310 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and conduct of the proposed examinations, and for the courses of lectures and prac- 

 tical instruction to be required of candidates for the diploma. 



Elementary Agricultural Education. — The Nebraska Farmer for October 19 is the 

 annual agricultural school number. Jt contains an article on Nebraska's Western 

 Experimental Substation, a History of the Nebraska School of Agriculture, short 

 articles and notes concerning features of agricultural instruction in Missouri, South 

 Dakota, Iowa, and New York, an article on Agriculture in the Public Schools, 

 by E. C. Bishop, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, and one on The 

 Growth, Development, and Future of Agricultural Education in America, by Chan- 

 cellor E. Benjamin Andrews. 



The author of the latter article in tracing the development of agricultural education 

 in America gives credit to the experiment stations for the first real progress in this 

 direction, in that the investigations conducted by the stations " furnished what was 

 originally lacking— data for instruction in agriculture and the subjects relating 

 thereto." He estimates that the greatest result to be accomplished by the colleges 

 of agriculture is likely to be the creation of a" demand that farmer boys and girls 

 shall not only have the training which the schools afford, but shall have in addition 

 to that a college training in agriculture. ' ' 



The Nebraska State Department of Public Instruction, in cooperation with the 

 college and school of agriculture, is making an active campaign for the extension of 

 agriculture to the public schools. As a feature of this work the department has 

 announced a State meeting, December 14 and 15, of the boys engaged during the past 

 year in a corn-growing contest, in connection with which there will be a girls' corn- 

 cooking contest. At the time of this meeting it is proposed to organize the Nebraska. 

 Boys' Agricultural Association and the Nebraska Girls' Domestic Science Association. 

 Each of these organizations will have branch county organizations, subordinate to 

 which will be school district organizations. A leaflet recently issued by the depart- 

 ment of public instruction gives suggestions for the organization of these different 

 subordinate associations. 



In the Waterford (Pa.) High School, 29 boys and 6 girls out of a total enrollment 

 of 80 are' taking the agricultural course. Elementary agriculture is now starting on 

 its second year in the high school and is very popular. An excellent feature of the 

 work is the laboratory work in plant life and agricultural chemistry, and outdoor 

 w r ork in judging cattle, horses, sheep, and swine on nearby farms. 



A winter school of agriculture is announced by the Essex Education Committee, 

 to be held at the County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford, England, from Novem- 

 ber 20 to December 23, 1905, and from January 8 to February 3, 1906. The first 

 course will be devoted to the soil and its cultivation and tillage crops, and the sec- 

 ond course to fodder crops and farm stock. There will also be instruction in chem- 

 istry, physics, botany, and zoology, accompanied by practical laboratory work. 



Market-day lectures are announced as another feature of educational work at the 

 laboratories for 1905-6. These are Friday afternoon lectures, and are free for farmers 

 and others interested in agriculture. Seventeen such lectures were given in the 

 autumn and winter of 1904-5, and abstracts of the lectures were subsequently pub- 

 lished for general distribution. Some idea of the character of these lectures can be 

 gleaned from the following titles: Manuring of market-garden crops, marketing of 

 farm produce, agricultural cooperation, hints on the management of a flock, improve- 

 ment of pastures, plant breeding, poultry keeping, varieties of soils, cultivation of 

 maize, and taints in milk. 



Promotion of Agriculture in Porto Rico. — Press reports state that the establishment 

 of a bureau of agriculture for Porto Rico is in contemplation. The University of 

 Porto Rico, at Rio Piedras, near San Juan, has a 100-acre farm which the trustees 

 propose to use for illustrating improved methods and for giving students practical 

 training in agriculture. There is now a class of 28 such students. The present herd 



