NOTES. 723 



The importance of school garden work is also emphasized. At the present time 72 

 boys are taking the work in agricultural science and 40 teachers are pursuing the 

 training courses. 



Training Oklahoma Teachers for Elementary Agriculture. —Tin- Southwestern State 

 Normal School of Oklahoma, at Weatherford, has recently established a department 

 of agriculture and physiography, which is inchargeof E. E. Balcomb. It has begun 

 publishing a Teachers' Bulletin on Agriculture and School Improvement, which is 

 sent free to teachers and others interested in such work. The December and Janu- 

 ary numbers of this bulletin contain suggestions for teaching agriculture, taking up 

 in some detail Mich matters as seed testing, grafting, and budding, and gi\ iir_r direc- 

 tions for organizing local branches of the School and Home [mprovement League. 



Agriculture in Public High Schools. -The Sac City, fowa, 1 1 1 j_r 1 i School has intro- 

 duced an agricultural course w Inch has an enrollment of 56 pupils. The Higginsville, 

 lio., High School lias a class of 38 boys and girls studying elementary agriculture. 



Simmons College Domestic Science Department. — Simmon- College, Boston, according 

 to a note in the February Everyday Housekeeping, lias recently taken over the prop- 

 erty and management of the Boston Cooking Scl I, and has established a regular 



four-year course in domestic science and a one-year course tor those who do not wish 

 to devote more time to this study. Cooking, sewing, marketing, elementary chem- 

 istry, bacteriology, nutrition, and other subjects will he included in the curriculum. 



Philippine Bureau of Forestry. — The Philippine Reorganization Act. which has 

 been approved by the governor-general, provides that the chief <>i the bureau of 

 forestry shall hereafter lie known as the director of forestry. The position of ass i-t- 

 ant chief and the division of forest inspection are abolished, the work of the forest 

 inspection being transferred to the bureau of internal revenue. This transfer will 

 permit of the foresters in the different districts devoting their entire time to the 

 sylviculture study of the forests, the location of area- best suited for the commer- 

 cial exploitation of timher and minor forest products, and the inspection of logging 

 operations of various licensees. A recent order provides that for a period of ."> years 

 the residents of the islands shall he allowed to utilize, free of charge and without 

 license, forest products for personal use. trees of the first group excepted. Timber 

 cut for sale will hi' paid for a- heretofore. 



At present there are S American trained foresters and assistant foresters in the 

 islands, and others are expected early in L906. 



Scientific Commission to Study Rural Hydraulics.— A recent report of the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to the President of France, reviewed in Journal d' Agriculture Pratique, 

 recommends that the commission for scientific studies he increased from L6 to 24, in 

 on let- to carry out the order of last March, directing the study <»f surface and under- 

 ground waters. He recommends that the work should not he limited, as hitherto, 

 to the problems of irrigation and drainage, hut should include detailed studies of 

 rainfall, runoff, and watersheds, in their relation to water power, and special atten- 

 tion should he given to underground supplies for towns. In the latter connection he 

 says: "Without hoping to discover precise mathematical laws for such complex 

 phenomena, we may still hope that after collecting a large mass of reliable data, they 

 may be so grouped and coordinated as to furnish a fair guide to engineers engaged in 

 developing underground water-." 



A New Testing Station for Farm Machinery. --The machine-testing commission of 

 Hanover, Germany, has decide.! to enlarge its sphere of activity to include a per- 

 manent toting station, which is to be in charge of Prof. Alwin Nachtweh. Thenew 

 station will be located in the city of Hanover. 



International Windmill Convention. --According to an item in Journal <T Agriculture 

 Pratique, the Secretary of Agriculture of Franc- has called together that part of the 

 commission for scientific study which is employed in investigating wind power for 

 irrigation and other pumping. M. Angot of the interior meteorological office has 



