828 ANNUAL KEPOBTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUHE. 



WOKK OF THE OFFICE. 



The work of the office has been alone: the same lines as heretofore. 

 Statistical data respecting farmers' institutes and other forms of ex- 

 tension work both in this country and abroad have been gathered and 

 arranged for publication. Addresses before farmers' associations and 

 in educational institutions have been delivered. Bulletins have been 

 prepared; the proceedings of conventions have been edited and pub- 

 lished. Officials connected with farmers' institutes, extension depart- 

 ments in the agricultural colleges, fair associations^ State libraries, 

 railroad agricultural extension departments. State departments of 

 agriculture, and other associations interasted in agricultural exten- 

 sion work have been visited and interviewed. The distribution of 

 printed information has been continued, and the correspondence of 

 the office, which has grown to considerable proportions, has been 

 conducted. 



The effort has been to develop some of the forms of extension that 

 are now in operation, and to introduce new methods for use by State 

 officials and college extension directors engaged in disseminating 

 agricultural information, and in itinerant instruction work. Perhaps 

 the most important item in this direction has been the issuing of a 

 coui'se of study adapted to correspondence teaching, and in detailed 

 instructions for conducting this method of extension. Investigations 

 have been conducted to ascertain the effects of extension teaching by 

 the farmers' institutes upon agricultural people, and to secure data 

 relative to the improvement oi plans for buildings and grounds for 

 local and State fair associations. 



The farmers' institute work of the office as in previous years was in 

 charge of Prof. John Hamilton assisted by Prof. J. M. Stedman. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE OFFICE. 



There was little change in the general character, but considerable 

 reduction in the number and volume of the publications of the office 

 during the year. The office issued 85 documents, aggregating 4,761 

 pages, including 18 numbers of Experiment Station Record, 2 

 reports, 10 technical bulletins, 5 circulars, 8 Farmers' Bulletins (6 of 

 which were numbers of Experiment Station Work), 5 consecutively 

 paged numbers of Experiment Station Work, 3 farmers' institute 

 lectures, 8 publications of the insular stations, 3 Yearbook articles, 11 

 monthly lists of station publications, and 12 separates from the 

 annual report of the office for 1910. The number of new publications, 

 excluding revised reprints and separates, was 66, containing about 

 4,000 pages, as compared with 80 containing about 4,700 pages the 

 preceding year. 



The plan of issuing two volumes of Experiment Station Record 

 was followed, as in recent years. To meet the increase in the 

 volume of the literature reviewed in the Record it was found neces- 

 sary to add another abstract number to each volume, which now con- 

 sists of six monthly and three abstract numbers, with the usual author 

 and subject indexes. The total number of abstracts included in the 

 two volumes was 7,891, by far the largest number for any year and 

 an increase of over 10 per cent over the number in the two preceding 

 volumes. 



