30S REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Tlu' roiirscs of instruction in tlu> hi<2;lu'r a<^ricultiiral institutions 

 of tlu' nioie julvuncod Kuropenn countries are as a rule quite thor- 

 oughly ()r<;anizecl; but tlic methods of i)oj)uhir instruction are still 

 lar^el}^ experiniental, and their value is in large part undetermined. 

 Among the means in use for this purpose are industrial training for 

 boys and girls in connection with the primary schools; movable 

 schools and itinerant lecturers; short courses in agronomy for adults, 

 soldiers, etc., c()rresj)()nding in a measure with our farmers" insti- 

 tutes; the publication of leaflets and simple manuals; permanent 

 and circulating agricultural libraries; use of the agricultural press, 

 etc. In this connection it should be noted that probably the most 

 spirited discussion of the congress was on the proposition advanced 

 by M. J. Graftiau, of Louvain, Belgium, to establish one authorita- 

 tive agricultural journal for each country. This proposition was 

 strongly opposed and was finally voted down by a large majority on 

 the ground that such a paper would not be so widely read as the local 

 papers are now, Avould not meet local needs and stimulate local 

 interest, and Avould not be so liberal in its teaching or free in its dis- 

 cussion of all topics as the local papers. A sharp distinction was 

 drawn between a centralized, subsidized medium of publication and 

 the local free j^apers. Clerical influences opposed the centralized 

 paper as applied to Belgium as inimical to their interests and control 

 in local affairs. The church was the pioneer and is still to a large 

 extent the controlling factor in the organization and management of 

 agricultural instruction in Belgium, the jjrime object being to keep 

 the rural population from migrating to the cities, wdiere they are 

 likely to become imbued with atheistic and socialistic ideas. 



The dominant note of the congress was the need of wider diffusion 

 of agricultural knowledge and of bringing the work of institutions 

 for agricultural education and research more closely home to the 

 practical farmer. Some of the means urged to this end, to which 

 special attention w^as given, were more practical instruction in the 

 higher institutions, i. e., less dependence upon text-books, lectures, 

 models, diagrams, etc., and more work in the field, barns, and stables, 

 with grooving crops and live animals, with a view of developing 

 initiative and poAver of observation on the part of students (in this 

 feature of agricultural instruction the United States far excels the 

 European countries) ; the general and more extensive use of farms 

 for educational purposes in connection with agricultural institutions; 

 the more extensive organization of demonstration experiments; the 

 more careful adaptation of the instruction and research work to the 

 local conditions and needs; the more general introduction of instruc- 

 tion in agriculture, horticulture, and domestic economy in primary 

 and secondary schools; the extension of movable schools, itinerant 

 lectures, and circulating agricultural libraries. 



