492 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



have its owu staff of instructors in agriculture, horticulture, and other allied 

 subjects or whether the services of a single staff should be made available 

 for groups of contiguous counties, and as to the training and qualifications 

 which such instructors should possess. 



From the replies received from 38 counties to an inquiry made by the County 

 Councils Association and from the report of the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries on the distribution of grants for 1908-9, it was found that in 14 

 counties agricultural instruction is conducted entirely by the county staff. In 

 12 counties the main work is done by the county staff, supplemented by 

 courses provided by a central institution usually available for more than one 

 county. In 16 counties the instruction is given mainly by the staff provided 

 by a central institution, with additional instructors provided by the county, 

 and in 15 counties it is provided wholly by the staff of a central institution. 

 In 4 counties there do not appear to be definite arrangements for giving county 

 agricultural instruction. 



The conference thinks that it may be laid down as a general principle that 

 every county should be associated, in combination with other counties, with 

 an efficient center, or, if not in combination, should have a minimum efficient 

 staff of its own, and also that it is desirable, in view of the difficulty of ob- 

 taining qualified teachers and organizers, to concentrate higher agricultural 

 education, as far as possible, in a few really efficient centers. Advice is given 

 as to how a minimum staff should be made up, how it should be supplemented 

 by scientific investigators, analysts, and instructors in special branches of the 

 industry, such as forestry and the economics of agriculture, and as to what 

 should be the qualifications of the members of the staff. The conference con- 

 siders it of vital importance that the agricultural staff" of a county should 

 work under a special committee or subcommittee on agricultural education. 

 An appendix shows the staff' actually provided in some typical counties of 

 varying sizes and systems of farming. 



Agricultural and related instruction in Prussia, tog'ether with agricul- 

 tural statistics for 1906, 1907, and 1908, H. Thiel (Landio. Jahrb., 39 (1910), 

 Sup. 2, pp. XXII+786, pis. 2). — This report contains an account of the historical 

 development and organization of the various phases of agricultural instruction 

 in Prussia, and detailed statements concerning the organization, faculty, income, 

 courses of study, attendance, etc., for 1906, 1907, and 1908. of the individual 

 agricultural education institutions of different grades in Prussia. Detailed 

 information is also given concei-ning itinerant instructors, agricultural house- 

 keeping schools, si^ecial courses for adults, rural continuation instruction, and 

 normal schools for the training of teachers of agriculture. 



Agricultural education, R. W. Thornton [So. African Jour. Sd., S {1912), 

 ISlo. 6, pp. 203-208). — This is a discussion of the agricultural education problems 

 in South Africa to-day, including (1) the education of young men who have 

 completed their elementary education and who intend taking up farming, (2) 

 the instruction of those who have already taken up farming, and (3) the train- 

 ing of those who are to teach these two classes. 



The importance and orga^nization of agricultural instruction in the German 

 army {Arch. Dent. Laiidiv. Rats.. 3o {1911), pp. 658~0SS). — This comprises a 

 detailed account by Agricultural Chancellor Maier-Bode of the extent and scope 

 of agricultural instruction in the German army, the time devoted to it, accom- 

 modations available, cost, attendance, interest of the participants, opinions 

 concerning the results in the various Provinces, genei-al remarks, rules for 

 guidance, and other data. 



It is shown that in the 4 years since its initial introduction into the army, 

 agricultural instruction has been given in nearly every garrison in the Empire. 



