704 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. [Vol.35 



rioiis phases. In assembling the material an extreme meagerness 

 of investigational data, coupled with the frequent but superficial 

 treatment of the subject in books on country life, rural education, and 

 economy, a tendency to give much space to the experiences of in- 

 dividual country women, and the popularity of the farm woman as a 

 subject of discussion among organizations representing a surprising 

 variety of interests, were among the characteristics discovered. 



An illuminating idea of the field still to be traversed by home 

 economics writers was also afforded. In the words of the report, 

 " problems have been worked out in individual cases and the results 

 applied in practice, but as yet the economic, sociological, and psy- 

 chological principles underlying this work have not been analyzed 

 and formulated. Standards, such as are used in farm-management 

 work, have not been worked out by surveys; accumulated practical 

 experience has not been summed up and presented in a systematic 

 way for the guidance of others." 



This report should prove extremely helpful to home economics 

 workers. As the quotation indicates, there is great need for funda- 

 mental studies in home economics analogous to the experimentation 

 in agriculture. Yet in spite of the large amount of time allotted the 

 subject on the program, this phase otherwise received only incidental 

 mention, attention being concentrated almost wholly on the extension 

 side of the work. A symposium was given before the general ses- 

 sion on organization and administration under the Smith-Lever Act 

 as related to the home economics departments and the farm home, 

 while the sectional program dealt with home economics extension in 

 its relations to women's work in the home, rural engineering and 

 architecture, and rural health and personal hygiene, and a discussion 

 of the function of the woman extension worker. These papers re- 

 vealed in a most interesting way the many channels which are being 

 developed to reach the farm home. It seems clear, however, that the 

 need and opportunities for research would be an especially appro- 

 priate topic for future discussion in the new subsection of home 

 economics, the establishment of which was authorized by the college 

 section. 



Extension problems in agriculture likewise attracted much atten- 

 tion. The standing committee on extension organization and policy 

 submitted a carefully prepared report discussing the relationships 

 between the colleges and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The 

 section of extension work considered two main topics, the use of the 

 written project system and the holding of National conferences on 

 extension projects. Extension relationships were also first among the 

 topics discussed by Secretary Houston in his address before the as- 



