NOTES. 599 



Agricultural Instruction at Normal Schools. — A short course in agriculture 

 was held at the DeKalb (111.) Normal School during the week of December 6. 

 Courses were offered in elementary agriculture, judging corn, horses, and dairy 

 cows, testing milk, rope splicing, spelling farm words, and domestic science, 

 and special lectures were given by Dean Davenport, President John W. Cook 

 and C. W. Whitten, of the normal school, Frank H. Hall, of Aurora. 111., and 

 others. There were 75 students iu attendance, ranging in age from 11 to OS 

 years. 



In accordance with an act passed by the last legislature requiring the teach- 

 ing of agriculture in the three state normal schools iu Texas and making appro- 

 priations for this purpose, the Sam Houston Normal Institute, at Huntsville. 

 has employed a special teacher of agriculture and is erecting a new building 

 which will provide an agricultural laboratory and other facilities for teaching 

 agriculture. 



Extension Work at Agricultural High Schools. — Short courses of from 4 to 6 

 days were recently offered by the La Crosse County School of Agriculture of 

 Wisconsin, and the Mcintosh High School and the Lewiston Consolidated 

 Agricultural High School of Minnesota. In each case the faculties of the 

 resi»ective state colleges of agriculture cooperated in the program. 



Oklahoma District Agricultural Schools. — The new agricultural schools of 

 Oklahoma have recently been oi>ened, with an enrollment at the Camei'on 

 State School of 92, at the Haskell State School of 156, at the Fifth District 

 State School of 78, and at the Panhandle Agricultural Institute of 51, with a 

 number of prospective students waiting for accommodations. 



Agricultural Training in Reformatories and Prisons. — The JounmJ of the De- 

 partment of Agrieulture of Vietoria reports an interesting experiment in the 

 reformatory treatment of boys from the Neglected Children's Department by 

 giving them a course in viticulture and general agriculture in the buildings 

 and on the farms of the Yiticultural College at Rutherglen. The boys are 

 received at the age of 14 and held until they are 18. They are thoroughly 

 trained in general farm work, dairying, and viticulture, as well as along 

 general educational lines. 



A recent report of the New York State Prison Commission states that it is 

 understood that the superintendent of prisons intends to make use of agricul- 

 tural instruction in the new prison at Ccmstock, and that all first-term convicts 

 will be sent there for this purpose. 



Agricultural Education in Canada. — The University of Alberta, at Strathcona, 

 has accepted plans for a building 230 ft. long by 70 ft. wide, with wings on the 

 north and south ends 110 by 30 ft. It is not expected that the building will be 

 comi)leted inside of 3 years and the cost is estimated at approximately $500,000. 



At the last meeting of the university senate the report of the executive com- 

 mittee regarding the organization of the agricultni-al college recommended the 

 establishment of the following departments: Animal husbandry, agronomy, 

 dairying, agricultural engineering, bacteriology, and veterinary science. In 

 addition the departments of chemistry, biology, and geology will be common to 

 the faculties of both arts and agriculture. It was decided to proceed with the 

 organization of the agricultural faculty along the 3 following lines: (1) By the 

 completion of the establishment of the agricultural faculty within the university 

 at the earliest possible date; (2) by the establishment of a system of permanent 

 secondary schools in connection with demonstration farms iu those sections of 

 the province not coming within the immediate scope of the college itself; (3) by 

 the development of a department of extension teaching. The university work 

 will not be confined to teaching but will include research work in connection 

 with the various agricultural problems of the province. 



