1916] EDITORIAL. 705 



sociation, in which he expressed his appreciation of the spirit of co- 

 operation evinced on the part of the States in the coordination of the 

 agricultural activities of the Nation. Already, he stated, in spite of 

 the difficulties inherent in inaugurating so large and complex an 

 enterprise, the States are cooperating with the Federal Government 

 far beyond the requirements of the law. 



College instruction in agriculture was discussed from several 

 points of view. The report of the standing committee on instruction 

 in agriculture dealt with the question of college credit for high-school 

 agriculture. This included a study of existing conditions, by Mr. 

 D. J. Crosby, which indicated that agriculture is now accepted as an 

 entrance subject in forty-four of the forty-eight States, but that 

 only one institution allows advanced credit. It was found that agri- 

 culture is no>v taught in 19 per cent of the high schools of the coun- 

 try, and the committee considered this a factor which might well be 

 taken into account in college instruction to a greater degree. Certain 

 fundamental principles of agriculture, it pointed out, might be taught 

 as effectively in the high schools as in the freshman class, or even 

 better if the college instruction is delegated to fellows and assistants 

 of limited years and experience. 



Some obstacles, however, were recognized to the acceptance of 

 high-school agriculture, especially the wide variation in the grade of 

 work accomplished. Care is needed in the selection of textbooks and 

 apparatus and the outlining of courses, and it was suggested that the 

 colleges might here render a useful service. In twenty-eight States 

 there is no systematic supervision of high-school instruction in agri- 

 culture. In some States the college and the State Board of Educa- 

 tion cooperate, but it was believed that the efforts of the colleges in 

 this field should be suggestive rather than arbitrary, and should 

 scrupulously avoid the appearance of domination. 



Methods of Improvement in Teaching College Agriculture were 

 discussed by Dean W. W. Charters of the School of Education of the 

 University of Missouri. Dean Charters pointed out that the im- 

 portant thing in education is not apparatus or buildings or equip- 

 ment, but the classroom intercourse of teacher and student. He 

 believed that the present teaching of agriculture is verj^ uneven in 

 quality. One difficulty is that the results of teaching are less tangible 

 than those of research and therefore easy to judge in a comparative 

 way. The code of professional ethics which bars instructors of equal 

 rank from the classrooms of others also hinders improvements and 

 obscures the merits of efficient teachers. More attention to the formu- 

 lation and application of pedagogical principles of agricultural in- 

 struction was earnestly advocated. It is of interest to note that very 



