EDITORIAL. 705 



We can see now that much depended on the holding up of these 

 higher ideals and a right start at the beginning, and for this we owe 

 much to the position taken by the first Secretary of Agriculture. 



Mr. Colman was born at Richmond Springs, N. Y., May 16, 1827, 

 and after studying law at Louisville, K3\, settled in St. Louis in 

 1852, where he had since resided. There he practiced law, and in 

 1865 established his agricultural paper, Colmavh Rural Worlds 

 which he continued to edit to the close of his life. He was the dean 

 of agricultural editors in the United States, and was for many years 

 a leader in agricultural movements and organizations in the Missis- 

 sippi Valley. He was a member and former president of the State 

 Board of Agriculture, a founder and first president of the Missouri 

 Horticultural Society, the first president of the Missouri State Fair, 

 and for fifteen years a trustee of the University of Missouri. He 

 conducted a stock farm near St. Louis, and was actively interested in 

 various other agricultural enterprises. 



He had received honorary degrees from the Missouri and Illinois 

 colleges of agriculture, and on his retirement from office in the 

 Federal department he was decorated b}" the Republic of France, 

 through its minister of agriculture, with the cross of " Officier du 

 Merite Agincole." 



Mr. Colman celebrated his eighty- fourth birthday last spring, and 

 at that time was the recipient of many congratulations on his excellent 

 health and vigor. He suffered a stroke of apoplexy on November 2, 

 from which he died the following day. 



The opportunities for graduate study in agriculture in the United 

 States are presented in an instructive and convenient form in a 

 recent bulletin issued by the United States Bureau of Education 

 (noted on p. 792 of this issue). For tlie first time data as to the 

 courses available for graduate instruction in agriculture and the 

 related sciences have been gathered in a systematic way from the 

 state colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts, the state universities, 

 and the institutions represented in the Association of American 

 Universities. These are classified by subjects and by institutions, 

 anything like a direct comparison of institutions or attempt at 

 standardization being avoided. The showing made is a gratifying 

 one and brings out the remarkable progress which has been made 

 in this direction within the past decade. 



The bulletin is the result of a detailed inquir}^ undertaken by the 

 Bureau of Education, in cooperation with the Association of Ameri- 

 can Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, upon the ini- 

 tiative of its standing committee on graduate study. It represents 

 much more than a mere compilation from college catalogues, being 



