the Agricul-tural College to undertakemore investigational work inagriculture and the recogni-tion that definite provisionwould need to be made forthis function if much was to

1. Contribution No. 104, Office of the Dean, Agricultural Research, Teaching,and Extension, and Director, Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan.

2. Dean of the School of Agriculture Emeritus and Director of the Agricul-tural Experiment Station Emeritus.

2 KANSAS BULLETIN 441

be accomplished, that led tolegislation under the HatchAct authorizing the collegesto undertake investigationalwork and providing funds forthis purpose. The Hatch Actwas passed by the UnitedStates Congress and approvedby President Cleveland March2, 1887. The major provisionsof the Act as set forth in thewords of the Act were as fol-lows:

1. “That in order to aid inacquiring and d i f f u s i n gamong the people of theUnited States useful and prac-tical information on subjectsconnected with agriculture,and to promote scientific in-vestigation and experimentrespecting the principles andapplications of agriculturalscience, there shall be estab-lished under direction of thecollege or colleges or agricul-tural departments of collegesin each State or Territory es-tablished, or which may here-after be established, in ac-cordance with the provisionsof an act approved July sec-ond, eighteen hundred andsixty-two, entitled “An actdonating public lands to theseveral States and Territorieswhich may provide collegesfor the benefit of agricultureand the mechanic arts” orany of the supplements tosaid act, a department to beknown and designated as an“Agricultural experiment sta-tion.”

2. “That it shall be the ob-ject and duty of said experi-ment stations to conduct orig-inal researches or verify ex-periments on the physiologyof plants and animals; the

diseases to which they areseverally subject, with theremedies of the same; thechemical composition of use-ful plants at their differentstages of growth; the com-parative advantages of rota-tive cropping as pursued un-der the varying series ofcrops; the capacity of newplants or trees for acclima-tion; the analysis of soils andwater; the chemical composi-tion of manures, natural orartificial, with experimentsdesigned to test the compara-tive effects of crops of differ-ent kinds; the adaptation andvalue of grasses and forageplants; the composition anddigestibility of the differentkinds of food for domesticanimals; the scientific andeconomic questions involvedin the production of butterand cheese; and such otherresearches or experimentsbearing directly on the agri-cultural i n d u s t r y of theUnited States as may in eachcase be deemed advisable,having due regard to the vary-ing conditions and needs ofthe respective States or Ter-ritories.”

3. “It shall be the duty ofeach of said stations annually,on or before the first of Feb-ruary, to make to the gover-nor of the State or Territoryin which it is located a fulland detailed report of its op-erations, including a state-ment of receipts and expendi-tures.”

4. “That bulletins or re-ports of progress shall be pub-lished at said stations at leastonce in three months. . . .Such bulletins or reports and

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AT KSAC BEFORE 1887 3

the annual reports of said sta-tions shall be transmitted inthe mails of the United Statesfree of charge for postage.”

5. “That for the purpose ofpaying the necessary ex-penses of conducting investi-gations and experiments andprinting and distributing theresults as hereinbefore pre-scribed, the sum of fifteenthousand dollars per annumis hereby appropriated toeach state to be specially pro-vided for by Congress in theappropriations from year toyear. . . . Provided, however,That out of the first annualappropriation so received byany station an amount not ex-ceeding one fifth may be ex-pended in the erection, en-largement or repair of a build-ing or buildings necessary forcarrying on the work of suchstation; and thereafter anamount not exceeding fivepercentum of such annual ap-propriation may be so ex-pended.”

6. “That the grants of mon-eys authorized by this act aremade subject to the legislativeassent of the several Statesand Territories to the pur-poses of said grants.”

The Kansas Legislature wasin session at the time of thepassage of the Hatch Act byCongress. The legislatureacted promptly in acceptingthe provisions of the act. Itadopted Senate ConcurrentResolution No. 27, March 4,1887.*

The House concurred in thisact under suspension of therules the same day. Senate

Concurrent Resolution 27reads as follows:

“Resolved by the Senate, theHouse of Representatives con-curring therein,

“That the annual appropria-tion of $15,000 made availableto the state o f Kansas under theact of Congress for the main-tenance of an experiment sta-tion for the benefit of agricul-ture in connection with eachcollege established under the actof Congress approved July 2,1862, be and is hereby placedunder control of the Board ofRegents of the Kansas StateAgricultural College, subject torules and regulations expressedor implied in the act of Congressnamed above.”

Organization of the Stationby the College

The College acted promptlyfollowing the acceptance ofthe Hatch Act by the KansasLegislature. March 7, 1887,three days after the Legisla-ture acted, the faculty votedthat President Fairchild andProfessors Shelton, Failyer,Popenoe and K e ll e r m a nshould constitute a specialcommittee to devise means ofcarrying out the provisions ofthe act. Haste in action, how-ever, was unnecessary, sincethe appropriation authorizedunder the act did not becomeavailable immediately. TheComptroller of the Treasury

* Confusion has arisen regardingthe exact date of the acceptance ofthe provisions of the Hatch Act bythe Kansas Legislature. Bulletin No.1 of the Kansas Agricultural Experi-ment Station gives the date as March3, 1887, not March 4. This appears tobe in error, since legislative recordsshow that Senate Concurrent Resolu-tion No. 27 was adopted by the Sen-ate under suspension of the rulesMarch 4, 1887, as shown in SenateJournal 1887, p. 846. The House con-curred in this resolution under sus-pension of the rules March 4, 1887, asshown in House Journal 1887, p. 1130.This concurrence was reported to theSenate as shown in the Senate Jour-nal 1887, p. 866.


held that owing to a verbaldefect the appropriation couldnot be made. This was notcorrected until a special ap-propriation bill was passed byCongress and approved Feb-ruary 1, 1888.

J. T. Willard, who was amember of the faculty of theCollege at the time the HatchAct was passed, in his Historyof Kansas State College ofAgriculture and Applied Sci-ence, wrote as follows regard-

ing the delay in the appropria-tion and the plan of organiza-tion of the station.

“The delay may have beena somewhat disguised bless-ing, as it gave opportunity formuch-needed discussion in allthe institutions, and in meet-ings of organizations. Therecan be no doubt that first ex-penditures were more wiselymade than would have beenthe case without such discus-sion.

Fig. l.--Members of the first Experiment Station Council. (Top) G. H.Failyer, Professor of Chemistry, and W. A. Kellerman, Professor of Bot-any; (bottom) G. T. Fairchild, President; E. M. Shelton, Professor ofAgriculture and Director; and E. A. Popenoe, Professor of Horticultureand Entomology.


“The organization adoptedfor the Experiment Stationwas the result of a great dealof discussion, and displayedthe same democratic attitudewhich was exemplified byPresident Fairchild in thecontrol of its educational pro-cedures. The plan was adoptedby the Board of Regents, Feb-ruary 8, 1888. Its vital featurewas this provision: ‘The gen-eral executive management ofthe Station shall be under thecontrol of a council to consistof the president of the College,the professors of agriculture,horticulture and entomology,chemistry, botany, and veter-inary science, and such otherofficers of the College as theBoard may designate.’

“A second provision was:‘The president of the Collegeshall be ex officio chairmanof the council, and shall havethe same supervisory controlof the Experiment Station asof other departments of theCollege.’

“The professor of agricul-ture was designated to ‘be exofficio director of the Station,the duties being to keep therecords of all meetings, re-ceive and maintain all gen-eral correspondence with theStation, attend to the publica-tion and distribution of all re-ports and bulletins, and, un-der direction of the council,certify to all bills, and act asgeneral superintendent in ex-ecuting the plans of the coun-cil.’ ” Prof. E. M. Shelton thusbecame the director of theStation, and was designatedby the Board as the one to ex-ercise the franking privilegegranted by the Hatch Act.” (3)

The duties and scope of thework of the heads of the sev-eral departments were out-lined in general terms, and itwas provided that “Eachmember of the council shallhave full control of experi-ments assigned to his own de-partment, and if any questionarises as to the scope of anyexperiment, or by whom itshall be conducted, the sameshall be decided by the Presi-dent of the Council.” (4)

Under the plan of organiza-tion “the experiments to beundertaken by the Stationwere determined by the com-bined judgment of a group ofmen, and that the directorwas purely executive in hisfunctions, outside the workapproved for his own depart-ment; and that in case of adisagreement between, oramong, department heads, thepresident of the College heldthe deciding power: This ar-rangement grew out of theprevious equality of status ofdepartment heads, and thefact that there was none towhich the others were willingto become subordinate. Thisform of organization con-tinued until 1906.” (5)

Hatch Money Usedfor Building

A provision of the HatchAct authorized that out of thefirst annual appropriation soreceived by any state, anamount not exceeding onefifth may be expended in theerection, enlargement, or re-pair of a building or buildingsused for carrying on the workof each station. Of the $15,000of Hatch funds made available


to the Kansas Station for thef irst year (1888), $2,612.39was used for the erection of asmall, one-story building foroffices for the Department ofHorticulture. Included andconnected with this buildingwas a series of three smallgreenhouses or propagationpits. This building was lo-cated north of Anderson Hallon an area between the pres-ent Farrell Library and Deni-son Hall. This building wasrazed in 1953 to make roomfor the stack addition on thesouth side of Farrell Library.

Facilities for EarlyExperimental Work

During the early years ofthe life of the institution, fa-cilities for experimental workwere most meager. The farmconsisted of 100 acres of poorupland. Funds for supportwere lacking and teaching andother duties occupied fully thetime of the small faculty.Some of the early reports ofthe College set forth the con-ditions under which work wasattempted. J. S. Hougham,Professor of Agriculture in1869, wrote as follows: “Itshould be remembered thatthe institution has no barn orteam, and until this year(1869) scarcely any imple-

. ments or tools, and as yet noproper shelter for those wehave, and hence works atgreat disadvantage.” (6)

Professor Hougham secured$200 this year (1869) for allphases of work on the farm.In a letter written to the edi-tor of Kansas Farmer he ex-plains how this appropriationof $200 was used. “In April,

1869, I received two hundreddollars in ‘State Scrip’ to beused for the benefit of theAgricultural department ofthis institution. The ‘scrip’was sold for one hundred sixtydollars in currency. I haveused the appropriation of 1869with the following result:Planted 600 three-year-old ma-ple trees, 25 choice apple trees,200 seedling peach trees, 900grape vines, 50 gooseberrysets, 150 currant sets, and 20assorted roses, all of whichare doing well. Besides theabove, I have used abouttwenty dollars of said appro-priation in procuring flowerseeds and seeds of forest trees,which were also planted.” (7)

That the limitations underwhich work was being at-tempted were recognized atthe time is set forth in the re-port of the farm superintend-ent, Fred E. Miller, to thePresident of the College forthe year 1871. In his reporthe says, “Until the facilitiesof the College for the prosecu-tion of the more complex andscientific experimentation aresuch as to insure thorough andcontinued effort, I would sug-gest that our operations beconfined to the simpler sub-jects, such as methods of pre-paring the soil, subsoiling,extra cultivation, etc., andthese in time will open theway to higher efforts.” (8)

Acquisition of LandThe most significant event

that occurred during the earlydays of the institution, bothfrom the standpoint of teach-ing and research, was theacquisition of additional land.


