EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XV. December, 1903. No. 4. 



The report of the Secretary of Agriculture should prove an inter- 

 esting document to all who are concerned, even in a general way, with 

 the progress of agriculture in the fields of both investigation and edu- 

 cation. It gives nioi'e attention to matters relating to agricultural 

 education and the training of specialists than any previous report. The 

 opening paragraph deals with the Department as a training ground or 

 post-graduate institution for experts and specialists. The supply of 

 these men fitted to the Department's special lines of work has not been 

 equal to the demand, and has necessitated training them in its labora- 

 tories and ofiices. Since 1S9T, 496 students have been admitted to the 

 Department for instruction as experts, 249 of whom have remained in 

 its service and 18.5 gone elsewhere to teach, to experiment, or to demon- 

 strate in private enterprises what they have learned. 



This educational work has increased from ye?Li to year, and ma}" 

 now be said to form a feature of no little importance. The Depart- 

 ment is concerning itself with practically every phase of agricultural 

 instruction, from the assistance of the farmers by demonstration tests, 

 popular bulletins and correspondence, the promotion of farmers' insti- 

 tutes, and the development of agricultural courses for various classes 

 of institutions, to the post-graduate training of specialists. 



The Weather Bureau ofiicials have taken an actiA^e part in education 

 along meteorological lines at colleges, universities, and schools, and 

 the Secretary announces that the new meteorological laboratory at 

 Mount Weather, Bluemont, Va., which is to be very completely 

 equipped for scientific research in pro])lems pertaining to weather 

 phenomena, will provide facilities for a school of instruction in 

 advanced meteorology. 



The movement in the direction of improving and strengthening the 

 courses of instruction at the agricultural colleges, and the accompany- 

 ing increas(> in the number of students pursuing agricultural courses 

 is commented upon, and reference is made to the d(>velopments in sec- 

 ondary and elementary schools of agriculture, and to the growth of 

 interest in popular agricultural instruction. 



317 



