1917] EDITOEIAL. 707 



In some States the pressure upon students to return to the farms 

 has been lessened and considerable assistance rendered in alleviating 

 the labor problem by shortening the college year and providing a 

 more intensive training. Many institutions deferred the opening 

 of their doors until October, and others made special provisions 

 for students whose return was retarded because of farm needs. The 

 University of Nebraska has already announced its intention of 

 closing its school of agriculture early in March next year and the 

 college of agriculture early in April. 



Eecognition of the work of students leaving before graduation 

 to engage in war service by some form of war certificate has been 

 suggested by the executive committee of the Association of Ameri- 

 can Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. It was pointed 

 out that such a certificate would not only be much appreciated by 

 many former students and their relatives, but would also serve to 

 strengthen the bond between the student and the institution, and 

 perhaps facilitate and render more probable his eventual return 

 for the completion of his work. 



Emergency short courses in agriculture have already been offered 

 by a number of institutions and their further development seems 

 logical. One interesting innovation along this line is being under- 

 taken at the University of California, which is offering to a limited 

 number of inexperienced men practical training as milkers, team- 

 sters, and other branches of farm labor. Such courses, if successful, 

 would help relieve the dearth of labor and it is possible that modifi- 

 cations of the idea might be worked out to attract greater numbers 

 of town and city-bred boys to regular college work. One large 

 college of agriculture in the Middle West reported that an increasing 

 realization of the need for practical farm experience had in a meas- 

 ure decreased the registration from the cities in recent years, and 

 the present inquiry indicated that the war had thus far not materi- 

 ally affected the proportion of country and city-bred students. It 

 is well understood that the city-bred bo}' in the agricultural college 

 has in the past been more or less of a problem, but his presence there 

 in increasing numbers would at least possess the advantage of not 

 diminishing appreciably the supplj'^ of available farm labor, while 

 under the present conditions provision for the necessary farm experi- 

 ence before graduation would probably be foimd somewhat less 

 difficult than formerly. 



Serious as the shrinkage of students appears, it need not prove 

 an absolute calamity. The efficiency of educational institutions is 

 not measured by the enrollment, and this is specially true of the 

 agricultural colleges, the tuition fees in which constitute under nor- 

 mal conditions little over 10 per cent of their income. To quote 

 24656"— 18— No. 8 2 



