treasurer. In 1884 (November) he was reelected college treasurer, and when Mr. Bassett resigned the land agency in 1886 Gen. Geddes was entrusted with the responsible duties connected with the land agency.
Death removed Gen. Geddes February 23, 1887. He was a faithful and efficient officer of the college during the trying years of its infancy and early manhood.
Herman Knapp, Esq., was elected treasurer and land agent in March, 1887.
The duties of military instructor during the college year 1883 were discharged by Col. John Scott.
Col. J. R. Lincoln was elected steward in 1883, his duties to begin March 1, 1884. The duties of the department of military science were also assigned him.
The department of domestic economy was organized in 1875, with Mrs. Mary B. Welch in charge. Mrs. Welch resigned on account of failing health in 1883. The number of changes in the department since have been two.
For full information on all these points, reference must be had to the college biennials. All changes can not be noted, nor all professors named. Enough has been given to show the tendency of the several departments.
The attendance at the college since 1872 has varied between 250 and 306 annually The average can safely be placed as high as 280. Its graduates now number over 500, and in their daily lives exemplify the value of the practical education received at the I. A. C. Many of its graduates fill positions of honor and trust in this and other States. The instruction imparted here does prepare men and women for " the several pursuits and professions of life."
Congress passed an act approved March, 1887, known as the "Hatch Bill," to establish experiment stations in connection with the agricultural colleges established by the "Morrill Bill." The General Assembly assented to the conditions in the Hatch bill, and established the experiment station as a department of the college. The station is under the immediate control of a committee of the board of trustees. The general object of the station may be expressed in the following terms: To conduct original researches and experiments bearing directly on the agricultural industry of the United States, when broadly and liberally interpreted. The officers of the station are: A director, a chemist, an entomologist, and several specialists as occasion may require. By law, the results, or whatever is done by way of research, mist be published quarterly. All the expenses of each station are met by an annual appropriation by Congress of $15,000. According to the original plan there should be as many members of the board as there are judicial districts in the State. The first board was composed of eleven members elected by the Legislature, in all thirteen members. They were divided in two moieties, one holding office two years; the other four years. In 1866 the Legislature declared all the offices or terms at an end, and elected an entirely new board. The Legislature of 1874 abolished the former method of selecting the members from the judicial districts, and declared that the membership of the board be reduced to five members, and elected by the Legislature from the State at large.
By an act of the Twentieth General Assembly, the membership of the board was increased to eleven, one from each Congressional district. And this law prevails at the present time.
That the public may know, in part, what the Iowa Agricultural College has been doing all these years, we present a short list of