7 2 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE W u . 3 _ M ar., 1908 



leges of agriculture and mechanic arts in the United States had, in 

 his opinion, led to greatly increased local appropriations for col- 

 leges of agriculture and mechanic arts ; at least, there had been no 

 diminution of local taxation — a result which had been feared by- 

 opponents of Government aid to education. 



Honorable E. D. Cameron, State Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction in Oklahoma, outlined the "plans of the youngest 

 State," which contemplate instruction in agriculture in all public 

 schools of whatever grade. 



The training of teachers of agriculture by State normal schools 

 was discussed by John R. Kirk, president of the State Normal 

 School at Kirksville, Mo., where agriculture has been taught for a 

 number of years. President Kenyon L. Butterfield of the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College, outlined plans of co-operation 

 between the State agricultural college and one of the State normal 

 schools in Massachusetts for the training of teachers of agriculture. 

 This subject was further discussed by President W. M. Stewart of 

 the State Normal School at Salt Lake City, Utah. 



Dick J. Crosby, of the U. S. Office of Experiment Stations, read 

 a paper upon Co-operation between the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture and State School Authorities to Promote Agricultural 

 Education, in which the present status of co-operation was des- 

 cribed and lines of future endeavor were pointed out. The dis- 

 cussion of this subject was led by E. C. Bishop, Deputy State 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction in Nebraska. 



The papers presented at this Round Table and the earnest dis- 

 cussions following each paper indicated that educators realize 

 that the movement for agricultural education, not only in colleges 

 but in secondary and elementary schools, is going forward so 

 rapidly that it presents many serious problems to the school 

 authorities in the several States. One of the most troublesome 

 of these problems is to train a sufficient number of teachers for 

 the work and train them in such a way as to give proper point of 

 view and proper balance to the teaching of this new subject. 

 Agricultxire is about as clearly defined in the minds of the great 

 majority of teachers as was nature-study a few years ago, and 

 there is serious danger that unless the agricultural colleges and 

 the normal schools exert themselves to the utmost in training 

 teachers the subject will be taught in many places merely as a 

 text -book subject, which will be about as serious a mistake as to 

 teach nature-study entirely from the text-book. 



