698 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. [Vol. 36 



reimbursable within twenty years. Tlie final title to the land wilU be given 

 after five years. The community system will be followed in supplying horses, 

 other stock, and implements, and cooperative methods of buying and selling 

 will be used. 



Other plans for placing soldiers on the land are also under consideration. 



Agricultural Instruction in Western Canada. — In 1916 the provincial ministry 

 of agriculture of British Columbia, which until then had always been united 

 with some other ministry, was made a separate and distinct department and 

 placed in charge of William Manson. 



During the past year 90 acres of the agricultural college site at the University 

 of British Columbia have been cleared and prepai'ed for cropping and for a 

 botanical garden. A collection of upwards of 26,000 specimens, representing 

 nearly 800 species, of the native flora of British Columbia, which has been 

 made during the past four years by John Davidson, the Province botanist, is 

 to be transferred to the university campus, as a nucleus for a botanic garden. 

 The last session of the legislature appropriated sufficient funds to permit of a 

 beginning to be made in the erection of suitable farm buildings and the pur- 

 chase of live stock and equipment. 



Regular degree courses in agriculture will not be offered in the college during 

 the present academic year, but it is hoped that a series of short courses will 

 be given, including the course on the scientific basis of agriculture offered as an 

 elective last year (E. S. R., 34, p. 696). F. M. Clement, who for several years 

 has been director of the Horticultural Experiment Station at Vineland, Ontario, 

 has been appointed professor of horticulture and P. A. Boving, who for the 

 past three years has been in charge of root investigations at MacDonald Col- 

 lege, assistant professor of agronomy. 



Agricultural instruction has recently been introduced into the high schools 

 of British Columbia in a systematic way. The first class in the Province was 

 organized in September, 1915, and was followed by similar instruction in four 

 other high schools in September. 1916. The instruction is being given by agri- 

 cultural specialists, and is attended by a total of about 130 boys and girls. A 

 two-year course has been outlined for these schools including the study of 

 soils, fertilizers, and drainage ; fodder, grain, and root crops ; vegetable and 

 flower gardening ; fruit growing ; animal and poultry husbandry ; dairying and 

 bee keeping ; farm accounting and marketing ; farm mechanics for boys : and 

 special practice in the purchase and preparation of foods for girls. 



Equipment costing about $400 is available in each school, with from one-half 

 to one acre of laud for experimental and demonstration plats. The salary of 

 the instructor is paid by the provincial department of education, and the 

 remaining expenses by the local authorities. 



The Alberta Department of Agriculture began extension work in agriculture 

 last spring with district agents in the field at various points in the Province. 

 The minister of education is cooperating to the extent of making the time of 

 the classes in school available to the agents for the carrying on of the work in 

 cooperation with the teacher and inspector. The plan is to have the pupils take 

 actual part in the growing of garden crops, the raising of chickens, and the 

 feeding and management of young stock on their own farms. Initial group 

 instruction in the laying out, planning, and general cultivation of the home gar- 

 den is given in the schools, where leaflets and bulletins, seeds, and a limited 

 number of eggs are distributed. Competitions in caring for stock are carried 

 on and the season's program culminates in a fall fair held in conjunction with 

 the district fair or at the most convenient school or village center. The work 

 is being conducted in five centers and about 100 schools are taking part in It. 



