ing, which was begun in the summer of 1878 and finished early in 1879.

On February 3, 1879, the general assembly made better provision for the support of the college by a levy of one-fifth of a mill in place of the levy of one-tenth of a mill made in 1877.

The college was opened for students on September 1, 1879, with Rev. E. E. Edwards, D. D., of McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., as president, assisted by A. E. Blount, A. M., as professor of agriculture, and Frank J. Annis, A. B., as professor of chemistry.

During the first term there were 20 students in attendance. There was but one course of study. The college year closed with the autumn term and the second year began with the spring term after a winter vacation. This plan was abandoned after a couple of years, and the long vacation thereafter extended from June to September. In addition to the work of instruction in agriculture, Professor Blount established a model farm and carried on experiments of considerable value. At the close of 1880, the value of the farm and buildings was estimated at over $20,000. In 1881 a dormitory was erected at a cost of $6,000.

During the year 1880, 45 students were reported in attendance, and in the following year the number had increased to 62. It was found that many of those who applied for admission were poorly prepared, and an introductory or preparatory year was introduced with a course of study equivalent to that of the eighth grade in the public schools. For those who had completed the work of this year a four years' course was offered. This course, as revised in 1882, was as follows:

Freshman year: Algebra, geometry, rhetoric, bookkeeping, ancient history, drawing, botany, agriculture, labor (two hours a day).

Sophomore year: Geometry, trigonometry, surveying, physics, history, English literature, drawing, chemistry, blowpipe analysis, zoology, mechanics, shopwork (two hours daily).

Junior year: Physics, meteorology, geology, anatomy, physiology, entomology, chemical analysis, floriculture, horticulture, agricultural chemistry, labor.

Senior year: Botany, astronomy, moral science, stock breeding, food stuffs, household economy, landscape gardening, veterinary science, United States Constitution, psychology, logic, political economy, mechanics (two hours shop work).

On April 2, 1882, President Edwards resigned and was succeeded on August 1 by Clarence L. Ingersoll, M. S. At that time the faculty numbered 7 in all.

In 1883 the legislature made a special appropriation for a mechanical shop and a conservatory. In the same year the department of veterinary science and zoology was created.

On June 7, 1884, three students were graduated from the college. In April of this year the department of music was added, making seven departments in all. Those of agriculture, horticulture and botany, chemistry and physics, mathemetics and engineering, mechan

ics and drawing, veterinary science and zoology, and the department of music.

In the biennial report for 1884, the work of the college is thus outlined in its "threefold character:"

First. Giving instruction such as shall educate the mind, eye, and hand, and send into the various industries of the State men and women trained to make the best self-supporting citizens, those who will add to the material wealth of the State.

Second. To experiment in directions where private individuals can not or will not, and to put the results before the people for their benefit.

Third. To exhibit the work of our hands in various lines, and call attention to the resources which lie hidden, as it were in our soil, water, and climate, and to protect the great stock interests of the State by the use which we can make of our veterinary department.

In June, 1886, the course of studies adopted in 1882 was reduced to three recitations daily, and more attention was given to irrigation engineering, a most important subject in an arid country like Colorado, where the farmer is almost entirely dependent on irrigation for the success of his crops.

In 1887 the "Hatch experiment station bill" passed Congress and in February, 1888, an appropriation was made of $15,000 a year for the support of an experiment station in Colorado in connection with the State Agricultural College. The agricultural experiment station was forthwith organized, with auxiliary stations near Del Norte, Rockyford, and Eastonville, and since that time it has regularly received the appropriation of $15,000 a year. This fund can not be used for any purpose other than experimental investigation, but since the president and other members of the college faculty are also officers of the experiment station and receive salaries in connection therewith, the fund is of great benefit to the college.

In the year 1889 the State legislature made a special appropriation of $18,000 for erecting an extension to the main building.

On August 30, 1890, was passed what is known as the "second Morrill Act," by which Congress gave the Agricultural College the sum of $15,000 for the first year and an additional $1,000 each year until the total sum of $25,000 should be reached. No part of this appropriation can be used for building or repairing, but the whole must be "applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematics, natural and economic science, with special reference to their applications to the industries of life and to the facilities for such instruction."

The income thus received has been of great benefit to the college. For the year 1899 it was $25,000, and will remain at that point during future years.

On March 17, 1891, the State legislature passed an act to replace the one-fifth mill tax by a tax of one-sixth of a mill, whereby the income of the college was considerably reduced for several years, until

in 1895 the act was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the State and the one-fifth mill tax restored.

In the year 1891 President Ingersoll resigned. Prof. J. W. Lawrence acted as président until the appointment of Alston Ellis, A. M., Ph. D., LL. D., as president and professor of political economy and logic.

At that time the faculty numbered 15 in all. There were 4 courses, with 11 departments. There were 146 students, of whom 101 were 'men and 45 women. The library contained 4,270 bound volumes and 6,880 pamphlets.

Since that time the college has grown rapidly in numbers and usefulness, as can be seen from the appended statistics.

Early in 1899 President Ellis resigned his position and on August 1 he was succeeded by Rev. Barton O. Aylesworth, A. M., LL. D., formerly president of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

The preparatory year and the subfreshman year are equivalent to the eighth and ninth grades of the public schools.

The college courses may, therefore, be regarded as equal to the last three years of a high-school course and the first year of a college course, if we regard the agricultural subject and the daily labor as equivalent to the ancient and modern languages of high-school and college work.

The work of freshman and sophomore years is the same in all the courses. After the sophomore year the student may elect one of five courses: Agricultural, mechanical engineering, civil and irrigation

a Several changes have since been made.