278 KEPOKT OF OFFICE OF EXPEEIMENT STATIONS. 



lie high schools, maldng 11 that now give such aitl; several States 

 have increased their appropriations for secondary agricultural educa- 

 tion; and hundreds of high schools have inaugurated work in agri- 

 culture without any special aid for the purpose. Upward of 2,000 

 secondary schools reported students in agriculture in 1911, 



Details of the development and status of agricultural education will 

 be found in the following pages. 



EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The educational work of the department has been continued along 

 the same general lines, but has grown considerably in extent. As in 

 former years, the Office of Experiment Stations has represented the 

 department in its relations with educational agencies, but several of 

 the other bureaus and divisions have continued educational propa- 

 ganda closely related to their respective lines of investigation. 



The Bureau of Plant Industry cooperated with the Office of Experi- 

 ment Stations in sending a representative to the Western and North- 

 western States to investigate and report upon the teaching of agri- 

 culture in schools through the medium of school gardens. That 

 bureau has continued and extended its club work with boys and girls 

 in connection with the farmers' cooperative demonstration work in 

 the South. The numbers enrolled in this work have increased from 

 a small beginning four years ago until now the enrollment is practi- 

 cally 60,000. In his 1910 report the chief of the bureau comments 

 on this work as follows: 



During the Beason of 1910 the boys' com clubs made a wonderful record. Many 

 extraordinary yields were reported, largely due to the fact that the boys devoted 

 their time and energy to a single acre. The 100 boys making the highest yields 

 averaged 133.7 bushels of corn per acre on the 100 acres. In one county in Missis- 

 sippi 48 boys averaged 92 bushels per acre. In a South Carolina county 142 boys 

 averaged 62 bushels per acre. Prizes were donated by local people and obtained 

 by general popular subscriptions. The leading prize iu every State was a trip to 

 Washington, given to the boy making the best record. A great deal of interest was 

 aroused by the visit of these State prize winners to the city of Washington. They 

 were presented with diplomas of merit by the Secretary of Agriculture, and much 

 attention was paid to them by public officials and the people In general. 



The effect of the boys' corn club work has been threefold: (1) It has materially 

 assisted the department iji bringing home to the southerji farmer tlie fact that he 

 can raise corn; (2) it has helped to break down prejudice in many communities 

 against what is sometimes called "scientific farming;" and (3) it has also helped to 

 give the boys an interest in farming and at the same time from its close connection 

 with educational forces has been a powerful means of molding public sentiment 

 regarding the teaching of agriculture in the schools, and especially in emphasizing 

 the necessity for better rural education. 



The work among girls has been started for the purpose of interesting them in the 

 home life upon the farm. It seeks to show them how to raise a garden of vegetables, 

 how to can the vegetables for market and for home use, and how to raise poultry at 



