EDITORIAL. 741 



material which has been put into pedagogical form, tho«c interested in 

 the development of courses in rural economy in our agricultural col- 

 leges will await the appearance of reports from President Butterlield 

 and his collaborators with interest. 



In European countries much more attention has been giv'en to the 

 formulation of courses in rui'al econoni}' than in the United States. 

 According to a somewhat detailed outline of the subject as taught in a 

 number of the principal countries of Europe, which is included in a 

 review of progress in agricidtural education in the forthcoming report 

 of this Office, some of the agricultural institutions of Germany have 

 been conducting such courses for thirty or more years, and practically 

 all of the agricultural fnstitutions of France, from the Institute 

 Nationale Agronomique down to the grammar schools, give attention 

 to rural economics. 



In the higher agricultural schools of France the lectures on rural 

 economy include the elements of political economy, i-ural economy, 

 and agricultural legislation. Political economy as taught in this 

 course comprises a consideration of the production, circulation, dis- 

 tribution, and consumption of wealth. Rural economy includes the 

 study of the character and history of the subject, as preliminary to a 

 more detailed consideration of the production, circulation, distribu- 

 tion, and consumption of agricultural wealth, and of credit and agri- 

 cultural accounts. The lectures on rural legislation present a study 

 of civil, administrative, and commercial laws, together with other 

 legislation of agricultural interest. The class work is supplemented 

 by excursions to different estates for the purpose of inspecting and 

 studying their management. 



Prof. Etienne Jouzier, of the National School of Agriculture at 

 Rennes, has recently contributed to the Encyclopedie Agricole a text- 

 book on Economic Rurale, which constitutes one of the first pedagog- 

 ical treatises on this subject that has come to our attention. After 

 giving consideration to the place that rural econoni}^ should occupy 

 among agricultural sciences and defining the sul)ject, Prof essor Jouzier 

 takes up the consideration of social environment or external factors, 

 such as population, the State, associations, charitable institutions, and 

 exports. This is followed by chapters on elements of production, or 

 internal factors, including capital, labor, and land, and on credit, veg- 

 etable production, animal production, and cultural methods. Finally 

 a few pages are devoted to comparative economics and the organiza- 

 tion and management of an enterprise. 



This little volume is especially valuable because it embodies the expe- 

 rience which has been had in teaching this subject abroad, and particu- 

 larly in France where it has been brought into pedagogical form. 



The outline followed in the higher institutions of France serves also 



