10 



of the agricultural colleges have made some progress in differentiating 

 agronomy from the other subdivisions of agriculture, only a few have 

 developed well-balanced courses in agronomy, with laboratory and 

 field practicums in which special forms for scoring different crops and 

 specially devised apparatus are used. It soon became apparent that 

 it would not he feasible to publish within the scope of a Department 

 bulletin detailed information regarding the courses of study in all the 

 agricultural colleges in the United States and, furthermore, that such 

 publication would not at present be desirable because (1) it would 

 include a number of institutions that have not yet been able or have 

 not found it desirable to differentiate agrononi}" from the general sul)- 

 ject of agriculture; and (2) it would include some colleges that are 

 just reorganizing their courses of instruction with reference to the 

 subdivisions of agriculture, including agronomy, and are not now in 

 a position to make a showing commensurate with their facilities for 

 instruction. 



It has been decided, therefore, to include in this bulletin (1) a 1)rief 

 review of the work of the committee on methods of teaching agricul- 

 ture, together with such excerpts from the reports of that conmiittee 

 as have a ))earing on the present discussion; and (2) detailed descrip- 

 tions of courses in agronomv in seven agricultural colleges — six in the 

 United States and one in Europe. The institutions selected include 

 (1) two colleges not connected with universities — Alabama in the 

 South and Michigan in the North; (2) two university colleges having 

 schools of agriculture (agricultural high schools) connected with 

 them — Minnesota and Nebraska; (3) two university" colleges in which 

 no pi'ovision for preparatory work is made — Illinois and Ohio; and 

 (4) a university college in (lermany — the Agricultural Institute of the 

 University of (lottingen. 



In the detailed statements regarding the course in agronomy in 

 these institutions the four-^ear agricultural course has l)een consid- 

 ered in a general way as to its purpose, requirements for admission, 

 and scope; then attention has been given to agronomy, its position in 

 the four-year course, preparation for it secured l)y means of previous 

 work in botany and chemistry, its scope and the method of presenta- 

 tion to the students. Under this last head an account has been given 

 of the equipment used, such as buildings, lecture and laboratory rooms, 

 apparatus, collections, special forms, library facilities, and land, and the 

 leading features of this equipment have been illustrated. In the prep- 

 aration of these detailed statements Prof, J. F. Duggar, of Ala])ama; 

 Dr. C. G. Hopkins, of Illinois; Prof. J, A. Jeffrey, of Michigan; 

 Prof. W, M, Hays, of Minnesota; Prof, T, L. Lyon, of Nebraska, and 

 Prof. W. D. (Tib])s, of Texas (formerly of Ohio), have rendered 

 valual)le assistance. 



