"In order to aid in acquiring and diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information on subjects connected with agriculture, and to promote such scientific investigation and experiment respecting the principles and applications of agricultural science, there shall be established," etc.

The Act of 1890 appropriates $25,000 annually for maintenance, with the provision that it

"Be applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economic science, with special reference to their application to the industries of life, and to facilities for such instruction."

The Act of 1906 provides for an increased appropriation

"For the more complete endowment and maintenance of agricultural colleges now established, or which may be hereafter established under the act of Congress approved March second, eighteen hundred and eightyseven."

The Act of 1907 provides further for an increased appropriation

"For the more complete endowment and maintenance of agricultural colleges now established, or which may hereafter be established in accordance with the act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, and the act of Congress approved August 30, 1890, the sum of $5,000 in addition to the sums named in said act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, and an annual increase of the amount of such appropriation thereafter for four years by an additional sum of $5,000 over the preceding year."

In accordance with the provisions of its foundation, the University offers the following courses of instruction:

1. In Agriculture

Science and practice of agriculture; horticulture; entomology; agricultural chemistry; veterinary science; dairying; animal husbandry.

2. In Applied Science

3.

Biology; chemistry; physics; industrial art; sanitary science; forestry; household economics.

In Mechanical Engineering

Shop practice; machine design; transmission of power; hydraulic engineering; steam engineering.

4. In Civil Engineering

5.

Shop practice; railway engineering; bridge engineering; hydraulic engineering; sanitary engineering.

In Electrical Engineering

Shop practice; machine design; electrical engineering: dynamo construction; installation and management of electric railways and lighting plants; telephone engineering.

6. In Chemical Engineering—

Shop practice; chemistry; physics; applied electricity; mathematics; mechanics; steam engineering; materials testing.

7. In Pharmacy

Pharmacy; chemistry; materia medica; prescription practice.

8. The following general departments of instruction are maintained in connection with the above

English; mathematics; modern languages; history; economics: military science.

Instruction was begun at Purdue in 1874. The first class was graduated in 1875, since which time the instructional work of the institution has been continuous.

The grade of instruction is that of the standard college requiring for admission the preparation of a commissioned high school course and for graduation the completion of a four-years course of study, for which the degree of Bachelor of Science is conferred.

About thirty-five hundred students have been graduated from the institution and more than three times that number have received instruction for a longer or shorter period. The records of graduates show that to an unusual degree they are taking prominent part in industries of every kind and are making practical contribution to their progress and development.

Tuition is free to residents of Indiana. Nonresidents pay an annual tuition fee of $25.00, and all students pay certain fixed fees to cover the actual cost of materials and privileges furnished.

The instructional corps of the institution numbered this year one hundred and forty-six.

The property of the University consists of 241 acres of land; 19 principal and 12 minor buildings, and a large collection of apparatus, machinery, library, furniture and live stock; in all valued. at $1,285,000, distributed as follows:

Besides its function as an educational institution, the University is charged by law with the administration of various other important activities and its organization, in addition to the departments of education, embraces two other distinct branches, viz.: The Farmers' Institutes, established by Act of Legislature in 1889 for the purpose of organizing institutes of instruction in agriculture, horticulture, and allied subjects, are under the direction of the trus

tees of the University, and the superintendent is a member of the University faculty. Also the Agricultural Experiment Station is an organic branch of the University, made so by both federal and state enactments, and works in close cooperation with other branches of the institution. The inspection and sale of commercial fertilizers and commercial feeding stuffs is assigned by law to the University and is a part of the regular work of the Experiment Station.

Neither the Farmers' Institutes nor the Agricultural Experiment Station has any organic connection with the departments of instruction, nor can any of the funds provided for their maintenance be applied in any way to the maintenance of those departments.

The University is, therefore, an organized institution of broad scope and great practical usefulness in connection with the scientific and industrial interests of the State. Its efforts are organized in three general directions: First, as an institution of higher education. Second, as a bureau of investigation and dissemination of knowledge. Third, an agency for popular instruction in agricul tural and rural affairs.

As an educational institution its field is that of applied science and technology; its courses of study relate chiefly to agriculture and the mechanic arts; its appeal is to the industrial classes, and its effort is to train men and women for an intelligent leadership in the pursuits and professions having relation to the leading industries.

