EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XVI. November, 1904. No. 3. 



The practical demonstration of the methods employed in certain lines 

 of agricultural instruction and investigation, as carried out at the St. 

 Louis Exposition, was a novel undertaking. It supplemented very 

 effectually the combined exhibit of the American agricultural colleges 

 and experiment stations in the Palace of Education, and illustrated the 

 methods which have been worked out for important branches of work 

 and which could not well be shown in the other exhibit. As these 

 methods have been largely developed in this country and are essentially 

 American in their details, a demonstration of them was desirable to a 

 clear understanding of the American system of agricultural education 

 and research. The fact that exercises in stock judging, grain judging, 

 and the like were being carried on by classes of students from the 

 agricultural colleges, under the direction of instructors in these sub- 

 jects, added materially to the interest of the exhibit, and served to 

 demonstrate the practical character of the methods. 



Two sessions of this "School of Breeding, Feeding and Judging 

 Live Stock, and of Breeding Field Crops" were held, each of two 

 weeks' duration. The first session was from September 12 to 24, dur- 

 ing the cattle show, and the second from October 3 to 15, during the 

 show of sheep and swine. The sessions were held in the Live Stock 

 Congress Hall. An arena 45 by 75 feet was arranged in elliptical 

 form, surrounded by terraced seats sufficient to accommodate 1,100 

 people. The tardiness of the exposition management in making pro- 

 vision for this exhibit made it possible to hold only two periods 

 instead of three as contemplated, and greatly interfered with the prog- 

 ress of the exercises during the first session. A pavilion was origi- 

 nally planned for these exercises, but this was abandoned by the 

 exposition management, and quarters assigned in the Live Stock Con- 

 gress Hall. A $2,300 refrigerating plant was installed in a room 

 adjoining the arena, and this was stocked with meat for the judging 

 work. A live-horsepower motor was also furnished for thrashing the 

 crops of the breeding plats. The school was under the general charge 

 of Prof. J. H. Shepperd, of North Dakota. 



The plan followed was to have about twenty-five students from five 

 different agricultural colleges present at each session, to act as classes 



219 