Prior to 1875 the only landavailable for the use of theinstitution was an eighty acretract upon which BluemontCollege was located, plus anadditional 20 acres adjoiningthis area on the east. All ofthis area was rolling upland,some of which was too precipi-tous for cultivation, and a por-

tion of it had underlying lime-stone rock so near the surfacethat the soil was too shallowfor cultivation. This area alsoembraced the campus uponwhich the college buildingswere located. The need foradditional land better adaptedfor farming was fully recog-nized by the faculty. A re-

Fig. 2.--The Bluemont Central College Building. Then first collegebuilding erected in 1859 and given to the college in 1863. It was on theBluemont College farm that the first experimental work was conducted.


quest was made of the Boardof Regents prior to 1870 forauthority to purchase addi-tional land. This authoritywas not granted. The reportof the Board for 1870 con-tained the following state-ment : “The Board of Regentsdecided not to purchase addi-tional land for the farm, butto receive proposals for ac-quiring it by donation to theInstitution and the State.” (9)This was a wise decision. Itresulted in steps being takento acquire the land by dona-tion. The first step was to se-cure authorization from theLegislature to permit the in-stitution to accept such a giftand to authorize an issue ofbonds for this purpose. Thisauthorization was securedfrom the Legislature of 1871when an act was passed au-thorizing the Township ofManhattan, Riley County, toissue bonds in an amount notto exceed $25,000,” said sum,or as much thereof as may benecessary, to be expended inthe purchase and equipmentof a farm, at or near Manhat-tan, for the use and benefit ofthe State Agricultural College;no part of this sum is to beissued until the voters of saidtownship shall have voted infavor of said proposition.”(10)

The second step was to se-cure a favorable vote upon thebond issue by the voters ofManhattan Township. Thiswas done. The report of theRegents for 1871 states that“In the month of April thetownship of Manhattan bya decided majority, voted$12,000 in bonds for the Insti-

tution. These bonds wereduly issued, and in July theRegents purchased 155 acresof valuable land northwest ofthe town."* “They also pur-chased 160 acres, mostly ofbottom land, on the Wild Catcreek, making a farm of 415acres, 315 acres of which isunder cultivation.” (11) Ad-ditional information concern-ing the purchase of this landis contained in a letter writ-ten by Rev. R. D. Parker, Sec-retary of the College, and pub-lished in the August 15, 1871,issue of Kansas Farmer, whichin part reads as follows: “TheBoard (of Regents) haveadded $25,000 to the $12,000 inbonds voted by Manhattanand have purchased one hun-dred sixty acres of rich creekbottom upon the Wildcat andone hundred fifty-five acresof second bottom and hill landadjoining Manhattan townsite. This purchase is all un-der fence, and mostly undercultivation; and the site near-est the city is one of the finestfor a great institution thatcan be found in the KansasValley.” (12)

The land purchased onWild Cat Creek (SW1/4, S 13,T 10, R 7) was obtained fromtwo individuals. The north 80from Jesse Ingraham for aconsideration of $3,440 (trans-fer recorded in office of Regis-trar of Deeds, Riley County,Book G, p. 764, July 11, 1871)and the south 80 from WalterRicheson for a considerationof $3,440 (transfer recordedin office of Registrar of Deeds,

* This is the tract upon which themain campus of the College is nowlocated.


Riley County, Book G, p. 774,July 13, 1871). This entirequarter section (160 acres)was resold by the College onJuly 27, 1872, to Jesse Ingra-ham, the man from whom thenorth 80 had been purchasedthe year before. The sellingprice was $7,200, or $320more than the College hadpaid for it. The reason forthis sale is not known. Thisleft the College with 260 acresof land.

The donation made by thecitizens of Manhattan Town-ship in providing money forthe purchase of land had amost desirable effect upon thepeople, of the state and uponthe attitude of the Legislaturetoward the financial supportof the College. It was not un-til after this donation that theLegislature appropriated forthe support of the Collegewith any degree of generosity.It also gave great encourage-ment to the faculty. It reallymarked the most importantfirst step forward in buildingat the College a great educa-tional institution. The Editorin the June 15, 1871, issue ofthe Kansas Farmer, after re-porting the gift, commentedas follows : “The outlook forthe prosperity of the StateAgricultural College was neverso flattering as now.” (13)

The acquiring of additionalland, while providing a muchneeded resource without whichthe institution could not haveprovided for its needs in eitheragricultural instruction or re-search, did at the same timepresent problems. While theland acquired was basicallywell adapted for its purpose,

the condition of the land atthe time of its purchase, fromthe standpoint of husbandry,left much to be desired. Someof the problems were discussedby the superintendent of theCollege farm, Fred E. Miller,in the annual report of theCollege for 1872, the firstyear after the land was pur-chased. Mr. Miller wrote asfollows: “A brief summarywill indicate the circum-stances under which we be-gan the season’s work. Twohundred and sixty acres--intwo tracts--and with the ex-ception of eighty acres uponwhich the college buildingsstand, so poorly fenced thatcattle trespassed at will uponevery field--were awaiting

Fig. 3.--Major Fred E. Miller,Professor of Practical Agricultureand Superintendent of the Farm,1871 to 1874. “He took up withgreat vigor the development of theCollege farm.”


cultivation in the season soonto open. The land itself(newly purchased), was over-run with weeds, prominentamong which were bur-grass*(Cenchrus tribuloides) , cock-lebur (X a n t h i u m strama-rium), the smart-weed (Po-lygonum) by the solid acre,giving the most encouragingindication to be found of thenatural fertility of the soil,but which fertility, however,had been greatly reduced bylong neglect, careless andsuperficial supervision, andfrom want of rotation of cropsand application of manure.To cultivate these two hun-dred and sixty acres, the de-partment had under its com-mand one employee . . . , oneteam of mules, harness andwagon; one serviceable turn-ing plow; one square harrow;two cultivators; one rollerseed drill; one reaper andmower; one revolving rakeand a few hand tools. . . . Itwas a gloomy outlook. Thetreasury was worse thanempty. The season was rap-idly advancing and the Legis-lature had, as yet, made noprovision for the support andthe development of the indus-trial department of the col-lege. Such, then, was the con-dition of affairs toward theclose of February 1872. . . .Relief came, however, earlyin March, the Legislature ap-propriating fifteen thousanddollars for the developmentof the industrial departmentsof the college during the cur-rent year.” (14)

While the $15,000 appropri-ated for the industrial depart-ments was encouraging, es-

pecially in providing fundsfor the fencing of the farmand for the starting of a barn,it fell far short of meeting theapparent needs of the institu-tion. Some of these needswere presented by the Editorof the Kansas Farmer in aneditorial published March 1,1873. It reads as follows: “Itis an assured fact that if weare to ever have a creditableinstitution at Manhattan, theState must do its part. Byliberal local donations andpersonal sacrifices upon thepart of the worthy President,we now have a magnificentbody of land enclosed with anexcellent stone fence. Wehave some fine orchards andgroves of forest trees started.We have one wing of a farmbarn in a half completed state.We have two good farm teamsand a very limited supply offarm tools. And if we excepta fine geological cabinet,built free of expense by theindefatigable labors of Pro-fessor Mudge and a tolerablelibrary, this is all there is tothe Agricultural College ofKansas. Not a breeding ani-mal upon the place, and noplace to keep them if wehad them. No college build-ing worthy of the name. Noc h e m i c a l apparatus withwhich to teach chemistry.Have we a right to expect anyvery important results fromsuch a condition of affairs?Have the farmers of the Statethe right to ask the Legisla-ture appropriate to their Col-lege a sum sufficient to putit on a working basis? Whatthis sum should be the Com-

* Now called sandbur C. panciflorus.


mittee appointed by the Legis-lature to look the ground overare more competent to judge,perhaps, than we are. It sug-gests itself to our mind, how-ever, that the foundation of anew College building shouldbe laid out this season. Thewing of the barn must becompleted to save what hasbeen done. The farm musthave some stock to utilize thefeed raised. Chemical appa-ratus must be procured, or thefoundation of an Agriculturaleducation cannot be laid, andthe fund must be providedwith which to pay studentlabor. It is well known thatthe salaries of the Professorsare provided for from the saleof lands, but this is the onlyuse to which that fund can beput. All the rest must be doneby the State.” (15)

Obstacles to ProgressMany obstacles stood in the

way of the state meeting theseobligations. During the nextdecade the state sufferedmany vicissitudes. From aclimatic standpoint conditionscould hardly have been lessfavorable. The seasons weremost unfavorable for cropproduction. In addition a se-vere invasion of grasshoppersoccurred in 1874. The extentand severity of these disastersto the crops and orchards ofthe College farm are set forthin reports of the College for1875. Professor Shelton ofthe Farm Department wroteas follows: “The season justpast had been in this localityone of unusual severity. Theremarkably dry season of1874 has been followed by a

winter and spring duringwhich the rainfall was ex-ceedingly light and insuffi-cient. As a result, the cropshave suffered from the drouthfrom the very outset. Whento this are added the ravagesof grasshoppers in the springand early summer, the causeof the light crops of 1875 inthis locality will be easily un-derstood. To particularize, ourwinter wheat passed throughthe winter without sufferingmaterial injury, and up to themiddle of May promised alarge yield. About this timethe grasshoppers ruined sixacres outright, and from thenuntil harvest-time the remain-der suffered so severely fromthe dry weather, that the aver-age yield was less than tenbushels per acre of inferiorgrain. Substantially what hasbeen said of the wheat cropmay be said of all crops uponthe College farm.” (16)

The damage suffered in theorchard was even greater.Professor Gale, Superintend-ent of the Horticulture De-partment, reported as follows:“The ruin was most completein the experimental apple or-chard. The extent of this maybe comprehended by the factthat out of more than onethousand varieties of appletrees . . . we have only twenty- one varieties remaining, andsome of these seriously, if notfatally, injured” (17). Lossessimilar to those suffered bythe College were suffered like-wise by the farmers through-out most of the state. In someplaces destruction was com-plete, leaving the farmers andtheir families destitute. Many


farm families left the State,returning to their formerhomes. However, others wereable to remain through gen-erous gifts of clothing andfood. It was not a time whengenerous appropriations bythe Legislature for the sup-port of the College could beexpected. They were notmade.

Furthermore, it was duringthis period (1870’s and 1880’s)that the country as a wholepassed through a severe eco-nomic depression. This addedfurther to the severity of eco-nomic conditions in Kansas.It encouraged the frugality ofthe people of the state and de-layed further financial sup-port to the College by theLegislature.

The third factor that with-out doubt delayed financialsupport for the College wasthe controversy that aroseduring this period as to thecharacter of the educationthat should be offered by theCollege -- cultural or voca-tional. This controversy re-sulted in the resignation ofPresident Denison and the ap-pointment of President Ander-son. It also resulted in thedismissal by the Board of Re-gents of three leading mem-bers of the faculty, ProfessorB. F. Mudge, Professor ofGeology and Zoology: Fred E.Miller, Professor of PracticalAgriculture and Superintend-ent of Farms; and Dr. H. J.Detmers, Professor of Veteri-nary Science.

