of Education until 1861, when a law was passed by the Legislature reörganizing the college, and establishing a State Board of Agriculture for the management of the institution.

In 1862, Congress made a grant of land to the several States, for the benefit of schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts, at the rate of thirty thousand acres for each Senator and Representative. The proceeds of this grant was given by act of the Legislature to the Agricultural College. It is under the control of a Land Grant Board, composed of State officers. All moneys arising from the sale of lands are paid into the State treasury, and the college simply draws seven per cent interest on the same.

No portion of the proceeds of this grant can be used for the erection or repair of buildings, hence all such improvements must be made by direct appropriation of the Legislature.

In organizing the college, the Legislature appropriated the proceeds of salt spring lands to the amount of about $56,000, which was all used up, before the institution was opened, in the purchase of the farm and the erection of buildings.

The Legislature also appropriated about six thousand acres of swamp lands lying in townships near the college. A large portion of these have been sold, and the proceeds expended in building and other permanent improvements.

Since the opening of the college, about four hundred acres of the farm have been cleared and the most of this entirely freed from stumps, so that now many of the fields will compare favorably with the best in the State. The work has been mostly performed by students.

Nearly a hundred acres are devoted to lawns, and are being tastefully laid out with drives and walks; many evergreens and deciduous trees have been planted, and have already attained a fine growth. Many of the original forest trees were purposely left when the land was cleared, and these add not a little to the beauty of the grounds. It is the intention to make as fine a specimen of landscape gardening as means will permit, and it is hoped that the students may have the benefit of as great perfection in this art as can be found elsewhere in the State.

Under the direction of the Board of Agriculture, there have

been erected a three-story brick boarding-hall, fitted with the modern improvements for heating, cooking, etc., a chemical laboratory, also of brick, which, for convenience of internal arrangement, is not excelled by any in the country, large and commodious

EDGAR CONKLING, for many years an extensive and successful manufacturer of Cincinnati, Ohio, came to Michigan in 1853, and purchased then and at a later period 35,000 acres of land in the center of Mackinaw -the extreme northern point of the southern peninsula. He had, for several years previous, been prominently identified with extensive railroad projects, such as the Cincinnati and Great Northern Railroad, and had thus become acquainted with the commercial advantages and future prospects of the country bounding on the straits of Mackinaw. His great foresight readily discerned that the march of Michigan's prosperity must, at no very distant day, result in building up a large and prosperous city at Mackinaw. Seizing upon the opportunity, he purchased almost

cattle, horse and sheep barns and piggery, besides smaller temporary buildings for experiments, implements, etc., a large brick farm-house and a green-house.

The State Legislature, in 1869, appropriated $30,000 for the erection of the boarding hall, and, in 1871, $10,000 for the chemical laboratory. The Legislature has also appropriated at different times about $12,000 for the finishing of some of the buildings. All other expenditures for buildings and other improvements and repairs have been met by sales of swamp lands.

The total value of property at the college, as shown by inventory, December 1, 1872, is as follows:

the whole of the lands of Mackinaw, and at once proceeded to lay out a city on a modern scale.

This gigantic speculation, which must result in great advantages to Michigan, brings Mr. Conkling prominently before the people of the State; and when it is considered to what extent his theory of establishing a commercial mart at Mackinaw-as we shall proceed to do in this sketch-is sound and practicable, we are left to wonder at his unparal Jeled foresight and the philosophy of his project.

Of Mr. Conkling's personal history we can say but little, since the space given to this sketch must be occupied by an examination into the merits of his great "Mackinaw City" scheme. He was the originator of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and was the first to urge the construction of the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad to the Straits of Mackinaw. It is only necessary to observe the growth of these enterprises to be able to comprehend the value of Mr. Conkling's prescience to the prosperity of Michigan.

In looking at the "Mackinaw City" project (in which the reader is aided by the accompanying map), one is at once struck with its feasibility. With the Northern Pacific Railroad terminating at the extreme southern point of the northern peninsula, and directly across the straits from Mackinaw City, it is evident that, by the aid of some system of ferriage, the great volume of commerce transported castward by that road must connect with railroads in the southern peninsula of Michigan at Mackinaw City. This will, of itself, do much to induce population to that place, and to furnish a basis of an extensive commercial metropolis.

The institution aims to give its students a good practical education that shall make men of them, and enable them to undertake any occupation they may find suited to their tastes.

To this end the course pursued does not differ much from that of other colleges, except that the natural sciences are studied more thoroughly, and classics not at all; and all branches bearing upon agriculture, those which are of most use to farmers, are very thoroughly investigated. Chemistry and botany are given nearly two years each. Physiology, zoology, geology and entomology are all pursued as far as possible; and, during the course, the stu

But this is only one of the many avenues of wealth that must in the future empty their treasures at Mackinaw City. The immense commerce of the lakes, the growth of which has been unparalleled in the history of

EDGAR CONKLING PROPRIETOR.

the world, and the vast mineral, timber and agricultural resources of their shores, which are even now only beginning to attract attention, may well awaken a desire on the part of enterprise to get possession of the key position which is to command and unlock the future wealth of this vast empire. Already six important cities, with an aggregate population of over 600,000 inhabitants, have sprung up on these inland waters, and are the most flourishing of any away from the Atlantic coast. Others are rising into notoriety on the borders of Lake Superior, and must, at no very distant period, become important and active places of business. But, the place of all others, where a city must ultimately spring up and grow into importance, is undeveloped.

The Toledo Blade, speaking of the probable future of Mackinaw City, as projected by Mr. Conkling, says: "The point which projects north