1916] EDITORIAL. 703 



tion of the prospective stations at the land-grant institutions was the 

 successful maintenance of corresponding stations for experimentation 

 in agriculture. The belief was widely expressed that agriculture and 

 the mechanic arts are not only vitally related, with many points of 

 contact, but possess plentiful opportunities for mutual service. 



Thus, Dean A. A. Potter of the Kansas College said, " The location 

 of the proposed experiment stations at land-grant institutions will 

 result in close cooperation between the engineering and the agri- 

 cultural experiment stations. Such cooperation will prove beneficial 

 to modern agriculture and will also result in the utilization of waste 

 materials from the farms. The increased use of farm machinery and 

 of farm motors on modern farms merits much engineering investiga- 

 tive work of direct benefit to the agricultural industry. Other engi- 

 neering investigations, such as road building, rural architecture, 

 drainage, and irrigation, can best be carried on at land-grant institu- 

 tions, where the engineering experimenters can secure valuable aid 

 from their colleagues in the agricultural experiment stations." 



Even the authorization of the reserve officers' training corps in the 

 land-grant colleges, under the provisions of the National Defense 

 Act, was shown to have a bearing on the preparation of teachers and 

 investigators in agriculture. The paper of Dean Edward Orton, jr., 

 of the Ohio State University, pointed out that the establishment of 

 these units will involve considerable reconstruction of courses, and he 

 maintained that the theoretical military training prescribed can, in 

 many cases, be obtained only by a replacement of other studies — 

 cultural, scientific, or technical. "WHiile it is expected that the reserve 

 officers will be developed more largely from students in engineering 

 than in agriculture, there will none the less be some reconstruction of 

 agricultural courses, and the problem will thus be presented of insur- 

 ing that the fundamentals of a sound scientific and technical train- 

 ing be carefully conserved. 



The relationship of home economics and agriculture have long been 

 recognized, yet it remained for this convention to bring out the ex- 

 tent to which the comparatively new campaign for the betterment 

 of the country home is going forward and to draw attention to some 

 of its special problems. Practically an entire day was given to the 

 subject, most of one morning's general session and the afternoon 

 meeting of the section on extension work. 



The general session devoted to home economics was opened with 

 the report of the bibliographer. Dr. A. C. True of the States Eela- 

 tions Service, which dealt with published sources of information 

 about farm women. This report was very suggestive in several ways. 

 It included less than a dozen books, articles, and bulletins dealing 

 exclusively with the subject, with about 150 other references to va- 