So much time and thoughtby both the faculty and thefriends of the institution wasgiven to this controversy that

progress in other respects wasretarded and financial supportby the Legislature was nodoubt delayed.

However, progress wasmade gradually toward the de-velopment of the College inways that would prepare foragricultural research and pro-vide a foundation for theestablishment of the Agri-cultural Experiment Station.A m o n g these accomplish-ments was the acquisition ofadditional tracts of land forthe College farm.

Land Purchased forExperimental Work

The Third Biennial Reportof the College for 1881-1882states that “a lot of 16 acresadjoining the College farmbeing offered for sale at $40an acre, it was thought bestto secure it, although no au-thority had been granted bythe Legislature for such a useof funds.” (18) Regardingthis purchase Professor Shel-ton the next year reported asfollows : “The purchase ofsixteen acres north of the Col-lege farm, made by the Boardthe past winter, has provedgreatly to the advantage ofthe farm in many ways. Thisfield . . . has been enclosedwith a substantial fence, madeof three boards and two barbedwires, with posts set everyeight feet.” (19)

With the acquisition of thissixteen acres “the Collegefarm, including the old Col-lege farm, occupies 271 acres,of which, roughly speaking,there is used by the horticul-ture department and occupiedby the grounds and buildings


about 52 acres. Of the remain-ing 219 acres about 140 acresare in use as arable lands andtame-grass meadows, leaving79 acres of unbroken prairie.”(20)

The purchase of additionalland was authorized by Act ofthe Legislature a p p r o v e dMarch 4, 1885. Section 1 ofthis Act reads as follows:“That the Board of Regentsof the Kansas State Agricul-tural College be authorized topurchase additional land forEXPERIMENTAL purposesout of income fund of saidCollege, not exceeding 10 per-cent of the amount derivedfrom the endowment fund ofsaid institution for the yearseighteen hundred eighty-fourand eighteen hundred eighty-five.” (21) Following this ac-tion by the Legislature theBoard of Regents purchasedadditional tracts totaling 44acres of farm land. Regard-ing this land Professor Shel-ton, in his report submittedJune 30, 1886, wrote as fol-lows : “The recent purchaseby the Board of forty-fouracres additional land for useof the farm, while a welcomeand much-needed increase inthe field of farm operation, isyet likely to add much to therough work of the farm forsome years, without being ofvery direct value. About 32acres of this new purchasewas, when secured by theBoard, in the condition of rawprairie, for the most part un-fenced.” (22) The c o ll e g efarm at the time of the estab-lishment of the ExperimentStation contained therefore315 acres of land made up of

tracts as follows: The oldBluemont College farm, 100acres; the purchase in 1871(the present campus of theCollege), 155 acres: the pur-chase in 1881, 16 acres; thepurchase in 1886, 44 acres; atotal of 315 acres.*

Professor Shelton in 1883explained as follows the pur-pose for which the collegefarm was operated: “The Col-lege farm is not an experi-mental station, although fairlywell equipped for practicaland experimental work.Rather the farm is maintainedas a part of the educationalmachinery of the College. Itsobject is to furnish instructionto the students of the College,no less than to aid, by experi-mental investigation, generalagriculture. It should be said,however, that the policy is toenlarge as far as practicable,the experimental work o f theFarm Department." (23)

Purchase of LivestockThere is no record of the

institution owning livestockduring the first few years ofits existence. In 1869 Profes-sor Hougham, in his annual

* The 44 acres of land purchasedin 1885 consisted of several smallblocks purchased from the Beebeestate August 29, 1885. Willard, inhis history of the College, on page89 mentioned the purchase of eightsmall tracts totaling 68 acres. Theeight tracts mentioned by Willardmust refer to the purchases of both1881 and 1885. But the area reportedby Willard totals eight acres morethan can be accounted for in the re-corded purchases of the Board of Re-gents. Willard’s records of purchaseswould give a total area of 323 acresfor the farm. This must be in error,since Shelton (Fourth Biennial Reportof the College, 1883-1884, p. 95) gavethe size of the farm in 1884 as 271acres. When to this is added the 44acres purchased in 1885, it makesa total area for the farm of 315acres, not 323 acres as reported byWillard.


report, wrote that “It shouldbe remembered that the insti-tution has no barn or team.”(7) But in 1870 he says “Wehope to have a wagon andteam of horses.” (24) Thefollowing year (1871) Fred E.Miller, farm superintendent,reported that “A span ofmules that has given excellentsatisfaction has been pur-chased by and with the adviceof Regent Higinbotham at acost of $500.” (25) Additionalwork stock was purchased in1872 following an appropria-tion of $15,000 by the Legis-lature for the development ofthe industrial departments ofthe College. These purchasesconsisted of one span of mulesthree years old, $400; onespan of mules seven years old,$400; and a saddle horse fouryears old, $100.

There is no record of theinstitution owning livestockother than mules and a saddlehorse prior to 1873. Fred E.Miller, in his report for 1872,states “That other stock thanmules and horses mentionedshould be placed upon thefarm at the earliest possiblemoment. . . . The principalbreeds of cattle, sheep andswine, should be representedhere as soon as accommoda-tions are secured for theirproper keeping. An appropri-ation for this effect is sadlyneeded.” (26)

This need was met the nextyear (1873) when $4,322 wasspent for the purchase oflivestock. Cattle, swine andc h i c k e n s were purchased.Four breeds of purebred cat-tle were obtained--Durham(Shorthorn), 3 cows and one

bull; Devon, two cows andone bull; Galloway and Jer-sey, one cow and one bull ofeach breed. The highestpriced animal purchased wasa two-year-old Durham cow,Grace Young Fifth, for which$1,080 was paid. In additionto purebred cattle a gradeDurham nurse cow and threegrade steers (3 years old)were also purchased. Fourbreeds of purebred swine werepurchased--a pair of Essexand a trio each of PolandChina, Chester White andShort-faced Lancastershire.Three varieties of chickenswere purchased--a trio eachof Buff Cochin, Black Brah-ma, and Houdan hens. Theinstitution was also presentedwith a pair of Leghorn Whitechickens. The Board of Re-gents the same year also ne-gotiated for the purchase ofa fine herd of Berkshire swinefrom which during the yearupward of $100 worth ofyoung pigs were sold forbreeding purposes.

The purchase of purebredcattle by the College did notmeet with universal approval.An attempt was made to pre-vent it in 1876 by the Waysand Means Committee of theLegislature. An article in theFebruary 19, 1876, issue ofThe Industrialist states thatthe “Agricultural College billjust agreed upon by the Waysand Means Committee . . . pro-vided that the Regents shallorder the discontinuance ofthe buying of blooded cattle.”This provision of the bill wasnot enacted.

The breeds of Devon cattleand the breeds of Poland


China, Chester White andLancastershire swine weresoon discontinued by the Col-lege. The inventory of cattleand swine for 1878 shows thefollowing breeds represented:Shorthorn, Jersey and Gallo-way cattle and Essex andBerkshire swine.

The Aberdeen-Angus breedof cattle appears on the in-ventory first in 1883-1884,and Herefords in 1887-1888.At the time of the establish-ment of the Experiment Sta-tion the livestock owned bythe College consisted of thefollowing: 48 head of cattleof the following breeds: 28Shorthorns, 14 Jerseys, 4Aberdeen-Angus, and 2 Here-fords. “Two pair of Galloway,for some time owned by thecollege, had just been sold.”Two breeds of swine--about30 Berkshires and eight Po-land China. The work stock

consisted of two teams ofhorses and a saddle pony.

No sheep were owned by theCollege prior to the establish-ment of the Experiment Sta-tion although this was re-gretted by Professor Sheltonwho, in his report for 1879-1880, expressed himself as fol-lows : “I desire . . . to call at-tention of the Board to thefact of the general awakeningof our farmers to the impor-tance of sheep husbandry, andto state my convictions thatthe College farm should notbe behind in this matter, butthat it ought to number in its‘illustrative apparatus’ repre-sentatives of at least twobreeds of sheep--say Cots-wolds and Merinos.” (27)

Physical PlantAt the time of the passage

of the Hatch Act the Collegepossessed a physical plant

Fig. 4.--Anderson Hall. About the time of its completion in 1884. Theright wing of this structure completed in 1879 was called at the time the“Practical Agricultural Wing.”


that provided many of theessential facilities needed forinvestigational w o r k . Thefarm of 315 acres has been de-scribed. The main collegebuilding, named later Ander-son Hall, was built piecemeal.The first section, the northwing, called at the time thePractical Agricultural Wing,was completed in February1879. The building as a wholewas completed in 1884. Thisbuilding provided offices andwork space for a part of theearly staff of the ExperimentStation. The first barn at theinstitution was started in1872 on land recently ac-quired, now the main campusof the University. A descrip-tion of this b u i l ding asplanned was published in thereport of the State Board ofAgriculture for 1872. It neverwas completed as planned andwas used as a barn for only ashort time when in 1875 itwas remodeled for generalcollege purposes. The Janu-ary 29, 1876, issue of the In-dustrialist has this to sayabout the barn.

“A year ago we had a barn, asubstantial, stone edifice, cost-ing $11,000. It had fine win-dows, beautiful ceilings, andhandsome doors. It was warm,dry and pleasantly located. Inshort, everything that could ap-peal to the higher and betternatures of animal kind hadbeen done for the place. Buteven here there were disadvan-tages. A load of hay could notbe driven into the barn. Thehalf mile walk for water exer-cised both man and beast andwas inconsistent and expensive,as two men were constantly re-quired to care for the stock. Sowe cheerfully surrendered thisspacious dwelling of our highbred animals to the literary de-

partment, marched our stockacross the fields till we foundwater and plenty of it; and closeby a building was erected. Thisbuilding cost-$173; it is quite ascomfortable and more conven-ient than the $11,000 affair, foralthough our herd has nearlydoubled, one man finds no dif-ficulty in doing all the ‘chores.’ ”After remodeling, the barn

became the chief Collegebuilding and remained as suchuntil the north wing of Ander-son Hall was completed in1879. At the time the HatchAct was passed, a portion ofthe old College barn buildingwas used by the Departmentof Botany and Zoology for of-fices and laboratories. It alsohoused the museum. It hassince served many useful pur-poses, including accommoda-tions for the Department ofAgricultural Engineering. Itwas condemned a few yearsago but still stands betweenWaters and Veterinary Halls.It is usually referred to as the“old armory.”

A second stone barn was built in 1877 at a cost of$4,000. It consisted of a mainfloor and basement, was 97’long and 48’ wide. It wasbuilt of limestone erected inthe best style of rubblework.It provided space for 32 headof cattle and seven horses. Italso had a root cellar thatwould store 2,000 bushels ofroots. Concerning this barn,Professor Shelton wrote asfollows in his report of De-cember 31, 1878: “Since lastNovember the new barn hasbeen in constant use and I amprepared to speak positively ofits merits. Accustomed as ourherd was to an old shed whichleaked like a sieve, and which


after every rain was more thanankle-deep in the most tena-cious mud, we can appreciatethe blessings of warm, drystables, convenient granariesand bays, and dry, roomyyards such as the farm nowhas.” (28)

This barn soon became in-adequate, especially for thelivestock experimental feed-ing work that was beingstarted at about that time. In1884 Professor Shelton writes,“We need a good barn, thesame to be devoted exclusivelyto experimental work.” (29)The next Legislature appro-priated $4,500 for an experi-mental barn and $1,000 for acattle shed and corn crib.

