502 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



of the natural sciences, and encouraged the building up of a first-clasis 

 biological laboratory. His high conception of the aims and purposes 

 of the land-grant colleges was clearly set forth in his presidentia 

 address before the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and 

 Experiment Stations at the New Orleans meeting in 1S92. This was 

 an earnest plea for that form of technical education which trains and 

 develops the mind as well as the hand, and this, he urged, called for 

 both breadth and liberality in the curriculum. The institution whose 

 development he is so largel}^ responsible for is a worthy exponent of 

 his views on that subject. 



The rapid development of agricultural education in this country 

 during the past few years has rendered obsolete man\' of the notions 

 regarding its possibilities which have hitherto passed current. LTnfor- 

 tunately this fact is not alwa5^s recognized in discussions on the sub- 

 ject, even in educational bodies. Much stress has been laid, for 

 example, on the great difficulty of getting students to attend the 

 regular college courses in agriculture. Undoubtedly such difficulty 

 has existed in the past, and in a way still exists. But in recent years 

 it has been shown that much may be done to overcome this difficulty by 

 proper provision for adequate courses, by special plans to excite inter- 

 est in thorough training in the science and practice of agriculture, and 

 by the creation of an atmosphere of cordial sympathy with agricultural 

 education in the college community. 



We have outgrown the notion that a farm and a professor of agri- 

 culture are sufficient means for the promotion of agricultural educa- 

 tion in our colleges, and it were well that this should be universally 

 recognized in practice as well as in theory. Data in considerable 

 amount have accumulated, showing that where a strong faculty of 

 specialists in different branches of agricultural science is organized, 

 and arrangements are made to meet the varying needs of students l)y 

 special agricultural courses or schools, it is not difficult to gathei- in a 

 considerable number of students and to increase materially the number 

 who will elect to take the complete college course in agriculture. It 

 is also pretty well recognized that institutions for agricultural educa- 

 cation have not done their full dut}^ until they have strenuously endeav- 

 ored to widen their base of operations by extension work through 

 farmers' institutes, correspondence courses, etc., with a view to arous- 

 ing their agricultural constituency' to the importance of technical train- 

 ing in their art and the opportunities which such training opens up, 

 and thus laying a broad foundation for successful college courses in 

 agriculture. 



It is idle for members of governing boards or college presidents to 

 publicly profess interest in agricultural education unless they are actu- 

 ally pursuing modern methods in their own institutions to make their 



