402 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



with rciVrenoo to aiiriciiltiinil ciliiciition, eitluM- liistoriciilly or in the 

 pivsont, can proccvd on tlio assumption tliat oither the federal or 

 state hiws under which they are organized wei'e intended to create 

 simply institutions for auricnltural education. \\'hat('\('i' their name, 

 these institutions were so organized as to enable them to give instruc- 

 tion in many branches, and they naturally followed popular denumd 

 in their development. 



Whenever agricultural education is under discussion with refer- 

 ence to the land-grant colleges we should as far as })ossible sei)arate 

 out the funds, equipment, and personnel in these colleges which have 

 been devoted to agricultural education, and judge of their status and 

 results as related to agricultural education by the means which they 

 have actually had for this purpose. Such differentiation would, for 

 example, bar out a comparison of Iowa State College as a whole with 

 the Ontario Agricultural College. It w^ould also prevent such mis- 

 leading statements as that '"' no other calling has been so subsidized 

 b}^ the Government through education as agriculture," when it is 

 evident from the connection in Avhich the statement is made that the 

 whole land-grant institution is in mind. 



There is an apparent feeling among some writers on the subject 

 that the land-grant colleges should have been organized simply as 

 agricultural colleges, and they are criticised for introducing mechanic 

 arts and engineering except so far as these subjects have direct 

 relation to agriculture. This view runs counter to the federal legisla- 

 tion relating to these institutions and to the history of the move- 

 ment which resulted in their establishment. The act of 1862 ex- 

 pressly states that these colleges are " to promote the liberal and prac- 

 tical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and 

 professions in life." It must be evident to every careful observer 

 that for many years agriculture had only a relatively small share of 

 attention in the land-grant colleges, whose resources were largely used 

 for other branches of education. It is well to keep this steadily in 

 mind in judging of the results obtained by these institutions in ad- 

 vancing agricultural education and practice. 



A close analysis of the land-grant institutions and the use of their 

 funds for various purposes will relieve agricultural education of the 

 burden of responsibility for very much of the work of these institu- 

 tions which has falsely been attached to it. Such a study will also 

 doubtless remove the misconception that the land-grant (or Morrill) 

 act was, as has recently been said, " really the act of one man," and 

 show it rather to have been the culmination of a movement going on 

 in this country for more than half a century prior to 1862. 



Any view of education as related to agriculture which considers it 

 primarily from the standpoint of " farming " as a " trade " is dis- 