The appropriation of $4,500for the barn was used to buildan addition to the one built in1877. The original barn was97’ x 48’, and the new addi-tion built primarily for experi-mental purposes was 76’ x 48’.It was constructed of stone tomatch the original barn. Abasement 9’ 6” high underlaythe entire barn, with an upperstory 16’ high. The barn fur-nished room wholly in thebasement for 51 head of cat-tle, with additional rooms for

pens and stalls that increasedthe capacity fully one-half. Asilo was built with walls ofsolid masonry in one cornerof the barn. In addition toample storage space for hay,fodder, roots, grain and pre-pared feed, the barn had anengine room and fuel roomwith masonry walls, as pro-tection against accidents fromfire. It also had an office andspecimen room where the rec-ords of the farm were keptand for storage of specimensof farm and experimentalcrops. The barn was com-pleted in 1885.

In addition to the barn anexperimental piggery build-ing 42’ x 24’, constructed ofstone and having ten pensseparated longitudinally bya 4’ alley, was built at a pointeast of the new addition tothe barn and at right anglesto it.

This barn, as enlarged,served until 1914 when it wasrazed and the material used,in part, for the constructionof a third stone barn. Thisbarn was located on landnorth of the campus proper.The construction of the eastwing of Waters Hall in 1913,

Fig. 5.--The second stone barn built in 1877 at a cost of $4,000 as itappeared after its enlargement for experimental work in 1885.


located a short distance south-west of the old barn, made theremoval of the barn desirable.A full description of the barnis contained in the Appendicesof the Fifth Biennial Reportof the Kansas AgriculturalCollege, 1885-1886, pp. 120-125.

In 1876 an appropriation of$4,000 was secured for a horti-cultural and botanical build-ing. A one-story building 31’x 80’ was built, having a base-ment with work shops andcellars. It served the depart-ments of horticulture, ento-mology, botany and zoologyuntil botany and zoology weremoved to the “old Armory”building shortly before theestablishment of the Experi-ment Station. Professor Gale,head of the Department ofBotany and Horticulture, inhis report for 1876, says, “Weare now provided with a com-modious Horticultural Halland lecture room with amplework-room and cellars forthe storage of roots, vege-tables, and fruits.” (30) In thefall of 1880 a small structure13’ x 24’ to be used as a propa-gating pit and greenhouse wasbuilt in the southeast angle ofthe Horticultural Hall. It washeated by a small brick fur-nace with flues passing underthe benches. It was utilizedfor greenhouse purposes andfor the propagation of plantsfrom cuttings and seed. Thebuilding was utilized first forwork in horticulture, botanyand entomology and was usedlater by the college photog-rapher. It was razed in 1959to provide for the location ofthe new Denison Hall.

Another building that wasutilized in part for experi-mental work before the Ex-periment Station was estab-lished was the ChemistryBuilding, erected in 1876.$8,000 was appropriated forthis building. The Regents intheir report of December 16,1876, stated, “The laboratoryis a stone building, pointedrange work, one story, cross-form 109’ x 109’. . . . It isadmirably designed, and fur-nishes more room and betterlaboratory facilities than anybuilding of its cost in theUnited States.” (31) A wood-cut and description of thebuilding were published inThe Industrialist of October12, 1876. The building stillstands directly north of Ander-son Hall and houses the De-partment of Mathematics.

Perhaps more progressmight have been made in pro-viding buildings and equip-ment suitable for experimentalwork during President Fair-child’s administration (1879- 1897) if it had not been theopinion of the President “thatthe state should be asked tofurnish only the buildings andthe services for which it wasobligated under the MorrillAct.” (32) It was the feeling,especially on the part of thefaculty who were interestedin investigational work, thatnot as much was done asmight have been done to pro-vide equipment for experi-mentation. This may accountin part for the use of a portionof the first appropriation un-der the Hatch Act for theconstruction of facilities for


horticultural investigationalwork.

President Fairchild’s atti-tude toward investigationalwork appears to be more thatof a cautious administratorrather than one lacking ap-preciation for such work. Inhis article “Farm Experimen-tation for Colleges,” previ-ously mentioned, he ex-pressed himself further as fol-lows : “For the most part, nomeans for special experimentshave been provided, and noadequate opportunity has beenafforded, while the peoplehave looked for results far outof proportion. It has been theold story of ‘bricks withoutstraw’. . . . Finally, no satis-factory answer has ever beengiven to the question of ex-pense. Frequently, no esti-mate can be sufficiently ac-curate beforehand, and noadequate fund is placed atdisposal of the careful experi-menter, or results seem out of

proportion to the expense,and dissatisfaction is the re-sult. All these considerationsneed to be generally and effec-tively weighed before publicexpectation can be reasonabletoward our colleges, and be-fore the colleges can decideupon their proper share inthis great work of increasingthe stores of accurate knowl-edge. Sometime, in the notfar distant future, endowedexperiment stations will workout problems impossible ofsolution in college work andprivate enterprise will do stillmore.” (2)

The faculty of the Collegein general was unwilling toawait the endowment of anexperiment station before un-dertaking experimental work.They felt compelled to dowhat they could with thelimited resources at hand. Nomember of the college facultywas more enthusiastic aboutexperimental work than Pro-

Fig. 6.--The Chemistry Building built in 1876 at a cost of $8,000 wasreported to “furnish more room and better laboratory facilities than anybuilding of its cost in the United States.”


fessor Shelton and no depart-ment was more active thanthe Farm Department in suchwork. He expressed not onlyhis own attitude but the atti-tude in general of the facultywhen he wrote in 1886 as fol-lows : “Of all the work donein my department, it is atleast doubtful if any brings asquick a return as this (experi-mental work) in popular ap-preciation. In the past yearthe cost of our experimentalwork has been paid out ofgeneral college funds. Inview of the public characterof this work, I suggest theState Legislature be asked tomeet the cost of our futureexperimental undertak-ings. About $500 will be re-quired to meet the expensesof experiments planned forthe coming year.” (33)

The LibraryThe institution had the be-

ginning of a library when theHatch Act was passed. “Acareful inventory of the booksJune 30, 1887, gives the fol-lowing results: 6,572 boundvolumes valued at $10,211.76;2,350 bound pamphlets valuedat $45.00; 360 bound volumesof duplicates valued at $101.75.Total value of books, $l0,-358.51.” (34) The appropria-tion for the purchase of‘booksfor the year was $500.

Professor Lantz, Chairmanof the Library committee ofthe College, expressing theneeds of the library at thetime, wrote as follows: “Themost serious need of the li-brary, at present, is moreroom. . . . At the farthest buttwo more years will bring us

to the limits of our shelf-room. Our present reading-room is far too small, and isreally unfitted for the pur-pose. It is poorly lighted, andhas only standing room forreaders, and but little of that.The reading-table has notsufficient space for the properarrangement of our maga-zines and exchanges.” (35)

Agronomic InvestigationsThe early agronomic inves-

tigational work, as Fred E.Miller, farm superintendent,reported, was “confined tothe simpler subjects.” It con-sisted of studies of the adap-tation of different crops tothe climatic conditions of theregion, variety tests of themore important crop plants,tillage tests, fertilizer experi-ments, and crop sequencestudies. The annual report ofthe President for 1869 showsthat during that season eightvarieties of wheat, four varie-ties of oats, two varieties ofbarley, two varieties of rye,six varieties of Irish potatoes,and two varieties of sweet-potatoes were grown. Buck-wheat was also grown. Thereport also states that “Ourexperiments with corn thepast season (1869) do not fa-vor very early planting on up-land.”

J. S. Hougham, professor ofagricultural science, reportedin 1870 that one half acre ofdwarf broom corn was grown,that it was in “high favor”and that seed was made avail-able to supply those who de-sired it. This is the first in-stance of record of the distri-bution of seed by the College


to farmers. No indication ofthe amount of seed distrib-uted is available and the re-port does not state whetherthe seed was sold or distrib-uted without cost to farmers.

The production and distri-bution of good seed of im-proved crop varieties con-tinued to be a service of theCollege throughout its earlydays. Professor Shelton, in1880, wrote, “In addition tosending large quantities ofseed to different parts of theState, we have, by correspond-ence, been enabled to place alarge number of farmers incommunication with reliabledealers in seeds not easily ac-cessible. This branch of workhas been to us very pleasant:and we know that it has beenprofitable to our farmerfriends.” (36)Wheat Variety Tests

Wheat of different kindsand varieties was tested.More attention was given tospring wheat than the valueof the crop proved to deserve.Some of the early springwheat varieties tested wereWhite Australian, Red Aus-tralian, and White Oregon.As spring wheat proved un-adapted, attention turnedmore to tests of winter wheat.An importation of seed of win-ter wheat was obtained fromFrance (variety “Touzell”) in1869. It was tested exten-sively the next two years butproved unsatisfactory. “Otherforeign varieties of wheatthat were tested on the Col-lege Farm gave unsatisfac-tory results.” (37) Five vari-eties of winter wheat, Early

May, Golden Straw, SilverChaf, Arnold’s Golden Metal,and Fultz, were grown in 1879.Early May gave the best re-sults. Professor Shelton, un-der whom the tests were con-ducted, reported, “Of the con-siderable number of sorts triedby us during the past sixyears, none proved equal tothe red Early May.” (38)

Fifty-one varieties of winterwheat were sown in 1887. Allof these appear to have beensoft wheat. In summarizing,Professor Shelton states, “Theresults of our experience withsomething over one hundredsorts of winter wheat haveabundantly satisfied me thatthe Kansas farmer can onlyrely upon the fine, early ripen-ing red sorts--often of south-ern origin--of which EarlyMay and Zimmerman aretypes.” (39) The College hadmade no tests o f Turkey typewheats prior to the establish-ment of the Experiment Sta-tion.Corn

Corn was a more importantcrop than wheat in the econ-omy of Kansas in the daysbefore the Experiment Stationwas established. It was betteradapted to growing on sodland than wheat and could begrown with less mechaniza-tion. Corn was also grownmore extensively than wheaton the College farm. KingPhillips was one of the mostpopular varieties. Experimen-tal work with corn consistedof testing varieties of bothdent and flint corn, methodsof planting, a comparison ofthe planting in drills with the


ordinary old method of plant-ing in hills, the value for seedpurposes of seed, with thenumber of rows varying from12 to 24 rows of corn on thecob, a trial of seed corn frombutts, centers, and ends of theears, a comparison of largeand small dent corn, the valueof subsoiling and manuring,the influence of the thicknessof planting on yield and qual-ity, and the value of gypsumas a fertilizer for corn.

