176 DEPARTMENTAL REPOETS. 



believed that the only satisfactory^ solution of this problem will be 

 found in the emploj^nent of special officers to do the major portion of 

 the institute work. Without doubt, we have in the past relied too 

 much on i)rinted documents for the dissemination among our farmers 

 of information regarding the results of agricultural investigations. 

 In the United States, as in other countries, the farmers need to have 

 considerable oral instruction before they are prepared to profit most 

 fully by the information given them in bulletins and reports of the 

 experiment stations. While our farmers' institutes have already done 

 a great service in this direction, they need in many places a more 

 perfect organization and development. There are many problems 

 which need to be studied with reference to the best means for mak- 

 ing the institutes thoroughly effective and extending their work 

 throughout the country. The Department of Agriculture should, in 

 my judgment, definitel}' aid in this enterprise, and I hope that funds 

 will soon be put at its disposal which may be used in assisting the 

 agricultural colleges, experiment stations, and State governments in 

 perfecting our system of farmers' institutes. 



One interesting feature of the recent development of agricultural 

 education in this country is the growing tendency to increase the 

 number of schools established under jjrivate auspices in which 

 the theorj^ and practice of agriculture and horticulture form a part of 

 the course of study. The most widely known of these institutions 

 is the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. Much 

 attention has recently been given to the development of the agricul- 

 tural course in this institution, where the work is in charge of a gradu- 

 ate of the Iowa Agricultural College. The Baron de Hirsch School, 

 at Woodbine, N. J., and the National Farm School, at Dojdestown, 

 Pa., are in successful operation. They have been established espe- 

 cially for the i)uri30se of training boys drawn from the cities, and are 

 organized as secondary schools, in which the actual practice of agri- 

 culture engages a considerable portion of the time of the pupils. In 

 this respect they are following European models. Plans have been 

 recently made for a school of agriculture and horticulture in the 

 vicinity of New York City on a somewhat broader basis than the two 

 schools just mentioned, but with the same general purpose; and a 

 school of horticulture under private auspices has just been established 

 near Hartford, Conn. 



Following the successful establishment of a school of forestry at 

 Cornell University under the direction of Prof. B. E. Fernow, former 

 chief of the Division of Forestry of this Department, has come the 

 announcement of a munificent gift for the endowment of a similar 

 school at Yale University. The i^rospectus for this school has already 

 been published. Mr. H. S. Graves, assistant chief of the Division of 

 Forestry, has been appointed professor of forestry in this new school, 

 and other officers of this Department will assist in its establishment. 

 The financial and statistical reports of the colleges receiving appro- 

 priations under the act of August 30, 1890, which, in accordance with 

 the law, are regularly forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture, have, 

 as hitherto, been deposited in this Office. On the basis of these reports 

 and replies to special circulars of inquiry, this Office has published 

 statistics relating to the agricultural colleges for the year ending June 

 30, 1899. The reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, have 

 now been received. An article on the history and present status of 

 agricultural education in this country was i^repared by the Director 

 of this Office and published in the Yearbook of the Department for 

 1899. As a basis for the historical portion of this article, a review of 



