PKOGRESS IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 279 



a profit. The expenses of this work are paid entirely from the funds of the General 

 Education Board, but the work itself relates directly to the problem of raising home 

 supplies instead of purchasing them out of jthe cotton crop. This year more than 

 3,000 girls are engaged in this work and it is expected that next year there will be 

 many more. Prizes similar to those offered in the boys' corn clubs have been sub- 

 scribed by various public-spirited citizens. The enthusiasm with which the work 

 has been taken up indicates a rapid growth and a large extension of interest in home 

 gardening and the raising of poultry. 



The Forest Service continued to cooperate with the Office of Exper- 

 iment Stations in promoting the teaching of forestry in the public 

 elementary ^nd secondary schools. Under this cooperative arrange- 

 ment two publications on the subject of forestry in school work were 

 prepared and have since been issued as Farmers' Bulletins. 



Courses in forestry were given at the Summer School of the South, 

 University of Tennessee, and the Summer School of the University 

 of Virginia, and lectures were delivered at the Summer School of the 

 University of North Carolina, the Rural Life Conference of the Win- 

 throp Normal and Industrial College, Rock Hill, S. C, and the Con- 

 ference for Education in the South, Jacksonville, Fla. 



An experimental course in forestry was conducted in connection 

 with the agricultural course of the Agricultural High School of Bal- 

 timore County, Sparks, Md. This experiment is to be extended to 

 other agricultural high schools during the calendar year 1912, and the 

 information obtained will then be used as the basis for a publication. 



The Office of Pubhc Roads made numerous exliibitions and dem- 

 onstrations at expositions and on educational trains. Twenty-two 

 representatives of the office delivered 723 lectures in various parts 

 of the country. The plan of appointing graduates in civil engineer- 

 ing from the leading engineering institutions in the country to the 

 position of engineer student in the office has been continued. Con- 

 cerning this feature of work the Director of the Office of Pubhc Roads 

 says in his report for 1911: 



During the fiscal year 1911, 12 highway engineers resigned their positions in this 

 office to accept service in connection with road work in various parts of the country. 

 Of this number 8 were junior highway engineers, 3 were engineer students, and 1 

 occu])ied the position of highway engineer. 



During the first year that engineer students are connected with the office they are 

 given a thorough training in all branches of highway work, both in the field and in 

 the laboratories, while at the same time their services are fully utilized by the office 

 in laboratory and field work. At the end of the first year, if the students prove 

 worthy and it is found that the needs of the service justify it, they are promoted to 

 the position of junior highway engineer. At the close of the second year they are 

 eligible for further promotion to the grade of highway engineer, and ultimately to 

 the position of senior highway engineer. 



This project has given excellent results, and the engineers after a few years' train- 

 ing in the office are in great demand for State and county work. The practice of per- 

 mitting these engineers to resign is detrimental in one sense to the service, in tliat 