An acre yield test of cornwas conducted on the Collegefarm in 1872. “On September26, one acre was measuredfrom center to center of spacebetween rows, by a committeeof disinterested neighbors.”This committee certified to ayield by weight of 6,400pounds or 88.7 bushels to theacre.

AlfalfaAs early as 1874 it was re-

ported that “Experiments havebeen inaugurated the past sea-son with twenty-two varietiesof clovers and grasses, and tothis number additions will be

made as fast as they can beobtained.” (40) The varietiesplanted were not given, and itis not known whether alfalfawas included. The first men-tion of alfalfa was in 1875when Professor Sheltonwrote, “The success whichhas attained the cultivationof this plant (alfalfa) in Cali-fornia and in various SouthAmerican countries gives it aspecial promise for Kansas.”(41) Experience with alfalfaon the College Farm ante-dated the time of this report.Later Professor Shelton re-ported “Our experience withalfalfa . . . began in the springof 1874 when we sowed twopounds of seed with oats inthe piggery yard. . . . To ourgreat surprise the alfalfa sur-vived this hard treatment andthe following spring we foundmany plants growing vigor-ously. In the spring of 1875we procured forty pounds ofseed, mostly from California;this was sown in several plats,with grain and alone and upondifferent soils. . . . Thus far

Fig. 7.--The College Campus about 1877 showing the Chemistry Build-ing on the left, the Horticultural Building in the right center, and the"Old Armory" on the right. The building in the center left is the “Shops.”


all have done well.” (42) Thenext year (1876) six acres ofalfalfa were seeded on the Col-lege Farm.

In 1880 Professor Sheltonreported as follows: “In re-gard to the value of alfalfa forKansas, I have no hesitationin saying that, all things con-sidered, it is our most valu-able clover. . . . Alfalfa is per-ennial, perhaps eternal; at allevents it will outlive the 'old-est inhabitant.’ It makes themost pasturage for neat stockand the best ‘hog pastures.’ Itcuts the most hay; we cut fourcrops from the same groundlast season. And these, brief-ly, are my reasons for believ-ing in alfalfa.” (43) A littlelater (1885) shortly beforethe establishment of the Ex-periment Station, Sheltonwrote with somewhat morerestraint. He said, “In gen-eral, it may be said that nograss or clover can be per-manently successful in Kan-sas that has not the ability towithstand high temperaturesand drouth as well as severefreezing. . . . In a course oflong experience with tamegrasses in Kansas the idea hassteadily grown with me thatorchard grass is generally ourbest and most successfulgrass. . . . Alfalfa is also sureto be a favorite with Kansascultivators, although a widerexperience is needed to deter-mine accurately its place.”(44) There is no record ofbromegrass (Bromus inermis)having been grown on the Col-lege farm before the establish-ment of the Experiment Sta-tion.

Most kinds of crop plantsavailable at the time were be-ing tested. Fairly extensivevarietal tests of oats, barley,mangoes, and potatoes wereconducted. Rye, flax, hemp,buckwheat, castor bean, mil-let, sugar beets, and cowpeaswere grown. Also most of thetame grasses and several leg-umes in addition to red clo-ver and alfalfa were grown.In 1874 two acres of mangoeswere grown, yielding 287bushels of roots to the acre.A root cellar, capable of stor-ing 2,000 bushels of roots, wasbuilt in the basement of thebarn constructed in 1877.Roots provided succulent feedfor cattle during the wintermonths, much as ensilage hasdone at a later date.Sorghums

Sorghums were not grownextensively in the early daysby the College, and those pro-duced were Chiefly of thesaccharin types. They werecreating more interest on thecampus at the time from thestandpoint of the productionof sugar than for feeding pur-poses. They had, however, be-come an important crop forrough feed by the time theExperiment Station was es-tablished. In fact, a report ofthe activities of the Collegefarm for the season 1886shows that “during the firstweek in September eighteentons of sorghum were cut intoinch lengths and packed awayin the silo for use in the con-dition of ensilage.” (45) Thiswas probably the first crop tobe put in the silo that wasconstructed in a corner of the


experimental barn completedin 1885.

Fertilizer InvestigationsFertilizer investigations

were started at an early date.Two materials that werereadily available were stablemanure and gypsum, stablemanure from the barns andfeed yards in the town ofManhattan, and gypsum fromthe deposits along the BlueRiver Valley to the north ofManhattan. In the spring of1872 farm work was delayedby inclement weather. Thefarm superintendent reportedon the use of the time as fol-lows : “At the first start,heavy frosts, night afternight, stiffening the soil to aninch or more in depth, delayedwork for a time; but the inter-val was well employed in haul-ing manure from the town--the three teams (one wagonb o r r o w e d )–hauling andspreading by actual weightfrom fifteen to twenty tonsper day. This has been con-tinued at every odd hourthrough the season, weatherpermitting, upward of fivehundred tons having beenspread.” (46)

A study of the influence ofmanure in the production ofwheat together with differ-ent methods of preparing thesoil for the crop was startedin 1872. More extensive plotwork with both manure andgypsum was started in thefall of 1875. Two sets of ex-perimental plots were laid offfor the purpose of testing theefficacy of well-rotted barn-yard manure and gypsum orplaster applied as a top-dress-

ing on wheat. All told, 16 ex-perimental plots were em-ployed. The general plan ofexperiment was to begin eachseries with a plot to whichmanure was applied; to thenext plot nothing was ap-plied, and to the next, plaster.The treatments were repli-cated. Manure was applied inFebruary at the rate of 28loads to the acre, and theplaster, which was securedfrom Blue Rapids, Kansas,was applied at the rate of 160pounds per acre. Gypsum wasalso tried on alfalfa and corn.Four experimental plots werelaid off in an alfalfa field andplaster applied at the rate of160 pounds per acre on alter-nate plots in early April.Finally plaster was tried oncorn in hills, one teaspoonfulof plaster to each hill, afterthe corn had been up onemonth. Six plots were used,untreated plots alternatingwith plastered plots as in theother experiments. The re-sults were summarized as fol-lows : “1. For the applicationof manure as a top-dressingto wheat, for the present sea-son, no increased yield ofgrain, and only a slightly in-creased yield in straw isshown. 2. For the applicationof plaster to wheat, no in-crease in either grain orstraw is shown, and for theuse of plaster on corn only avery slightly increased yieldof grain. 3. The application ofplaster to alfalfa increasedyield of hay 326 pounds peracre.” (47)

In 1877 further work wasundertaken in which ashes aswell as manure and plaster


were tested. Results weremuch the same as for previ-ous years. Reporting on thework, P r o f e s s o r Sheltonwrote, “The results of this ex-periment correspond veryclosely with a similar onemade upon the College farmin 1876. It seems to show thatupon our uninjured prairiesoils, and during such favor-able seasons as have latelyfavored this State, manureupon wheat is of doubtfulvalue.” (48) Much the sameresults were obtained in 1883when tests were conductedwith manure applied to corn.Salt was also used as a fertili-zer upon wheat without bene-ficial results.

After more than ten yearsof experimental work withbarnyard manure as a fertili-zer, Professor Shelton sum-marized the results as fol-lows : “In our experience,manure made during the win-ter months and hauled afieldthe following spring is rarelyof much benefit to cropsgrown the first year aftersuch application. The secondand third years, however,have generally shown verydecidedly the beneficial ef-fects of a dressing of barn-yard manure. Manuring evenwhen the manure costs noth-ing, is always an expensiveoperation; the true policy ofKansas farmers, therefore, isto maintain the condition ofthe farm by judicious crop-ping, thorough cultivation,and pasturing, so that generalmanuring may be avoided andthe annual yield of manureapplied to particular crops

and easily-accessible fields.”(49)

Some experimental tillagework was undertaken. It con-sisted of subsoiling, particu-larly for corn, and harrowingof young, growing winterwheat in the spring. Neitherpractice proved particularlybeneficial.Horticultural InvestigationsNext to agronomic investi-

gations, experimental work inthe field of horticulture wasthe most extensive in theearly years of the College.Two reasons at least accountfor part of the attention giventhis type of work. First, itcould be done with the limitedresources available. Not muchexpense was involved and thework could be done with handlabor, the most of which wassupplied by students. In thesecond place, there was ur-gent demand upon the partof the early settlers for infor-mation as to the types of treesthat could be grown success-fully under prairie conditions.Also for information as toplants that could be grown forfruit production and for thebeautification of the frontierhomes. The interest that ex-isted in the planting of foresttrees on the prairie at thistime was great. PresidentDenison stated the situationas follows in his report to theRegents in 1872: “The ques-tion of raising forests is vitalto Kansas, not only in respectto fuel, fences, lumber, rail-road ties, etc., but for wind-breaks, and to modify the cli-mate and secure a more full


and equal distribution of mois-ture on the plains.” (50)

Interest in the planting offorest trees was also manifestby the passage of the “TimberAct” by Congress in 1873.This act permitted homestead-ers to file on up to 160 acresadditional land when onefourth of the additional areawas planted to trees, follow-ing approved methods. Whilethe investigational work withtrees at the College was notearly enough to serve as aguide to planting under the“Timber Act,” it did serve tocheck upon the results that thesettlers secured and confirmedthe difficulties that they en-countered.

Early horticultural investi-gations at the College werealong the following lines: (1)Fruit and orchard investiga-tions. (2) Forest tree andshelterbelt investigations. (3)Vegetable studies. (4) Work

with ornamental plants andflowers.

OrchardsThe first fruit orchard on

the College farm was plantedin the spring of 1868 when220 apple trees were planted.Additional plantings w e r emade in 1869 when 25 appletrees and 50 peach trees wereplanted; 150 additional peachtrees were planted the sameyear. In 1871, E. Gale, Profes-sor of Horticulture, reported,“There are now in the orchardabout 2100 apple, pear, peach,cherry and plum trees.” (51)In addition to the orchardplantings, the College had onhand about 40,000 nurserytrees embracing a large va-riety of apple, pear, peach,plum, cherry and ornamentaltrees besides small fruits.This nursery stock was soldto the public. All these earlyplantings were on the old Col-

Fig. 8.--The Horticultural Building constructed in 1876 at a cost of$4,000. The propagation pits in the foreground were constructed withHatch funds in 1888.


lege farm. When the newfarms were bought in 1871,there was growing on one ofthe farms (Foster) an appleorchard. This orchard wasnever used experimentally.Professor Gale reported asfollows regarding it: “Manyof the apple trees upon theFoster place, and some ofthose probably upon the oldCollege farm are withoutnames, and I would respect-fully suggest that these treesbe used for instruction in top-grafting, so that every treeupon the College farm mayhave a name.” (51)

In 1873 Professor Gale sug-gested the establishment at

Fig. 9.--Elbridge Gale, Professorof Horticulture and Botany, 1871-1879. “In 1873 Professor Gale sug-gested the establishment at theCollege of an experimental orchardpatterned after the orchard of theLondon Horticultural Society inEngland.”

the College of an experimen-tal orchard patterned afterthe orchard of the LondonHorticultural Society in Eng-land. He wrote, “It is nowgenerally believed that Kan-sas promises to be one of theleading fruit-growing statesin the Union. . . . In such anorchard there should be col-lected for the purpose of fruit-ing upon the same grounds,and under similar circum-stances, every variety offruit which can be of anyvalue to the country.” (52)

With such as experimentalorchard in mind, ProfessorGale in 1872 started to collectcions. He reported that lead-ing pomologists of the coun-try had very cordially aidedand that he had collected 650name varieties. The next year(1873) Professor Gale re-ported a start on this project.He reported more than 1,000varieties of apples growingon the ground, chiefly in nurs-ery rows. But as far as possi-ble top worked on orchardtrees. He wrote, “The experi-mental orchard is designed toaccomplish the following ob-jects: (1) To afford oppor-tunity for extended compari-son of varieties upon the partof our students. (2) To care-fully test the different vari-eties of fruit having even alocal importance, and to de-cide upon the adaptability ofany variety to our climate.(3) To afford a convenientchannel for the introductionof valuable varieties. (4) Toaid in sifting out our almostinextr i cab le nomenc la -ture.” (53) Professor Gale,in 1874, reported the start of


an experimental pear orchardin which there were about600 trees and 235 varieties.

