The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 3, 1917, Page 6

Farmers’ College and Its President What Has Been Done in a Quarter Century of Work - in the Interests of the People . BY E. B. FUSSELL ORTH DAKOTA and North Dakota Agricultural college came into being at the same time. The constitutional con- vention, which established North Dakota as a state, also estab- lished the college and located it at Fargo. The location at Fargo was a good deal of an accident. Old timers at Fargo say they didn’t really want the college; what they wanted was the insane asylum. They knew the insane, like the poor, would be with the state always and would have to be cared for, but there was some doubt whether an agricultur- al college, which was a new thing in those days, would stand the test of time. Another group of Fargo citizens wanted the state fair instead of the college. They figured that the race- horse men following the fair would have money to spend—those who won —and they also doubted the perma- nency of such a new fangled thing as an agricultural college. Valley City wanted the college, and at one time was within .one vote of getting it. But finally in the distribution of plums by the constitutional conven- tion, Fargo got the agricultural col- lege, not so much because it wanted it as because it couldn’t get the insane asylum or the state fair. The im- portant thing, though, wasn’t that Fargo got the agricultural college but that North Dakota got it. During the quarter century that the “A. C.” and the state have grown up together the college has proven a mainstay of help to the state and especially to the farmers who comprise three-quarters of the population of the state. It has been the farmers’ institution, not only standing ready to help him at all times, but much of the time being the only branch of the state government that was doing anything worth while. FIRST MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE FACULTY It wasn’t much of an institution in point of size at the beginning. The college opened in November, 1890, having rented one floor of Jones’ hall of Fargo college. There were four in- structors and 36 students. Dr. H. E. Panorama view of North Dakota Agricultural College campus as it appears today. L This is the first of a new series of articles, about the work that is being done at North Dakota Agricultural college, especially the work for the direct benefit of the farmer. This article gives a brief history of the college and tells something of the work of President E. F. Ladd, who also is head of the depart- ment of chemistry. Next week’s article will tell- about the work of J. H. Shepperd, agriculturist of the experiment sta- tion, in adapting a breed of dairy cows to Northwestern climatic conditions and experiments undertaken in an effort to get beef cattle on the state’s unused grazing lands. . Stockbridge was the first president. Later his retirement was forced, as the result of a political fight, his friends say. Stockbridge is at Atlanta, Ga., now. He is editor of the Southern Ruralist and also is president of the Farmers’ National Congress. Only last week he, together with the presidents of the national grange, farmers’ union and American Society of Equity, was called into a conference at Washington, D. C., with President Wilson and Secretary of Agriculture Houston, on handling of the national food supply. Stockbridge has not been the only capable president of the agricultural college to lose his official head on ac- count of politics. There may be still other losses of this kind. But to date the college has been fortunate at each change of presidents, to secure an able, progressive and fearless leader to re- place the one lost. 4 The other members of the first facul- ty were Dr. E. F. Ladd, C. B. Waldron and H. L. Bolley, all of whom are on duty now, Dr. Ladd being president and head of the chemistry department, Professor Waldron dean of agriculture and Professor Bolley dean of biology. Now, intsead of being located in one floor of a rented building with four professors and 36 students, the college is on a campus of its own. It owns a plant, including land, buildings and equipment, worth considerably more than $1,000,000, it has a student member- ship ranging between 800 and 1100 and a faculty of 52, besides approx- imately 20 others engaged in work other than teaching with the agri- cultural experiment and extension staffs. : MEN OF REAL ATTAINMENT HAVE MADE COLLEGE FAMOUS It has not been mere growth in size, though, that has made this college on the middle western plains, still small when compared to the colleges and universities of the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, stand out as one of the in- stitutions worth while. North Dakota _Agricultural college has been fortunate in having on its faculty men of scien- tific attainment, men who have done things. Professor Bolley, for instance, in breeding a disease resistant flax, undoubtedly saved the flax industry for North Dakota and did much to