66 EEPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



instruction, and, in general, the relation of their work to the practical 

 problems involved in agricultural production and the satisfactory 

 development of home and social life in rural communities, prevented 

 any great deviation from the policy of previous years. There has 

 been, as formerly, cleai'ing-house work for these institutions, coopera- 

 tion with them and with associations representing their interests, and 

 expert services in connection with the inauguration of new agri- 

 cultural educational institutions, courses, and projects. 



The specialist in agi-icultural education and his assistant have 

 attended many conferences and large educational gatherings and have 

 assisted school officers and teachers in many ways through corre- 

 spondence and personal advice. The agricultural education service 

 has also occasionally employed other experts of the office and experts 

 from other bureaus to give addresses and to render technical assist- 

 ance to agricultural schools, and would employ this very effective 

 method more freely if funds for travel were available. Cooperation 

 with other bureaus of the depai-tment has also taken form in the 

 preparation of educational bulletins and circulars. One circular 

 prepared in the Forest Service has been published, and a bulletin on 

 rural school consolidation, j)repared by a special agent of the Bureau 

 of Statistics, has recently come from the press. Cooperation along 

 these and other similar lines might well be extended, with result- 

 ing great benefit to the colleges and schools that are endeavoring 

 to carry in an effective way to the people living upon the land the 

 results of investigation on the part of this department and the State 

 agricultural experiment stations. 



FAHMERS' INSTITUTES AND EXTENSION WORK. 



The work of the office of the farmers' institute specialist during 

 the year was in the direction of securing information resj^ecting the 

 condition and progress of farmers' institutes and agricultural exten- 

 sion in this country and abroad, conducting correspondence, and in 

 preparing copy and editing for publication bulletins, circulars, and 

 reports upon farmers' institute and agricultural extension work. 



Farmers' institutes were held in all of the States and Territories 

 excepting New Mexico, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii. The total 

 number of regidar institutes was 5,651 ; these were made up of 3,539 

 one-day meetings, 1,940 two-day, and 172 three-day or more. The 

 whole number of days of institutes in 1910 was 7,935, an increase of 

 801 over 1909, and the number of sessions held was 16,586, or 1,051 

 more than the previous year. The attendance reported at all of the 

 regular sessions was 2,395,908, and the average attendance at each 

 session was 144. The appropriations from all sources amounted 

 to $432,374.25, or $86,707.76 more than in 1909. The agricultural 

 colleges and experiment stations furnished 480 lecturers from their 

 faculties and station staffs for institute service, representing the 