The experimental orchardas envisaged by ProfessorGale did not materialize butthe development of the or-chards continued and Pro-fessor E. A. Popenoe, who hadsucceeded Professor Gale, re-ported in 1882 that “The or-chards are now in better con-dition than ever before, thetrees being in good healthand mostly well shaped.” (54)The plantings at the time onthe lower campus were in twoorchards known as the “northorchard” and the “south or-chard.” The north orchardwas located north and east ofthe building called at the timeHorticultural Hall, on anarea now occupied in part byFarrell Library and south ofWaters Hall. The south or-chard was located on thesouth side of the present cam-pus. At the time of the estab-lishment of the ExperimentStation the north orchard con-tained 268 apple trees num-bering 47 different varieties.In addition to apples the or-chard contained importantvarieties of pears, peaches,cherries, plums, grapes andbush fruit.Forests and Shelterbelts

Some studies of the adapta-tion of forest trees werestarted as early as 1869. Someplantings were made of softand hard (sugar) maple aswell as beech trees. Sixteenvarieties of acacia trees re-ceived from Australia werealso planted. Professor Galein 1871 said that “Provisions

should at once be made forthe commencement of an ex-perimental forest; and Iwould respectfully ask that aportion of ground be designedfor permanent forest plant-ing.” (55)

The reports of the year1872 show that there was un-der the direction of the De-partment of Horticulture 40 1/4acres of land. Of this therewere devoted to experimentalforests and shelterbelts 11 3/4acres, to orchards 15 1/2 acres,to vineyards 2 1/2 acres, and tonursery 10 1/2 acres.

There were growing in theexperimental forest 34,489trees, in the shelterbelt 2,072trees, making a total of 36,670trees. The shelterbelt wasplanted around the orchardon the old College farm. Theshelterbelt consisted princi-pally of soft maple, ailanthus,and Lombardy poplar. Theland selected for tree culturewas that least well adapted tothe cultivation of root cropsand cereals of any broken onthe College farm. Plantingsconsisted of European larch;white, red and green ash;Osage orange; catalpa, ailan-thus; black walnut; hickorynut and maple.

In 1878 Professor Gale sum-marized the results of eightyears of work in testing theadaptation of forest trees toKansas conditions. He men-tions the testing of over 100varieties and divides the listinto those he considers un-adapted and should not beconsidered for planting inKansas and those whichthrough the eight years havebeen of unquestioned success.


He writes, “It is just possiblethat the past eight years havegiven us a severer test uponthe value of these several spe-cies of trees than we shallever experience again,* butthe chances are quite as muchin the other direction; henceit will be wise to prepare tomeet like disasters in the fu-ture. In selecting species oftrees for our first planting,we should take those that arenative to Kansas soil. . . . Ican simply endeavor to indi-cate the relative value of ourleading native trees for forest-culture, all things considered,by placing them in the follow-ing list, with the most valu-able first: black walnut; ash,green and white; red cedar;Kansas willow (S. fragilis);box elder, honey locust; cof-fee bean; hackberry; cotton-wood; soft or silver maple.”(56)

The development of thecampus on its present loca-tion afforded an opportunityto plant and to test the valueof many species of trees. Thegrounds were used for nurs-ery plantings where the treeswere started and transplantedlater to new locations forlandscaping and for the beau-tification of the campus. Thisafforded an opportunity to ac-complish two purposes -- astudy of the adaptation offorest plantings and at thesame time to develop thecampus as an arboretum ofusefulness and beauty.

The first mention of an ar-boretum on the campus wasby Professor Popenoe in 1879when he reported, “I havealso located and begun the

planting of an arboretum. . . .The trees will be planted innursery-rows, arranged, sofar as possible, consistentwith their respective modesof growth, in accordance withnatural relationships. Thistree nursery will be the sourcefrom which can be obtainedtrees for removal to thelawns, as they are needed.”(57)

Some work was done withflowers, shrubs and vegeta-bles. In the early 1870’s alarge number of floweringshrubs were selected andplanted to test their ability toendure the climate.

In addition to the studiesmentioned above on theadaptation of forest and fruittrees to the climatic condi-tions of Kansas, other horti-cultural investigations wereundertaken as follows: aseries of experiments in root-grafting with special referenceto the comparative length ofroot and cion of differentvarieties of apple, pear, plum,peach and almonds; the ef-fect of climatic conditionsupon the wood growth of treesunder Kansas conditions; theeffect of cross fertilization ofstrawberries; and tests of thevalue of spraying orchardtrees with arsenical poisonsto control codling moth.

MuseumCollections for the start of a

museum of zoological, botani-cal and entomological speci-mens were begun as early as1877 under the direction ofthe professor of botany andpractical horticulture. That

* This period included the grass-hopper year of 1874.


year Professor Gale reported,“We have obtained throughthe Agricultural Departmentat Washington, a collection ofseeds. . . . We have also re-ceived from the same source avaluable collection of dried-plant specimens, a few ofwhich are European, but mostof them are from the Westernmountains and plains. . . . Wehave also secured during thepast year a good collection ofnative Kansas wood speci-mens.” (58) Substantial addi-tions were made to the mu-seum collections in 1878 and1879.

By the time the ExperimentStation was established in1887 the museum containedmany valuable collections.The care and direction of themuseum was transferred tothe Botany Department. Themuseum was housed on the

second floor of the “old ar-mory” building.

Livestock InvestigationsThe first livestock owned

by the College, other thanmules and a riding horse, waspurchased in 1873. Most ofthis livestock was purebredof excellent quality, and theoffspring was in demand byfarmers for breeding pur-poses. The earliest contribu-tion in the field of animalhusbandry that the Collegemade to the farmers of thestate was the distribution ofthe offspring of these animals.

In 1874 the superintendentof the farm, E. M. Shelton, re-ported, “A considerable in-crease in the number of swinehas taken place, and saleshave been made from time totime.” (59) On August 14,1875, he wrote “Our Berk-shires are regarded by com-

Fig. l0.--The “Old Armory” built in 1872 as the first section of a barnthat was never completed for this purpose. It was remodeled in 1875 andserved as the principal college building until 1879 when the north wingof Anderson Hall was completed.


petent judges as being amongthe best. We have pigs of thissort, farrowed in Novemberlast, that weigh 220 pounds instore condition. It will not beout of place to add that we arecontinually s e l l i n g youngbreeding animals of the abovementioned sort to the farmersat the lowest prices. Duringthe past year several hundreddollars worth have been dis-posed of.” (60) The next year(1876) it was reported that“The demand throughout theState for breeding animals ofCollege stock has been verygreat, greatly in excess of thesupply, in fact, and consider-able sales at fair prices havebeen made.” (61)

The College continued tosell its surplus of purebredbreeding stock, both swineand cattle, up to the time thatthe Experiment Station wasestablished. The year of itsestablishment (1887) Profes-sor Shelton reported as fol-lows : “The demand for stockhas been much less brisk thanin previous years, and priceshave generally ruled low.Nevertheless, we have suc-ceeded in disposing of most ofour surplus breeding stock atliving prices.” (62)Feeding Experiments

It was several years afterlivestock was acquired by theCollege that the first feedingexperiment was started. Oneof the earliest tests was re-ported in 1878 and was asimple one, consisting of feed-ing whole milk to a younggrowing pig. A pig was fedthree pints of milk a day un-til it had consumed 31 1/2

quarts of milk, when itweighed 50 pounds more thanthe heaviest of its litter matesthat had not received milk.(63)

The first carefully plannedand executed livestock feedingexperiment was conductedduring the winter of 1880-81.It was planned primarily forthe purpose of determiningthe value of shelter for fairlymature pigs fed during thewinter months. At that timemost pigs were fed by farmersin the open, in groves of tim-ber or in unprotected yards.The experiment was startedNovember 1, 1880, and termi-nated January 16, 1881. Fivepigs were fed in the basementof a warm barn and fiveothers were fed in an openyard on the south side of aclosed board fence withoutprotection except all lots had“straw nests.” The pigs werepenned, fed and weighed in-dividually. All were fed cornalone except two pigs in eachof the sheltered and unshel-tered pens received bran atthe rate of two pounds perday per pig in addition tocorn. The pigs were weighedweekly and the air tempera-ture recorded. The pigs variedin weight from 226 to 285pounds at the start of the ex-periment and from 369 to 439pounds at the end. The totalgain for the individual pigs ineach of the five replicationsvaried for the sheltered pigsfrom 156 to 166 pounds and forthe yard pigs from 117 to 157pounds. The pigs fed outsidegave a much smaller returnfor feed consumed, in allcases less “total gain” and

32 KANSAS BULLETIN 4 4 1

much less “gain per cwt.”The results with bran “seemto show that corn alone canbe more profitably used forfattening hogs than themixed feed consisting of cornand bran.” (64)

This experiment was re-peated in succeeding yearswith the omission of branfrom the rations, since “Thisbran ration . . . complicatedthe experiment in its princi-pal object, so that it wasdeemed best . . . to employ asfeed corn only.” (65) The re-sults of the repeated test con-firmed those obtained fromthe original experiment.

Other livestock experimen-tal work conducted prior tothe establishment of the Ex-periment Station related tothe following subjects: (1)An estimate of the value ofwhole milk for feeding young,growing pigs. (2) Cooked andraw corn as feed for fatteningpigs. (3) Alfalfa and orchardgrass for hog pasture. (4) Acomparison of corn meal withcorn and cob meal for beefmaking. (5) The value ofwarm drinking water formilch cows. (6) The periodof gestation in cows.