save the paint industry for the nation. Dr. Van Es has won the attention of Euro- pean scientists on account of his in- vestigations of tuberculosis, hog cholera and swamp fever, Professor Arvold has made his movement for the “little country theater” of nation wide im- portance. It is important that these men have done work that has commanded atten- -tion throughout the United States, in Europe, and even in such far-away places as Australia and India. What is of more importance is that they have always dared to speak out. They have faced the displeasure of Big Business by telling the farmer where he was being robbed and how. They have not been afraid to show the farmer how he might better his lot. Many of these Agricultural college faculty members have felt the displeasure of the millers and manufacturers, some have been rudely torn away from their places and others have been threatened, but none of them have ever faltered in their work. In other articles the stories of some of the achievements of different de- partments of the college in behalf of the farmer will be told. The Nonpar- tisan Leader will not be able to tell the whole story of any department or even about all “the departments; it would take a book to do that. This article will be devoted entirely to a brief his- tory of the Agricultural college and to telling something about Dr. Ladd, the man who is now at the head of it. ONE SMALL BUILDING BEGAN PERMANENT HOME ‘While the college was lficated in rented quarters in Jones’ hall, work was being done on its first permanent If the farmers of North Dakota, reaiize the | home, the present administration build< ing, the-legislature having appropriat= ed $25,000 for the building and.a boiler plant. The college moved into the new building in 1891. It was. located on a school section which then was clear outside of the town of Fargo. There was not a tree in sight, in fact, the campus was a wheat field. The building was not even completed, only the basement and main floor being fitted for occupancy. It was not finish- ed for two years. # ‘Dean Waldron undertook at once some steps toward beautifying the campus. He planted personally hun- dreds of trees. A few the college was able to buy but most of the cotton- woods and elms that now make the campus a beautiful sight in summer were seedlings transplanted from the banks of the Red River. Even after it had moved out on the new campus the college wasn’t much of an’institution. It was so far out of town then and the roads were so bad that a bus service had to be put on to get the students to school. Practically all of the girl students boarded at a farmhouse with Professor ‘W. M. Hayes and Mrs. Hayes. Profes« sor Hayes later was called to Washe ington, D. C,, as assistant secretary of agriculture. They had a team of mules and in winter they hitched these to a big sled, loaded up the girls who were boarding at the farmhouse, made a couple of other stops in the northern part of Fargo for girls who boarded at private homes, and then set out for the college with entire girl student body aboard. There was generally room on the sled for some of the boys to ride along, too. Their presence was handy in the spring, when wheels were put on the sled. Sometimes it would get stuck in the mud and the boys would have to carry the girls out to comparatively dry land. . The boys probably didn’t mind this part very much, but Fargo citizens used to watch the old sled go by, with the major portion of the Agricultural college stu- dent body on board, and laugh, and then shake their heads, and wish they had gotten the insane asylum or the state fair. BOYS LOSE DORMITORY; \ NEVER HAD ONE SINCE In 1893 there was a little growth at the college. In that year they not only completed the administration building but also built Francis hall, at a cost of $17,000, and the old mechanical building, now a part of the engineer- ing building. Francis hall was built for a boys’ dormitory, with a domestic science department at one end. During the next eight years the col= lege could not get enough money from the legislature for another new build- ing. The school kep; on_growing and the boys were chased out of their dormitory and Francis hall was turned into laboratories and classrooms. The boys never have had a dormitory since. Salaries were’ small during all this period and the institution had hard sledding. There was a ray of light in 1901 when the legislature gave the college enough money for Science hall and for horse and cow .barns. ‘Then there was another long wait for new buildings Planting the first tree on the Agricultural college campus in 1892. Dean C. B. Waldron is at the right with a spade. The building is the Administration build- ing, shown in the center of the panorama view, with a tower. This building had not been completed in 1892 and lacked the tower. 7 aid that is being given them daily by the Agricultural college, they never will stand for any action that will rob it of any of its powers or tend to weaken its influence. SIX