52 REPORT OF Ob'FlCE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



niiin. noted iho cflorts of tlio coniinittec to .secure the consideration of 

 tlic niinini;- school Itill and the steps which hav'C been taken toward 

 inakiiiu- a canipaij^n for an increase in the Federal appi'ojjriation for 

 experiment stations. It was successful in securin*^ an appr<)j)riation 

 for a college and station exhil)it at the St. Louis Exposition, and has 

 ascertained that the a<i^ricultural colleges will not be discriminated 

 against in distributing the benetits of the Cecil Rhodes })equest. The 

 committee was directed by resolution to continue its effort to secure the 

 passage of the mining school bill and an increase in the ai)i)ropriation 

 for the experiment stations. On recommendation of the committee 

 it was voted that hereafter vacancies in standing committees, caused 

 by resignation or death, may be tilled by the respective committees. 



The report of the treasurer, K. B. Voorhees, showed th(> total 

 receipts during the year to be $1,688.55, and the total expenditures 

 $1,425.29, leaving a balance in the treasury of $263.23. It was voted 

 to continue the annual assessment at $15. The report of the bib- 

 liographer. A. C. True, called attention to the more important 

 bibliographies which have appeared during the j'ear, a list of 110 

 bibliographies,. Avith explanatory notes, constituting the main part of 

 the report. Special mention was made of the International Catalogue 

 of Scientific Literature. The incompleteness of this catalogue in 

 regard to certain lines of work in agricultural science, notabh' the 

 work of the experiment stations, was a matter of much regret. 



The standing committee on indexing agricultural literature called 

 attention in its report to the index cards for the publications of the 

 Department of Agriculture which are being prepared by the library, 

 and also to the cards for the accessions to the Department library. 

 The latter are now being printed by the Library of Congress, and can 

 be obtained at small cost, as may also the catalogue cards for the 

 Library of Congress relating to agriculture. The card catalogue of 

 the Department lil)rary now contains over 110,000 cards, and the 

 library is thus in position to render more efficient aid than ever before 

 to the agricultural colleges and experiment stations by furnishing 

 them information in regard to the literature on particular topics, 

 loaning books, etc. Attention was called in this report to the com- 

 bined index, now in press, of the first twelve volumes of Experiment 

 Station Record, and to the card index of agricultural literature issued 

 b}^ this Office. By request of the association this report has been pub- 

 lished as Circular No. 54 of this Office. 



The report of the committee on methods of teaching agriculture, 

 presented by A. C. True, was on the relation of the natural sciences 

 to agriculture in a four years' course, and presented a plan for a course 

 of study including these natural sciences, together with brief mention 

 of the principal subjects to be covered under each. The report pointed 

 out that the older method of arranging the courses in agriculture 

 tended to make specialists in such subjects as agricultural chemistry, 



