When John Lowell made out his will back in 1886, he provided for the establishment of certain "erudite and particular" evening courses for the benefit of citizens of the Boston area. The fees for these courses he set as approximately the value of four bushels of wheat.

Wheat must be selling for a dollar-and-a-quarter a bushel this year, because five dollars is the foe for any of the 29 University Extension Courses offered in 1950-51. English composition conferences and science laboratories bring on additional charges of four and two bushels of wheat, respectively.

Most of the courses in the little orange pamphlet available at Weld Hall begin next Monday and continue until June. And most of them are conducted in Harvard buildings. Thirteen of the 24-man staff are Harvard professors and lecturers. The rest are predominantly from Simmons Tufts, and Boston University.

What the Wheat Buys

The programs offered run the gamut through language, literature, flue arts, music, natural sciences, history, political and social sciences, philosophy, psychology, and mathematics. Students are tested by examinations and marked on the same scale as in college courses.

As in past years, the courses of the Commission will carry credit toward the degree of Adjunct in Arts at Harvard. There are no formal entrance requirements.

The brochure also calls attention to educational opportunities in extension courses given by Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the State Department of Education.