Carp CultureIn the late 1870’s and the

early 1880’s much interest de-veloped in Kansas in the pro-duction of carp in farm ponds.Professor Shelton, havingbeen influenced by the publicinterest existing in carp pro-duction, wrote enthusiasti-cally in the spring of 1881 asfollows : “There are few farm-ers in Kansas who could notfurnish a quarter or half an

acre of ground, which mightbe devoted to the raising ofthese valuable fishes; . . . andas fish ponds, be made themost pleasant and profitableparts of the farm.” (66)

An effort was made to pro-duce carp in ponds on the Col-lege farm. The first fish pondconstructed in the spring of1881 had a superficial areaabout 12 x 30 feet. It wasshallow and constructed hast-ily to receive German carpsupplied by the United StatesFish Commission in Washing-ton. A second and deeperpond was dug in the summerof 1881. This pond was about30 x 30 feet and held whenfull three feet deep of waterwhich experience had shownto be sufficient to prevent thecomplete freezing of all thewater in the pond. An earlyreport on the success of theventure reads as follows: “Atone year old, our carp bred,but the increase was slight.During the summer of 1883,however, they increased enor-mously, the produce number-ing thousands, which in manycases were four inches inlength before fall.” (67) Twoyears later, however, Profes-sor Shelton made a final re-port upon the carp-growingventure as follows: “Underthe head of live stock, itseems appropriate to mentionour little experiment withcarp culture, which has beenreferred to in previous re-ports. During the past twoyears the fish have multipliedvery slowly, owing to the dep-redations of their natural en-emies, crawfish, mink andturtles, which it was found


impossible to exclude fromthe ponds, owing in part totheir proximity to a neighbor-ing stream. During the yearthese depredations have suc-ceeded in destroying every oneof the finny residents of thecarp ponds.” (68)

Investigations in theNatural Sciences

Investigational work in thenatural sciences began in1866 with the appointment ofBenjamin F. Mudge as Profes-sor of Natural Sciences. Pro-fessor Mudge spent most ofhis vacation months on geo-logical explorations throughcentral and western Kansas.Regarding these explorationsthe Board of Regents in 1871

Fig. 11.--Benjamin F. Mudge,Professor of Geology and Zoology,1866-1874. “Possess an interestcircumscribed by no state or na-tional boundaries.”

reported as follows: “That ofB. F. Mudge, our indefatigableProfessor of Natural Sciences,poses an interest circum-scribed by no state or nationalboundaries. His researchesupon the plains, during hisvacations, are already givingan impetus to inquiry, and anexamination of the rich geo-logical and mineralogicalfields abounding on our south-ern and western borders.” (69)Professor Mudge the sameyear (1871) reported goodprogress in collecting a her-barium of Kansas plants andmaking a collection of nativeinsects.

As the institution grew andas the faculty increased, in-vestigational work was un-dertaken in aspects of chem-istry, botany, zoology, ento-mology, and meteorology re-lating to agriculture.

Chemical InvestigationsOne of the first investiga-

tions in chemistry was astudy of the farm soils of Kan-sas, undertaken for the Kan-sas State Board of Agricul-ture. These studies werestarted in 1875. ProfessorKedzie, head of the Depart-ment of Chemistry and Phys-ics, reported upon this workas follows : “Soil sampleshave been collected from near-ly every cultivated county. Afew of these have been mi-nutely analyzed, and manymore generally examined, todetermine the quantity oforganic matter, etc. Thesehave been arranged andclassified in the rooms of theSecretary of the Board at To-peka. This is a work, how-


ever, which will require yearsfor its ultimate completion.”(70)

Another study to whichmuch time was devoted by thestaff of the Department ofChemistry was a determina-tion of the sugar content ofsorghum and of the suitabilityof the different varieties ofsorghum for the productionof sugar.

Much interest centered inefforts to produce sugar fromsorghum from the early 1870’sthrough the 1880’s and con-tinuing into the early 1890’s.Sorghum was being used ex-tensively for the productionof syrup. An editorial in theMarch 26, 1879, issue of theKansas Farmer states that“The sorghum crop is assum-ing considerable importancein the state. 20,291 acres wereplanted to sorghum cane lastyear from which was manu-factured 2,333,566 gallons ofsyrup valued at $1,166,783.”(71)

Since the consumption ofsugar was increasing rapidlyin the United States and sincemuch of the sugar consumedwas imported, it was to be ex-pected that effort would bemade to produce sugar from acrop that had been so success-fully grown for syrup. Earlyefforts to produce sugar fromsorghum were made by theChampaign Sugar Company atChampaign, Illinois, and bythe Rio Grande Sugar Com-pany of Cape May County,New Jersey. These effortswere sufficiently successful toencourage the establishmentat Sterling, Kansas, of a mill

to produce sugar from sor-ghum.

Later, mills for this purposewere operated at Hutchinson,Ellsworth, Ottawa, Fort Scott,and Topeka. The State Boardof Agriculture appointed asugar commissioner to helporganize the sugar interestsof Kansas. The production of726,711 pounds of sugar wasreported for the Hutchinson,Sterling, and Ottawa plants in1884. Up to 100 men were em-ployed at the Ottawa plant in1887. This same year (1887)the Kansas Legislature votedto pay a bounty of two centsa pound for sugar produced inthe State from sorghum.

Professor Failyer visitedthe Sterling plant in the sum-mer of 1881 and reported asfollows: “These new indus-tries are having a marked in-fluence upon the prosperity ofSterling and vicinity." (72)

The investigational work atthe College, relating to theproduction of sugar from sor-ghum, consisted principallyof studies of the sugar con-tent of sorghum varieties andthe suitability of different va-rieties for sugar production.Some special equipment wasprovided by the College forthis work. The August 18,1883, issue of The Industrial-ist carried the following an-nouncement: “The ChemistryDepartment is experimentingin sorghum sugar and has justprovided a saccharometer forextensive analysis of juice atdifferent stages of ripenessand under various circum-stances of culture and treat-ment. Professor Failyer has


a sorghum crop ready to beworked and J. T. Willard, as-sistant chemist, is on theground ready to work.”

The Chemistry Departmentstudied the sugar content ofmany varieties of sorghumbut gave special attention tofour varieties, that appearedto be the most promising.These varieties were: Earlyamber, Link’s hybrid, Kansasorange, and Honduras. Astudy of the progressive de-velopment of the sugar con-tent of these varieties wasmade by selecting stalks atdifferent stages of growthand maturity. B e g i n n i n gwhen the sorghum seed wasin the stage of soft dough andmaking analyses at intervalsof three to five days untilthree weeks after the seedwas ripe. Different portionsof the stalks were analyzed.Professor Failyer reportedthat “It was conclusivelyshown that the middle portionof the stalk is far richer incrystallizable sugar than theends. . . . Also that the qualityof the juice increased untilperfect maturity of the stalk.”(73) The crystallizing prop-erties of sorghum syrup werealso studied. Professor Fail-yer reported as follows re-garding this work: “A portionof our work with sorghumduring the last season was totest its crystallizing proper-ties, or rather of the melada.

While nothing new wasbrought out by these trials,the results supplemented theanalyses and confirmed theconclusions drawn from them.With good ripe cane, almost

perfect crystallization wasobtained.” (74)

Another study undertakenby the Chemistry Departmentwas reported upon as followsby Professor Failyer: “At therequest of a large number offarmers, I have also under-taken an examination of thefungus corn smut, to deter-mine its supposed poisonousqualities, and its connection,if any exists, with the exten-sive losses of stock throughthe State in the past twoyears. A preliminary analysishas already been made, butthe full investigation will becompleted during the comingvacation.” (75)

Professor Failyer becamediscouraged with his attemptsto do experimental work with-out financial Support, andsuch work was almost non-existent in the Chemistry De-partment during the ten yearsimmediately prior to the pas-sage of the Hatch Act. He ex-pressed his discouragementand the position of the de-partment relative to suchwork in his report to thePresident in 1886. He wroteas follows : “I have, duringthe year, on two separate oc-casions, asked appropriationsfor experimental work, under-standing one year ago thatyou were so adjusting thework of the departments as tomake this possible. Such ap-propriation was not made. Inthe absence of a response tomy request, I have felt justi-fied in dropping the matter,further than to say that I amready at any time to take upsuch work.” (76)


EntomologicalInvestigations

Investigational work in en-tomology before the establish-ment of the Experiment Sta-tion consisted chiefly of thecollection and classificationof insects. As early as 1871,Professor Mudge r e p o r t e dthat “A majority of our nativeinsects have been collectedmonthly.” (77) In 1872 it wasreported that 800 species hadbeen collected.

A project that proved ofmuch interest to Professor J.S. Whitman, head of the De-partment of Botany, Entomol-ogy and Geology, was the ef-fort that was made in the1870’s to produce silk in Kan-sas. This effort was describedin an editorial that appearedin the Kansas Farmer in 1871,as follows: “It may be newsto some of our readers thatwe have a silk factory in suc-cessful operation in this State.Mr. Boissiere, a wealthyFrench gentleman, estab-lished a factory in FranklinCounty some two or threeyears ago, which is now turn-ing out several hundred yardsof silk ribbon per day, fromthe raw material. This gen-tleman is also planting largegroves of mulberry and ai-lanthus to feed the silkworms;and will gradually increase hisfacilities, as circumstancespermit.” (78) The silk fac-tory was located at Silkville,near Williamsburgh, FranklinCounty, Kansas, and was op-erated by Mr. E. V. Boissiere.Mr. Boissiere described his fac-tory and its operation in a let-ter written October 26, 1872, to

A. M. Blair, secretary of theFranklin County AgriculturalSociety, that read in part asfollows: “I commenced theweaving of silk velvet ribbonin 1869 but with very inade-quate accommodations. In thefollowing year I erected a fac-tory, 28’ x 85’, one story high,with walls of stone, whichgives me ample room. I havenow two looms, constantlyemployed: one capable ofturning out 112 yards of rib-bon one-half inch wide perday; the other, 72 yards, oneinch wide. These looms em-ploy two men and three wo-men, and part of the time, ayoung girl. I shall soon havea third loom completed andset up, for weaving ribbonthree inches wide, which willbe capable of turning out 40yards per day. . . . I planteda quantity of white mulberryseed procured from France,for the sole purpose of rear-ing silkworms. They pro-duced an abundance of trees.”(79) Professor Whitman wasin touch with these opera-tions. He visited Silkville inthe summer of 1875. In hisreport to the Regents in 1874he wrote: “I was enabled tomake some interesting experi-ments with native and for-eign silk-spinning i n s e c t s .Five native and three foreigns p e c i e s were successfullyraised at the College.” (80)

Professor Whitman also ac-knowledged the receipt fromSilkville of specimens of rawand manufactured silk raisedand manufactured on the Silk-ville plantation, also of Chi-nese mulberry plants. This


silk - manufacturing venturedid not prove successful butmulberry trees are still to befound growing on the planta-tion site at Silkville.

Botanical and ZoologicalInvestigations

No extensive investigation-al work in botany or zoologywas undertaken by the Col-lege before the establishmentof the Experiment Station.Work that was done consistedprincipally of the collectionand classification of plantsfor the herbarium and thezoological specimens for themuseum. As early as 1871Professor Mudge reports thecollection of about 2,000 speci-mens of minerals and fossils.The next year he reportsupon the gathering, namingand mounting of 27 species ofwild grasses. He also reportsupon observations on theecological distribution of buf-falograss as follows: “As thebuffaloes disappear, and al-most before the white settlersoccupy the land, the buffalo-grass begins to die out, andthese nutritious grasses comein and cover the prairies.This fact has long beenknown, but what appears tome a reasonable cause for thechange has never been given.”(81) Collections were con-tinued from these early daysdown to the establishment ofthe Experiment Station. Theyconstituted a major part of thespecimens that were to befound in the museum at thetime the Station was estab-lished.

