OFFICE OF EXPEEIMENT STATION'S. 297 



operative administration of the Journal of Agricultural Research, 

 has begun to bear fruit, and an increasing number of articles are 

 furnished by the stations for publication in that journal. The As- 

 sistant Director of the office has continued to act as a member of the 

 editorial committee in charge of this journal. 



Much attention was devoted the past year by the office to the collec- 

 tion and preparation of the agricultural educational exhibit by the 

 agricultural colleges and experiment stations at the Panama-Pacific 

 International Exposition at San Francisco. 



The general condition of the experiment stations the past year was 

 excellent and represented steady advancement. They prospered in 

 the extent and quality of their work and in the increased recognition 

 of the value of research, as well as in the increased State and local 

 appropriations for their maintenance. The sharper differentiation 

 of their activities from those of the extension service, and the elimi- 

 nation of demonstration features, has gone far to clarify their 

 function and to establish them in the public mind as research insti- 

 tutions. 



Now that the importance of extension work in agriculture is being 

 emphasized and kept before the public, it is essential that the neces- 

 sity for maintaining the experiment stations as efficient sources of 

 new knowledge should be generally recognized and acted upon. The 

 office has therefore lately given relatively more attention to emphasiz- 

 ing the fundamental importance of the work of these institutions. 



The work of the office in its relations with the experiment stations 

 was in special charge of the Assistant Director, Dr. E. W. Allen. 



RELATIONS WITH AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 



The movement for the introduction of agriculture into the cur- 

 ricula of schools throughout the country continues as rapidly as in 

 preceding years. There were 1,677 schools, an increase of 263, report- 

 ing agricultural courses, with the number of pupils in such courses as 

 34,367, an increase of 4,552 over the previous year. With this growth 

 of agricultural instruction in the schools there is an increased demand 

 for aid relative to courses in elementary and secondary agriculture, 

 suggestions as to laboratory equipment, illustrative material, and 

 publications dealing with the various topics found in agricultural 

 courses. 



The office continued to cooperate with the Bureau of Education in 

 the preparation of an annual report on the progress of agricultural 

 education at home and abroad, including the statistics of the land- 

 grant colleges, published in the Annual Report of the Commissioner 

 of Education. 



In cooperation with the State agricultural colleges, experiment 

 stations, and State departments of education the office began the 

 preparation of a series of bulletins on elementary agriculture for 

 rural schools. Such bulletins have already been prepared for the 

 schools of Alabama, Maryland, and Wisconsin. Other publications 

 completed during the year dealt with correlating agriculture with 

 the public-school subjects in the Northern and in the Southern States, 

 exercises with plants and animals for southern rural schools, lessons 

 on cotton for the rural common schools, school credit for home work 



