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90 CHINA MISSION YKAK BOOK.In all the larger centres it is further planned to openSenior Primary boarding and day-schools combined.This is a more difficult proposition, as large school buildings and premises must be provided, specially trainedteachers both foreign and native be secured and aliberal supply of funds obtained to carry on the work.In spite of the difficulties a good number of such schoolshave already been established, as will be seen by theabove statistics. In each of these schools there is aforeigner and two or more natives teaching. TheUnion Normal School will again be a great boon to theseschools.As to middle schools, there is no thought at thepresent time of increasing their number extensively, asthey will be boarding-schools. Being such it is muchcheaper and more effective to run a few on a large scalethan to attempt many on a small scale.The crown of all this union educational enterpriseis the West China Union University. From its veryinception, the Union has had the establishment of aChristian university in view. In the year 1907 theAmerican Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, the FriendsForeign Mission Association, the Missionary . Society ofthe Methodist Church of Canada, and the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, U. S. A.,formally agreed to the purchase of a union site for auniversity and promised to set apart one or more mento engage in teaching as soon as the university shouldbe opened. In the spring of 1908 an eligible site waspurchased, situate outside the south gate of Chengtu.The whole property, including recent additions, come toan area of a little over 61 English acres. This propertyis now divided into five sections : a central plot of aboutten acres, held in common for the erection of unionteaching buildings and four other;plots of ten or moreacres each, one assigned to each of the four missions tobe used for dormitories, residences, theological schools,or other buildings that each mission may require.