A. & M. College of Texas.
of study. The old chairs were merely filled with new professors. Fortunately, however, the new president saw clearly that nothing would permanently restore the popularity of the college but a strict compliance with the objects of its foundation, and to this he at once addressed his energies. During the remainder of the session a plan of reorganization in the course of study was matured whose main features consisted in the abandonment of the elective system for close curricula from which the ancient and modern languages were excluded, being made optional. There were two courses established; the Agricultural and the Mechanical, and a professor was elected for the leading departments in each of these. Provision was made for supplying the mechanical department with a budding, machinery and tools.
An appropriation was made also for equipping the agricultural department. The course of study at this time embraced four years. These changes involving numerous important details at last determined the adoption by the college of its legitimate work as a school of practical science. But much remained to be done in the same direction. At the meeting of the new board of directors—which under a changed law had been appointed by the governor—the chairs of ancient and modern languages were consolidated, the courses of instruction were reduced to a period of three years each, and provision was made for assigning to the two courses ninety-three state students (three from each senatoral district) for whose maintenance at the college the XVII Legislature had passed an appropriation. During the session ending in June 1882 the agricultural and mechanical departments were both put in practical operation. The mechanical was especially successful. The agricultural, however, did not attract students. The causes of this were several, but chiefly the requirement in that department of uninstructive manual labor without compensation. It was found that students did not object to labor, however rough, provided it taught them anything adequate to its demands upon their time. The mechanical labor was all instructive and made attractive. The agricultural department consumed their time in such work as picking cotton and mending roads. That this was a very serious mistake in the policy of that department was soon
