OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 251 



Office, thus continuing exposition work as a somewhat regular func- 

 tion of the Office, for wliich provision has to be made. 



AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 

 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. 



A new enterprise in agricultural education has been inaugurated by 

 the establishment of the Graduate School of Agriculture, Avhich held 

 a four weeks' session during the month of Jul}', 1902, at the Ohio State 

 University, Columbus, Ohio. The plan for this school was originated 

 by Prof. Thomas F. Hunt, dean of the College of Agriculture and 

 Domestic Science of the Ohio State University, the purpose being to 

 establish a school for advanced students of agriculture at which lead- 

 ing teachers and investigators of the agricultural colleges and experi- 

 ment stations and of this Department should present in some regular 

 way summaries of the recent progress of agricultural science, illus- 

 trate improved methods of teaching agricultural subjects, and afford 

 a somewhat extended opportunity for the discussion of live topics 

 drawn from the rapidlj^ advancing science of agriculture. This idea 

 received the cordial approval of President Thompson, of the Ohio 

 State University, and on the recommendations of these two men the 

 board of trustees of the university voted to establish such a school and 

 generously made provision for the financial support of its first session. 



The Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment 

 Stations at its convention in 1901 favored the plan for the school and 

 voted that, if the success of the first session seemed to justify its con- 

 tinuance, it be made a cooperative enterprise under the control of the 

 association. The Secretary of Agriculture also expressed his cordial 

 approval of this movement, and, on his advice, the Director of the 

 Office of Experiment Stations consented to act as dean, and other 

 officers of the Department of Agriculture to be members of its faculty. 

 Under these favorable auspices, there was little difficulty in securing 

 a strong faculty. As actually organized, this included 35 men, of 

 whom 26 are professors in agricultural colleges, 7 are leading officers 

 of the Department of Agriculture, and 2 are officers of the New York 

 State Experiment Station. Courses were offered in agronomy, zoo- 

 techny, dairjnng, and breeding of plants and animals. The school 

 was housed in the substantial and well-equipped agricultural build- 

 ing of the university, where were illustrated the most improved appa- 

 ratus for instruction in soil physics, dairying, and other agricultural 

 subjects. Besides the live stock of the university farm, leading 

 breeders of Ohio furnished choice animals for the stock-judging 

 exercises. 



General problems of agricultural science and pedagogy were dis- 

 cussed at the inaugural exercises and at Saturday morning confer- 

 ences. Among the topics thus treated were the history of agricultural 

 education and research in the United States; the organization of 

 agricultural education in colleges, secondary schools, nature-study 

 courses, correspondence courses, farmers' institutes, and various 

 forms of university extension ; what constitutes a science of agricul- 

 ture ; methods and values of cooperative experiments. Through social 

 assemblies, visits to typical Ohio farms, and much informal discussion 

 wherever the students met each other, the educational influences of 

 the school were greatly extended. Seventy-five students were in 

 attendance. These were drawn from 28 States and Territories, includ- 



