The Bussey Institute.

There is a part of this University which is unknown to many students, and that is the Bussey Institute. It is situated about six miles from Harvard Square, at Forest Hills, in a well cultivated, but picturesque region. The Institute was created from a fund left by Mr. Bussey.

The farm comprises about 200 acres of a varied character. The soil on the hillside is mostly gravel, while in the meadows it is very rich and moist. Hay is raised on part of the farm, and given to cattle which are taken to board. The part comprised in the Arnold Arboretum is devoted to the planting of trees and shrubs which number over two thousand varieties. There is no one collection in the world which contains so many varieties. Their arrangement is also excellent. In one row we can trace the apple as it first existed in Central Asia up through varieties to the crab apple; till finally it reaches the ordinary American apple.

Great stress is laid on the necessity of redeeming barren land by planting forest trees. American farmers have not yet realized the ruin they have inflicted by their indiscriminate destruction of forests making otherwise valuable land sterile and barren. At the Bussey Farm tracts of waste land have been planted with trees which are now quite flourishing.

There is one large stone building where instruction in the Natural Sciences is given. On the right is a good sized Conservatory, where delicate plants are sheltered in winter. The farm lies on both sides of these buildings, and sloping suddenly in the rear extends in fruitful meadows to the hills beyond.

Beside instruction in Agriculture, there are courses in Botany, Chemistry, and Applied Zoology - everything in connection with farming which is made a science of itself. No examinations are required for admission; but the student must show his ability to profit by the instruction. The tuition is the same as at the college, namely, $150 per annum.

It seems strange, however, that such an institution, which is not equalled in the advantages which it affords by any other in the United States, should be so little patronized. Not only is the farm itself very well managed, but its location is attractive; for the student, while still in the country, has also the benefit of lectures, courses of study, and libraries in Boston and Cambridge. If there was not a large endowment fund the institution could not exist. This year there are five instructors besides the Director of the Arnold Arboretum, and only three or four students. Such a state of things can well be accounted for by the fact that the institution is yet young, and has had little time to become known. When its advantages are fully appreciated, however, there is no doubt that it will be patronized as it deserves.

N.