96 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS. 



President J. L. Sn3'der: 



Sir — I liave the honor of submitting- tlie following report concerning 

 the work of this department for the year 1911-12: 



The total number of enrollments in the department for the year 

 equalled 83G, distributed as follows: 



By terms: Fall, 231; winter, 3(;S; spring, 237. 



By classes: Freshman, 12S; sophomore, 384; junior, 212; Senior, 112. 



By subjects: History, 17(5; economics, .508; political science, 152, 



The total number of hours taught during the year by members of the 

 department were 1,551, divided among the three terms as follows: 



Fall term, 403; winter, 570; spring, 572. 



By subjects the number of reciiation hours during the year equalled, 

 economics, 001; history, 345; political science, 315. 



The reduction in the number of subjects otlered by the curriculum in 

 this college, which was accomplished by faculty action last year and 

 by which a student may now finish Avitli 240 credits instead of 300, as 

 was formerly the case, atl'ected this dejtartment in several ways. Upon 

 the wiu)le the outcome has been beneficial, since the work given by this 

 department this year was more effective througli being more unified 

 than under the old cun-icul\nn. On the other hand, the effects of the 

 elimination of several subjects from the list ])resenied by this depart- 

 ment, and these from among the subjects given in the earlier college 

 classes where the numbers are large, have been to greatly reduce the 

 enrollments as coni])ared with other years. We believe that the definite- 

 ness and coherency from which the college curriculum as a whole has 

 benefited through having the many subjects eliminated or rearranged, 

 by which the weekly work offered was reduced from 25 to 20 hours, will 

 produce equally good results in this department tlirough the cutting 

 down which has taken place. The perceptibly stronger work that stu- 

 dents are able to present in the class rooms through not having their 

 time absorbed in mere class room attendance, as was the situation under 

 the old 25-hour per week schedule, vindicates satisfactorily the new 

 system. 



The departments of economics in the various land grant colleges have 

 for some years past met a growing demand for economic infv;rmation 

 specialized along the lines of agriculture. It has been felt that there 

 are economic problems peculiar to the agriculturist, such as those of 

 farm organization, agricultural credit, markets and transportation 

 facilities, and that specific instru<'tion should be given upon these sub- 

 jects. Further than this from a jx'dagogical stan(l]>oint some of these 

 subjects, such as that for example of farm organization, offer admirable 

 material in the way of concrete illustrations for class room work. This 

 matter of farm organization, or farm management, as it is sometimes 

 called, which is strictly an economic problem, necessitates the making 

 of farm surveys and the study of systems of farm costs keeping and in 

 many other ways brings the student in touch with actual conditions. 



