1198 EXPERIMENT STATIOX EECORD. 



Cle\eland convention. It held one session in conjunction with the department 

 of technical education, at which a paper by Dr. A. C. True and I). J. Crosby, 

 of this Office, defining agriculture as a science and an art and outlining the field 

 of elementary, secondary, and collegiate Institutions in agricultural education, 

 was presented by Mr. Crosby, and discussed by C. F. Curtiss and A. B. Storms 

 of Iowa, J. L. Snyder of Michigan, and others. One of the regular sessions 

 of the department was devoted to general addresses and discussions on agricul- 

 tural education, including a paper on What Constitutes Successful Work in 

 Agriculture in Rural Schools, by B. M. Davis, of Miami University, Oxford, 

 Ohio ; an address on The Work of the Normal School in Preparing Teachers to 

 Teach Agriculture, by H. G. Williams, dean of State Normal College, Athens, 

 Ohio, and an address on National Aid in Agricultural Education, by Elmer E. 

 Brown, United States Commissioner of Education. Dr. Brown indorsed most 

 emphatically and earnestly the proposition that children should be educated 

 largely in and through the common things about them, the things touching their 

 home interests, and the vocations of their parents — agriculure for children in 

 rural communities. He expressed a belief in the principle of Government aid 

 for education of this sort, but was of the opinion that the means of extending 

 (iovernment aid to education along these lines should be thoroughly investigated 

 before the enactment of additional legislation. 



The evening session of the department was devoted to illustrated addresses 

 on school gardening. Opportunity was afforded during the convention to visit 

 the work at the different schools in Cleveland and at the different centers con- 

 ducted by the Home (Jardening Association. 



Several other deiiartments of the association devoted space in their pro- 

 grammes to the discussion of different features of agricultural education. 

 The department of normal schools spent most of the time of one session upon 

 the discussion of industrial arts in normal schools. A paper on this subject 

 was read by H. H. Seerley, of Iowa, who confined his discussion largely to the 

 agricultural features of industrial instruction. In the department of manual 

 training, Charles H. Morse, secretary of the Massachusetts Commission on 

 Industrial Education, discussed the most urgent educational nee! of to-day, 

 which in his opinion is industrial training in public schools, including agricul- 

 tural education. In the dei)artment f)f science instruction one evening was 

 devoted to an address on Scientific Agriculture in the Secondary School, by L, H. 

 Bailey, and a paper on The Preservation of the Natural liesources of the 

 United States, by H. A. Smith, of the Forest Service. The dei)artment of In- 

 dian education considered several features of industrial training for the 

 Indian, including a paper on Horticulture and Landscape Gardening, bj' R. H. 

 Hoffman, florist at the Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pa. 



There were also short meetings of several societies who.se work is more or 

 less closely related to that of the National Education Association. Among these 

 were the National Committee on Agricultural Education and the American 

 Nature Study Society. The latter discussed at length the training of teachers 

 of nature study. 



Graduate School of Home Economics. — The Graduate School of Home Eco- 

 nomics held its second session at the college of agriculture. Cornell University, 

 July 13-24, with representatives from eleven States and Canada. The pro- 

 gramme covered a wide range of subjects, and the instruction cori)s included 

 some of the leading teachers and investigators in home economics and related 

 lines. Practical demonstrations of household aiipliances were given by Misses 

 Van Rensselaer and Rose, of the department of home economics in Cornell 

 University. Special lectures were delivered by Prof. L. B. Mendel, of the 

 Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, on Foods and Dietary Standards, 