It is the policy of the University, first, without lowering the high scientific and educational standards of its instruction to keep the same in close touch with practical affairs and with the latest industrial progress in order to give to its technical instruction the greatest practical value possible, and second, to place the facilities of the institution within reach of the great numbers of young persons of limited means to whom such training is of the highest value. Both faculty and officers are thus striving to maintain the University in conformity to the high and useful purpose of its founders.

Purdue University has come to be ranked with the best schools of technology. Of this its rapid growth in attendance from all parts of the country and the remarkable interest in its work shown. by practical business men are most conclusive proofs. Its graduates are sought for in every department of industrial activity and maintain themselves with credit. It is not too much to say that thousands of young men have found at Purdue an opportunity for training which has opened up careers of profit to themselves and of the highest usefulness to the community.

III. REPORT ON THE WORK AND PROGRESS OF T'E

UNIVERSITY FOR 1908-1909.

1. THE DEPARTMENTS OF INSTRUCTION.

The ultimate problem for consideration by the University authorities is the maintenance of efficiency as an educational institution to the end that its product shall meet the demands and expectations of the public it is intended to serve.

The graduates of Purdue University must be men and women who are well trained to do the things to which they have set their hands; more than this, they must have the power of future growth and development in their respective callings; and they must have acquired those traits of character which fit them for the high responsibilities of citizenship. The degree to which the University accomplishes these results indicates its efficiency.

This problem is not so simple as it at first appears. The factors which enter into it are both positive and negative. It is noteworthy that the difficulties in the way of attaining educational efficiency are not surmounted by providing material resources such as money, buildings, and equipment, or intellectual resources such as a competent faculty. It is beginning to be realized that these things alone, while of first importance, do not secure effective education, but that the University authorities must also meet and overcome many negative forces and influences which tend to neutralize their direct efforts.

Coincident with the growth in numbers and popularity of an educational institution is the appearance in its environment and among its students of customs, institutions, and traditions the influence of which is to counteract in some degree those forces which the University employs to attain its true purpose. In this connection are to be considered the great variety of student activities, increasing as the student body grows, for the most part innocent and valuable in themselves, but which tend constantly to develop beyond their function as a form of recreation or diversion and become an absorbing feature of student life. The environment of the institution has a tendency to become mercenary in its attitude as the larger numbers of students bring larger disbursements of money for living and recreation; the purveyors of amusements offer inducements

for wasteful expenditure of time and money; society advances its claims; the physical environment of the University may expose the student body to unsanitary conditions of living or to contagious diseases, and finally immorality and vice are alert to the possibilities of their trade among young men.

Enough has been said to indicate that these influences arising both from within and without the student body, either by their undue exaggeration or by their inherent nature, exert a powerful influence counter to the aims of the University.

To ignore these forces would be to neglect a duty which the institution owes to its ideals. To deal with them effectively is not easy. It is probably true that the energies of educational authorities are consumed quite as much in meeting these negative influences as in assembling and directing the positive forces of education.

The faculty and officers of Purdue University are not unmindful of these conditions and conceive it to be their duty to strive constantly to improve them in the direction of greater efficiency by providing better facilities for instruction; by strengthening the teaching force; by raising standards; by continued efforts to encourage high ideals of life among all members of the University; by cooperation with students in a wise regulation of student activities, and by the exercise of such influences upon the University environment as are possible. In all of these particulars steady progress is being made from year to year.

Necessity for Limiting Attendance.-Attention has been called frequently to the crowded condition of the University, due to the fact that it has not been possible to secure needed buildings to keep pace with the growth in attendance. During the past year no change has been effected in this direction, although the action of the Legislature in providing for new buildings for the Department of Practical Mechanics will afford such relief for this particular department in the near future.

For several years the faculty has been compelled to meet the situation by doing its work under unfavorable conditions, although constantly facing the danger of deterioration in the quality of instruction. It is now convinced that the best interests of the University demand that, until resources reasonably adapted to its needs can be secured, the attendance shall not largely increase. It is of more importance that the educational efficiency of the institution be maintained than that its records should show an annual increase of students.