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ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



women to supply the needs for agricultural instruction should it be 

 placed in only the township high schools of this State. This is on 

 the assumption that such college graduates would be qualified to 

 teach, and if qualified, would be willing to accept the positions 

 ofi:ered. One phase of this question may be illustrated by calling 

 attention to some statistics concerning agricultural college gradu- 

 ates. 



The institution with which I have been connected for four years 

 has in that four years given 122 degrees to students in agriculture. 

 There have been given 85 first or baccalaureate degrees, 32 second 

 or master's degrees, and 5 doctor's degrees. It will be recalled that 

 these statistics include the class which graduated on June 2U, and 

 that the oldest graduate is of but three years' standing. The ave- 

 rage compensation received by 30 of those having first degrees and 

 whose salaries are known, has been, during the past year, or will be 

 during the coming year in case of recent graduates, |1,039, and for 

 25 having advanced degrees, |1,612, or the average compensation for 

 55 whose salaries are known is $1,300. This is in most instances 

 their initial salary. A short time ago I compiled the initial salary 

 of 21 persons who had been students of mine and the average was 

 $1,030. 



Is there no way of getting agriculture taught in high schools? 

 There is, I think, a perfectly feasible and simple way to reach this 

 question. As is well known to the members of this audience, it is a 

 common practice in summer schools for students to receive the' same 

 instruction and to get the same credit in German, Latin, French 

 and other subjects in six weeks as they receive by pursuing the 

 subject through the academic year in a University. In a University 

 the students may pursue six three-hour subjects for 36 weeks, or he 

 or she may pursue one of these subjects during six weeks in the 

 summer school. Now if it is possible to prepare a teacher to teach 

 German or French or Latin or physics in the high school by six 

 weeks of continuous instruction in a summer school, it is possible 

 to prepare a teacher to teach this syllabus on agronomy at a summer 

 school especially organized for this purpose. A teacher cannot be 

 taught all there is to be known about agriculture in six weeks any 

 more than he can be taught all of physics or German, but he can be 

 prepared to teach this syllabus. 



Through the direction of your State Superintendent of Public In- 

 struction, Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, this plan is to be given a trial in this 

 State this summer. There are under the supervision of the State 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction three summer schools located 

 at Pocono, Mt. Gretna and Ebensburg. Arrangements have been 

 made for professors from the School of Agriculture of The Pennsyl- 

 vania State College to teach teachers to teach this syllabus on 

 Agronomy. The Columbia County Summer School, under the direc- 

 tion of Superintendent Evans, also wished to have similar instruc- 

 tion given if a suitable teacher can be obtained. 



This plan is fundamentally different from the one that proposes 

 to make agricultural college graduates principals of high schools. 



It is not the purpose to train agriculturists to become teachers, 

 but to train teachers to teach different branches of agriculture. 

 There are a number of things to be said in favor of this plan. In 

 the first place, it will work. It is perfectly feasible to assemble any 



