Bucolic

Here is yet another outpost of the University of Tennessee's agriculture research, right outside of downtown Knoxville. Isn't it bucolic? I was told this used to be a low security prison before it was closed and UT reused it for its ag research programs.

Why does UT have such a large agriculture program? It all has to do with the land. After the Civil War, UT became a Land Grant institution. These institutions were given federal land in exchange for teaching agriculture and providing military training to students. UT was officially designated a Land Grant institution in 1879.