342 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS, 



direct line of the standard course. It is mainly to fulfill this second 

 function that special agricultural schools have been established. The 

 influence of such schools and their place in a system of public educa- 

 tion were summarized as follows : 



(1) To stimulate the general introduction of agriculture into the ordinary- 

 high schools and in a general way to set the pace for and give permanence to 

 secondary education in agriculture. 



(2) To aid in the preparation of teachers for the rural schools. This is 

 accomiilished in a definite way in Wisconsin by connecting teachers' training 

 schools with the county schools of agriculture. 



(3) To serve as vocational connecting schools between the public elementary- 

 schools and the agricultural colleges. In order to do this effectively, the stand- 

 ard courses of study for these schools should conform in a general way to that 

 of the ordinary public high schools of the State. These courses should include 

 instruction in English, history, mathematics, chemistry, and botany, such as is 

 generally given in good high schools. 



(4) To serve as schools to which boys who have chosen to become farmers 

 may elect to go for more thorough and effective preparation for their life work 

 than the ordinary public high schools can give. 



(.5) To relieve the agricultural colleges of much of the secondary and short- 

 course work they are now compelled to do, to the detriment in many cases of 

 their regular collegiate work and that of research In agriculture. 



(6) To serve the farming communities more intimately and sympathetically 

 than the agricultural colleges can do and more effectively than the public high 

 schools can do. This they can accomplish (a) by conducting short courses for 

 adult farmers at points remote from the agricultural colleges; (6) by exten- 

 sion teaching in different parts of their respective districts; (c) by rendering 

 the farmers expert assistance and advice; (d) by conducting demonstration 

 experiments on their own farms and on those of leading farmers in their dis- 

 tricts; and (e) by conferring with teachers in near-by public schools and 

 assisting them in planning and conducting agricultural work. 



(7) To be most effective, these special agricultural schools should be so 

 limited in number that they will serve relatively large districts — 10 or 15 

 counties, depending \^^on the density of the rural population, the value of farm 

 lands, and other local conditions. Experience thus far has shown that the 

 county is too small a unit for the proper equipment and maintenance of such 

 schools and too small to supply a sufHcient number of students. These schools 

 should be large enough and have funds enough to maintain a relatively large 

 faculty and an adequate modern equipment, so that their students will not only 

 have offered to them a standard course of high-school grade, but will also have 

 opportunity to specialize to some extent along different agricultural lines. 



(8) The courses in agrlcultui-e in the different schools may well be varied 

 accoi-ding to the predominant agricultural industries in different regions, and 

 there should also be short practical courses for those who can not complete the 

 standard course. 



(9) Agricultural high schools, whether connected with colleges or main- 

 tained separately, should be kept strictly secondary in grade and there should 

 be no pretense of giving collegiate instruction in such schools. 



An address on How the Schools and the United States Department 

 of Agriculture can Cooperate was given by W. M. Hays, Assistant 

 Secretary of Agriculture. Prof. Hays sketched briefly the recent de- 



