1044 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



could be to them in their work. The} 7 pointed out the mutual rela- 

 tions of the Department and the stations, as agencies for the advance- 

 ment of agriculture and the improvement of agricultural practice, and 

 urged that the highest efficiency is secured by these two agencies work- 

 ing in close cooperation where practicable, and in the remaining cases 

 with a full knowledge on the part of station officers as to the work 

 which the Department is doing in their midst. Examples of successful 

 and helpful cooperation in the cotton States were cited, and numerous 

 specific lines of work were suggested upon which the stations desired 

 the Department's aid. Note was taken of these suggestions with a view 

 to compliance at the earliest opportunity, and in several instances defi- 

 nite arrangements for new cooperation were made before the directors 

 left town the following day. 



The emergency caused by the ravages and progress of the cotton- 

 boll weevil has induced the Department to undertake an unusually 

 large amount of work on a number of lines in the Southern States. 

 This, in connection with the pressure of circumstances, has led to 

 greater liability of undertaking work independently of the station, or 

 without due consideration of the existing institution. The possible 

 danger of such a course in leading the people to look directly to the 

 General Government for assistance, rather than to their State stations, 

 was illustrated b} r several speakers. 



Thus, while primarily a conference on the cotton-boll weevil work, 

 the whole matter of the relation of the Department and the experi- 

 ment stations was gone over as it has never been before, and with the 

 utmost frankness and good feeling. Nothing could have been more 

 helpful in clearing the atmosphere and paving the way for cordial 

 relations of cooperation and assistance. This is an important result, 

 both for the future of the boll weevil work and for other lines of work 

 in the Southern States in which the Department and the stations are 

 mutually interested. 



The progress which is making among leading educators in this 

 country in the conviction that agriculture should be given a place in 

 courses of study for rural communities, was evidenced at the fort} T - 

 fourth annual convention of the National Educational Association, held 

 at Asbury Park, N. J., early in July. Elementary agricultural instruc- 

 tion was one of the prominent subjects of discussion at the convention, 

 and it enjoyed the distinction of special mention in the annual address 

 of the president of the association, delivered to thousands of teachers 

 at the opening session. This w T as perhaps all the more significant as 

 coming from the superintendent of schools of New York City, Dr. 

 William H. Maxwell. 



Doctor Maxwell commended the teaching of agriculture in public 

 schools in strong terms, pointing out its advantages to the people in 

 rural communities, and to the nation as well, in the greater efficiency 



