30 



As a rule, the themes selected by the lecturers and teachers are such as are cal- 

 culated to exert an inflrence in the further agricuiltural develoi)nient of the locality 

 concerned. The persons concerned in giving these lectures and courses of instruc- 

 tion are agronomists, teachers in agricultural institutions, agricultural inspectors, 

 specialists, and instructors in agricultural branches in various educational institu- 

 tions. Systematic courses of lectures and instruction are given in practical garden- 

 ing, raising field crops, etc. The teachers and lecturers receive for their work suit- 

 able compensation from the department of agriculture. 



Agricultural courses for common school pupils were organized in 1903. At this 

 time a special connnittee was appointed by the Government for the purpose of pre- 

 paring a progrannne of courses and instruction in agriculture, together with a list of 

 themes to be discussed, books, charts, and other material to assist in instruction. 

 During that year 20 educational institutions offered courses in agriculture, and 450 

 persons were enrolled as students in these courses. 



The general administration of "outside" or "itinerant" class work in agricultural 

 subjects is a function of the department of agriculture in St. Petersburg. 



SWEDEN. 



Provision for imparting technical instruction in agriculture in 

 Sweden, 75 per cent of whose population is engaged. in this occupa- 

 tion, is made through schools in the several districts organized and 

 equipped for the special purpose. The establishing of a large number 

 of stationary schools of agriculture for adults in preference to the itin- 

 erant system seems to have been decided upon after a careful exami- 

 nation of this kind of instruction in other countries, which accounts for 

 the absence of the movable' school. 



Three distinct classes of high schools have been organized and are 

 in operation in Sweden: People's high schools for men; people's high 

 schools for women, and high schools for peasants. The first of these, 

 or the people's high schools for men, was opened in 1868. As the 

 title suggests, they are intended for men, the average age at which 

 pupils enter being 21 or 22 years, although the minimum age for 

 admission is 18. 



The people's high schools at first were supported entirely by private 

 subscription, but later were aided by the Government with grants not 

 exceeding $800 for schools having a one-year course, and not more, 

 than $1,350 for schools having a two-^^ear course, the latter smn being 

 given on condition that at least one-fourth of the pupils of the first- 

 year course come back the second year. 



The people's high schools are all located in the country, and their 

 popularity is evidenced b}^ their number, which in 1903 had reached 

 872. The lectures and classes of these schools occupy about twenty- 

 two weeks, the school terms being arranged to come between the 

 months of November and April, a season of (;omparative cessation of 

 field work. 



Each course takes for its completion 955 hours of recitation or 

 lectures. 



