EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XVIII. January, 1!)07. No. 



Interest in extension work in agricultnre is developing rapidly. It 

 is looked to as another means of making the work of the experiment 

 stations more effective by bringing it home to the farmer in a way 

 to appeal to him, and as spreading the influence and aid of the agri- 

 cultural college. It i)roceeds u})on the basis that the colleges can not 

 give all the instruction in agriculture which is desirable within their 

 walls, but that a vast body of adults outside may be reached and 

 benefited by more direct contact. 



Extension work differs from the college work proper in character, 

 aim, and method. The college instruction in both regular and short 

 courses is conducted at a central point at '\vhi h the pupils nnist be 

 iissembled ; and the courses are usually detinite and fixed, and have 

 a pedagogic form. Extension work seeks the farmer and rural poj^u- 

 lation in their own surroundings, in much the same way that the 

 farmers' institute does ; and in a sense it may be regarded as a develo^D- 

 ment and expansion of that form of aid, for in their present status 

 the institutes are a conspicuous form of extension teaching. It must 

 naturally be movable, elementary, and of short duration in any 

 l^articular locality. It is informational in character rather than 

 educational, for it can only present or demonstrate facts in a general 

 way and in a quite didactic manner, and in the nature of the case can 

 not go far into the reason and theory. While it is in this sense 

 superficial, it is thought possible to give it something of the pedagogic 

 form which is being worked out for other grades of agricultural 

 instruction, by systematizing the various features and presenting 

 them in logical order. 



Extension teaching does not take the place of the short courses at 

 the colleges, the elementary agricultural schools, or other agencies 

 at present j)rovided. It supplements the experiment station and the 

 agricultural college, thus constituting a third branch of the system 

 for agricultural instruction, which in its development may be regarded 

 as sej)arate and distinct in field and character, but closely correlated 

 with the other two l)ranches. 



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