MeteorologicalInvestigations

Kansans have always beeninterested in the weather.This interest stems no doubtin part from the location ofthe state near the center of thecontinent where extreme var-iations in climatic conditionsnaturally occur and in partfrom the chief occupation ofthe state--agriculture--whichis so greatly affected by cli-matic conditions. It is notsurprising, therefore, thatmeteorological observationswere the first scientific find-ings recorded at the College.Weather records antedate theestablishment of the institu-tion. They were started onFebruary 1, 1858, by Profes-sor Isaac Goodnow, one of thefounders of Bluemont College,and continued by him until1863 when Bluemont Collegebecame Kansas State Agricul-tural College. At this time re-sponsibility for taking weath-er records was assumed byPresident Denison, the firstpresident of the AgriculturalCollege. They were taken byhim until May, 1866, when theresponsibility for the recordswas assumed by ProfessorMudge. The weather recordsof the College are the oldest,from the standpoint of con-tinuity, of any in Kansas.

Weather record taking atthis early date was a confiningand exacting chore. Self-re-cording devices such as are inuse today were not available.All records were from personalobservation. Not only wasthe amount of rain and snow-fall recorded, but the time of


the beginning and end of eachstorm and the depth of snow-fall were noted. Air tempera-tures, cloud conditions, winddirection and velocity were re-corded daily at 7:00 a.m., 2:00p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Notes onweather phenomena were me-ticulously recorded. These re-cordings consisted of such ob-servations as frost, lightning,hail and violent windstormsas well as the influence ofweather on natural phenom-ena such as the flight of ducksand geese and the appearanceof first blossoms on fruittrees, flowering shrubs, etc.The weather observer of thatday, walking leisurably be-tween home and office, hadan opportunity to observenatural phenomena in a man-

Fig. 12.--Joseph Denison, thefirst President of College, 1863 to1873. President Denison took theweather records for the Collegefrom 1863 to 1866.

ner denied present-day auto-mobile riders.

With the appointment ofProfessor Kedzie in 1873 andthe retirement of ProfessorMudge, weather observationsbecame the responsibility ofProfessor Kedzie. He wrote,“Negotiations are now pend-ing . . . for the manufactureof a special set of meteorologi-cal instruments, for which anappropriation has been made.With the instruments alreadyon hand a full record is kept--three observations per diem--the results forwarded regu-larly to Washington, and ab-stracts furnished for publica-tion to the State papers.” (82)

In 1874 Professor Kedziewrote again as follows: “Theinstruction (meteorology) isassisted by our very completemeteorological records, whichare now kept under the super-vision of the Chief Signal Of-ficer of the Army, and also bydaily maps and reports of theWar Department, which areregularly received. I havealso adopted the system of dis-tributing through the entireState, and to many pointseast, printed abstracts of themeteorology of each month atthis station.” (83) In 1875Professor Kedzie reports fur-ther as follows: “In connec-tion also with my series ofmeteorological observationsfor the Signal Service, I haveorganized a corps of volunteerobservers in various portionsof the State, for the purposeof investigating the preva-lence of ozone in the atmos-phere of Kansas, through thedifferent seasons of the year.These observations will be re-


ported to me regularly at theclose of each month. The re-sults will be especially inter-esting for the purpose of com-parison with similar investi-gations now in progress un-der the direction of the StateBoard of Health, of Michi-gan.” (84) The next year(1876) Professor Kedzie re-ported further as follows:“The series of meteorologicalobservations, under the direc-tion of the Signal ServiceBureau, have been continuedwithout interruption duringthe year. These records havenow been in progress for up-wards of sixteen years, andare each year becoming ofgreater importance. I havealso been assisted at differentpoints through the State by anumber of volunteer observ-ers, members of the KansasAcademy of Science, whohave been aiding me in deter-mining the quantity of ozonedaily present in Kansas at-mosphere. The results arenow being tabulated and com-pared with those of Easternobservers, and promise toprove of great interest.” (85)

These early records so me-ticulously taken and recordedthrough the first sixteen yearsof the College, as reported byProfessor Kedzie, have beencontinued and taken withequal care and constitute to-day the best set of meteoro-logical records in the State,from the standpoint of con-tinuity.

SummationWhen the Hatch Act was

passed in 1887 authorizingthe establishment of an Agri-

cultural Experiment Stationat the Kansas State Agricul-tural College, a good founda-tion had been laid for such anagency. A reasonably com-petent faculty had been as-sembled who, through nearlya quarter of a century, hadgained experience in the con-duct of agricultural research.Some highly creditable experi-mental work had been plannedand executed, especially inagronomy, animal husbandry,and chemistry. A physicalplant had been built primarilyfor instruction but whichwould serve with reasonablesatisfaction until more ade-quate facilities could be pro-vided. A farm of 315 acreshad been acquired. The farmwas reasonably well equippedand stocked with the leadingbreeds of cattle and swine.The start on a library hadbeen made as well as the be-ginning of an arboretum anda museum. Contact had beenmade with citizens of theState. They had been assistedin securing improved livestockand better varieties of cropplants. They had been helpedwith special problems such asforestry plantings, sugar andsilk production and the adap-tation of crops to the new en-vironmental conditions of theplains. The institution hadbecome an agency to whichthe people looked increas-ingly for help. This help couldnot have been supplied with-out the financial assistance ofan agency such as the Experi-ment Station. The Collegewas ready to use effectivelythe assistance that the Sta-


tion would provide, and the of such assistance as the Col-people of the State were lege, with the aid of the Sta-ready to make productive use tion, could supply.


REFERENCES

1. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC. 1884-1885, p. 162.2. Industrialist, Oct. 29, 1881.3. Willard, J. T. History of KSAC, pp. 67-69.4. Bulletin No. 1, Agr. Expt. Sta., KSAC, April 1888, p. 5.5. Willard, J. T. History of KSAC, p. 69.6. Hougham, J. S. Annual Report, KSAC, 1869, p. 10.7. Hougham, J. S. Kansas Farmer, May 1870, p. 78.8. Miller, Fred E. Annual Report, KSAC, for the year ending Dec. 31,

1871, p. 28.9. Denison, J. Annual Report, KSAC, for 1870, p. 10.

10. Kansas Farmer, May 15, 1871, p. 70.11. Annual Report of the Regents for KSAC, 1871, p. 11.12. Parker, R. D. Kansas Farmer, Aug. 15, 1871, p. 127.13. Editorial, Kansas Farmer, June 15, 1871, p. 87.14. Miller, Fred E. Annual Report of KSAC, 1872, pp. 22-23.15. Editorial, Kansas Farmer, March 1, 1873, p. 72.16. Shelton, Edward M. Annual Report, KSAC, 1875, pp. 14-15.17. Gale, E. Annual Report, KSAC, 1875, p. 19.18. Third Biennial Report, KSAC, 1881-1882, p. 5.19. Shelton, Edward M. Third Biennial Report, KSAC, 1881-1882, p. 3120. Fourth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1883-1884, p. 28.21. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1885-1886, p. 176.22. Shelton, Edward M. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1885-1886, p. 71.23. Shelton, E. M. Fourth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1883-1884, p. 95.24. Hougham, J. S. Annual Report, KSAC, 1870, p. 9.25. Miller, Fred E. Annual Report, KSAC, 1871, p. 24.26. Miller, Fred E. Twelfth Annual Report of the Department of Public

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Kansas, 1871-1872, p. 248.38. Second Biennial Report, KSAC, 1879-1880, p. 17.39. Shelton, E. M. Bulletin No. 4, KSAC, 1888, p. 43.40. Shelton, E. M. Fourteenth Annual Report, Department of Public

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44. Shelton, E. M. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1884-1885, p. 142.45. Shelton, E. M. Sixth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1887-1888, pp. 42-43.46. Miller, Fred E. Twelfth Annual Report of the Department of Public

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Instruction of Kansas, 1877-1878, p. 347.49. Shelton, E. M. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1884-1885, p. 140.50. Denison, J. Twelfth Annual Report, Department of Public Instruc-

tion of Kansas, 1872, p. 245.51. Gale, E. Eleventh Annual Report, Department of Public Instruction

of Kansas, 1871, p. 257.52. Gale, E. Thirteenth Annual Report, Department of Public Instruc-

tion of Kansas, 1873, p. 223.53. Gale, E. Fourteenth Annual Report, Department of Public Instruc-

tion of Kansas, 1874, pp. 120-121.54. Popenoe, E. A. Third Biennial Report, KSAC, 1881-1882, p. 41.55. Gale, E. Eleventh Annual Report, Department of Public Instruction

of Kansas, 1871, p. 257.56. Gale, E. First Biennial Report, Supt. of Public Instruction of Kansas,

1877-1878, p. 354.57. Popenoe, E. A. Second Biennial Report, KSAC, 1879-1880, p. 27.58. Gale, E. First Biennial Report, Supt. of Public Instruction of Kansas,

1877-1878, p. 352.59. Shelton, E. M. Fourteenth Annual Report, Supt. of Public Instruc-

tion of Kansas, 1874, p. 116.60. Shelton, E. M. Industrialist, Aug. 14, 1875.61. Shelton, E. M. Industrialist, March 18, 1876.62. Shelton, E. M. Sixth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1887-1888, p. 43.63. Industrialist, March 2, 1878. 64. Second Biennial Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture,

1879-1880, p. 441.65. Fourth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1883-1884, p. 96.66. Shelton, E. M. Industrialist, March 12, 1881.67. Shelton, E. M. Fourth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1883-1884, p. 118.68. Shelton, E. M. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1885-1886, p. 72.69. Eleventh Annual Report of the Department of Public Instruction of

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struction of Kansas, 1875, p. 175.71. Kansas Farmer, March 26, 1879, p. 104.72. Industrialist, Sept. 24, 1881.73. Failyer, G. H. Industrialist, Jan. 19, 1884.74. Failyer, G. H. Industrialist, Feb. 2, 1884.75. Failyer, G. H. First Biennial Report, Supt. of Public Instruction of

Kansas, 1877-1878, p. 358.76. Failyer, G. H. Fifth Biennial Report, KSAC, 1885-1886, p. 74.77. Mudge, B. F. Eleventh Annual Report of the Department of Public

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80. Whitman, J. S. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Department ofPublic Instruction of Kansas, 1874, p. 131.

81. Mudge, B. F. Twelfth Annual Report of the Department of PublicInstruction of Kansas, 1872, p. 396.

82. Kedzie, W. K. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Department of PublicInstruction of Kansas, 1873, p. 216.

83. Kedzie, W. K. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Department ofPublic Instruction, 1874, p. 135.

84. Kedzie, W. K. Fifteenth Annual Report of the Department ofPublic Instruction of Kansas. 1875, 175.

85. Kedzie, W. K. Sixteenth Annual Report of the Department of Pub-lic Instruction of Kansas, 1876, p. 143.

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