706 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



the development of the proposed schools must be slow and will afford ample 

 opportunitj' for gaining useful experience. 



The organization of public professional instruction in agriculture in 

 France (Vie Agr. ct Rurale, 8 (1918), No. 37, pp. 182-184) .—The text of the 

 law of August 2, 1918, on the reorganization of public professional instruction 

 of agricultui'e in France is given. A new depature under this law is the 

 establishment of sections or departments of practical agriculture on the estates 

 of the national schools of agriculture at Grignon, Montpellier, and Rennes, at 

 the National Agricultural Institute, and the National School of Agricultural 

 Industries, to provide a thorough practical training for students leaving the 

 National Agricultural Institute who wish to take up an agricultural career 

 01' to become professors of aginculture. Students from the national schools 

 of agriculture and special students may also attend these departments. 



In view of the poor results obtained by running the farms in connection 

 with some of the practical schools of agriculture on a commercial basis, so 

 that the director-farmer, obliged to make the greatest possible profit out of 

 the farm, looked upon the students as laborers rather than real pupils, it is 

 provided that farms in connection with the schools, save in exceptional cir- 

 cumstances, will be run either on behalf of a commune, a department, or the 

 State. Winter or seasonal agricultural schools, either fixed or traveling, and 

 under the control of the minister of agriculture, are to be established through- 

 out the country with the joint financial support of the minister of agriculture 

 and the department or commune. 



Continuation instruction in agriculture is provided for, either in public 

 schools or in premises placed at the disposal of the State by a commune or 

 private persons. The instruction will be given to boys 13 years of age and 

 over, and will extend over at least four years with a minimum of 150 hours 

 each. A certificate will be awarded on the completion of the course. 



A permanent central commission of the ministry of agriculture is also estab- 

 lished, consisting of representatives of the ministries of agriculture and public 

 instruction and of leading farmers designated by the minister of agriculture. 

 This commission will be consulted regarding the regulations relating to con- 

 tinuation instruction, its genei'al organization, and course of study, and on 

 agricultural instruction given at the normal primary school. 



Instruction in agriculture and housewifery for girls is provided for in the 

 National Agricultural Institute, the national schools of agriculture, in connec- 

 tion with one of which a higher normal section for the preparation of pro- 

 fessors and directors of schools of agriculture for women may be established, 

 the agricultural housewifei-y schools which may be fixed, temporarily fixed, 

 or temporarily traveling, and the course of continuation instruction in agri- 

 cultural housewifery given to girls over 12 years of age in the public rural 

 schools or in premises put at the dispixsal of the State. 



Report of the education branch for the years 1917-18 and 1918-19 (Jour. 

 Bil. Agr. [London^, 26 (1919), No. 3, pp. 279-300).— This report deals with the 

 grants made for the biennium ended March 31, 1919, for educational, advisory, 

 and research work, and with the progress made therein by the various institu- 

 tions and local education authorities during the academic biennium ended 

 September 30, 1918. 



The total attendance of. the institutions providing higher agricultural educa- 

 tion is reported as 570 in 1917-18, as against 387 in 1916-17. No regular courses 

 were given at the University of Leeds, and at Oxfoixl practically the whole 

 staff was absent on war work. At the 1916-17 session of the Harper Adams 

 Agricultural College, women students were admitted for the first time to the 

 full diploma and certificate cour.ses. The total attendance on special and short 

 courses in 1917-18 was 1.791, as compared with 897 in the previous year, the 



