31 



Metiiops oi' Seki) Testing. 



E. If. Jenkins, cliairnmn 'if the stjindiiis connuittee on soec'l testin;.'. suhniitted 

 the following rejiort : 



Siuoo the last meeting of the assofiatlon the connnitte<' has submitted its 

 revision of the I'ules for seed testing to a number of those interested in the v.ork 

 for further suggestions, and tlie tiual revision of the work has been printed 

 and distributed by the Ortice of Experiment Stations as Cireidar No. 34. revised, 

 Itp. 24. with the title — Rules and Apparatus for Seed Testing. It is the hope 

 of the connnittee that the methods prescribed will eonunend themselves to those 

 who are engaged in seed testing and lie adopted by them. 



The connnittee \\ ill gratefully receive any criticism of the metlwds or sugges- 

 lions for their iniiirovement. 



All of which is respectfully submitted. 



E. H. Je>:kins. Chaininin. 



F. W. Carp. 



W. R. L.VZENBY. 

 E. P.ROW.N. 



A. D. Shamel. . 

 The report was accepted. 



^Military I.nstrcction. 



The following report was recei\ed from the chairman of the committee on 

 this subject through the chairman cf the executive committee : 



Several matters of special interest to all the institutions were referred to 

 this connnittee by the convention at its last aimual meeting, but as they 

 appear upon the i»rinted jirogramnie it is unnecessary to repeat them here. They 

 involve matters of the very highest importance to all the colleges in the asso- 

 ciation, and I may be permitted at the outset to express my deep regret that I 

 am compelled to make only a brief and incomplete report. During all the early 

 part of the year the condition of my health was such as to keep me under a 

 physician's care for several months ; during which time I was able to perform 

 onlj a small part of my own regular duties, and the only outside matters to 

 which I gave the slightest attention were in connection with meetings of the 

 i^xecutive committee of this association. This word of explanation is due to 

 my associates as well as to myself, and I hope the personal allusion may be 

 jiardoned. In any case, it is difficult to secure meetings of a connnittee' the 

 members of which are so widely scattered, and especially when those meetings, 

 in order to be iiroductive of permanent results, must be made to coincide \^'ith 

 the convenience of officials in one of the great departments of the Government. 

 Such a meeting, in order to avoid waste of time, should have l)efore it some 

 definitely considered body of proposals which had been ]»reviously submitted 

 to all the members and which might thus form the basis of definite action to be 

 liroposed to the department concerned. Owing to my inability to give sufficient 

 consideration to the important questions involved to justify me in trying to 

 foruHilate such proposals for the committee no meeting has l)een called during 

 the year, but I beg to suggest that e^•en this, unfortunate as it seems, may not 

 be altogether without its advantages. 



The attention of nil the colleges has l)een necessarily fixed to a greater or less 

 extent upon the working of the system which the War Department is now try- 

 ing to carry out and all are probably in a better position to make an estimate 

 of its advantages and disadvantages than they were a year ago. Considerable- 

 correspondence has been carried on with different institutions relative to special 

 cases as they arose, and a number of important suggestions have been made bj 

 them, some of which may form the basis of future deliberation and action. To 

 President Fellows, of Maine, special thanks are due for the valuable work that 

 he has done in this connection. 



The chairman of the connnittee has h.id two prolonged interviews with the 

 Chief of Staff of the Army, the first of which resulted in an extension of the 

 detail of military oftic(>rs to colleges from two years to three, and the .second in 

 a better mutual understanding of some of the jHiints at issue between the col- 

 leges and the Deiiartment. The iiosition of the Deiiartment. stated in the 

 briefest form, is this, that, since the (Jovernment furnishes otli<-ers and e(|ui[)- 

 ment for giving military instruction, it has a right to expect both a hearty 



2.3880— No. 153—05 m ^3 



