WAKE UP IT'S GAME DAY! The #17 Aggies face #8 Auburn today at Kyle Field at 2:30 p.m. (CT). WHOOP! 👍

Cheering on our Aggies against Clemson!

ORIGIN OF THE CENTURY TREE. When the brand new A&M College opened in 1876, there were a few native trees growing on campus. Over the next few years, most of those native trees were consumed as firewood to heat the buildings during the winters - leaving the campus a desolate grassland. The administrators recognized the need to repopulate the campus with trees. But nobody had a clue which species of tree would grow well in the campus soil and climate. From the mid-1880s through the early 1890s, the Horticulture Department at the college - under the direction of Dr. E.J. Kyle (yes, that Kyle) - planted over 70 species of test trees in the area around Old Main. For about 18 years, the horticulture students cared for and monitored the growth of those test trees. In 1907, an official report was published which detailed the specific results of each of those 70+ test tree species. The LIVE OAK was chosen as the best tree species to plant on campus because of the prolific growth of the live oak test tree which was planted in 1891 as an 18-inch tall seedling just to the northwest of Old Main. Old Main burned in 1912 and was replaced by the Academic Building in 1914. The live oak test tree - planted at the same exact time that former Texas Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross became the new president of the college - survived the burning of Old Main and the construction of the Academic Building. We know that live oak test tree today as the Century Tree. And due to its selection back in 1907, over 80% of the 11,000 trees on the Texas A&M campus today are live oaks. This photo (courtesy of the Cushing Library) shows the 16-year old live oak test tree in 1907 - just to the northwest of Old Main - where it still grows today. The Century Tree is now 129 years old and is in excellent health. Live oaks are long-lived trees known to grow for 600 years or more. Gig 'em!