7 4 'J EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



ill tlir pnietical schools of aj^riculturc, Init the work is naturall}' more 

 cliMiiciiturv. In such of the o-minniur schocjls as include courses in 

 a<;-riculture some consideration is oiven to divisions of the land, socie- 

 ties and meetings, large, medium, and small farms, methods of farm 

 inanaiicmcnt. agricultural credit, agricidtural institutions and organi- 

 zations, and the distribution of agricultural products. 



In some of the Belgian agricultural institutions social, political, and 

 rural economy were formerly taught as one subject, but at present 

 iMiral economy is considered as a separate branch. At the Agricul- 

 tuial Institute at Gembloux lectures on rural economy are given dur- 

 ing the third year of the college course, and include consideration of 

 factors instrumental in agricultural production, the soil, capital, labor, 

 elements necessar}^ or favorable to production, plant production, ani- 

 mal production, and agricultural technology. The lectures are sup- 

 plemented by practicums devoted to exercises in estimating land 

 values, capital required for running expenses, quantities of feed con- 

 sumed, management of the farm, and labor requirements. 



In the agricultural institutions of Great Britain some attention is 

 given to courses in rural economj", but these are far from uniform. 

 In man}" cases the courses are nothing more than lectures on farm 

 management. However, some attention is given to the consideration 

 of broader subjects, such as the food supply of the United Kingdom, 

 foreign competition, efl'ects of appreciation of gold and depreciation 

 of silver, and the laws of landed estates. 



In Austria courses in rural econom}^ are preceded by courses in 

 civil government, political economy, political economy applied to 

 agricultural statistics, and labor and social reform. The subject of 

 rural econoui}' is taught in the course in agronomy and includes the 

 consideration of such factors of agricultural production as the soil, 

 capital, labor, methods of management, organization of an agricultural 

 estate, and taxation. 



The Royal Agricultural High School in Berlin teaches rural economy 

 by means of lectures in the class room and b}^ deliberations and dis- 

 cussions in the economic seminar. This seminar was organized in 

 1889, and has grown steadily in its influence and numerical strength, 

 its membership comprising both undergraduate and graduate students, 

 as Avell as persons making special investigations in political econoni}-, 

 philosophy, history, and other subjects. Each student is required to 

 write a dissertation on some subject, usually of his own choice, and to 

 lecture on the same before the seminar, after which the subject is 

 thoroughly discussed by the other members. This work is supple- 

 mented by excursions to institutions possessing economic, social, and 

 political interest. 



