132 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
medium of the Department for the dissemination and publication of sta- 
tistics, papers or other data is through the annual Iowa Year Book of 
Agriculture. As can readily be seen, much of the material contained in 
the Year Books is published out of season, and, in some instances, 
a year after it should be given to the public. 
If the publication of bulletins is authorized by the next general as- 
sembly the time for printing the Year Book could be changed from an- 
nually to biennially, and the number of copies to be printed increased 
to five thousand, or more, if necessary. The saving in the cost of 
printing the Year Book would go a long way toward paying for the 
printing of the special bulletins. 
STATISTICS ON FARM CROPS AND LIVE STOCK. 
I would suggest a change and addition in the present statute with 
reference to the collection of agricultural statistics. As the law now 
stands, the assessors are required in each odd-numbered year to record 
statistics as to the acreage of certain farm crops for the preceding year. 
Such reports are now made to the secretary of state for publication in 
the official register. The law should be amended, first, to include in 
addition to farm crops, statistics on live stock and such other informa- 
tion as may be obtained relative to agriculture, agricultural production, 
acreage, and agricultural labor within each township, same to be col- 
lected annually and reported to the office of the Department of Agri- 
culture upon blanks to be furnished by the secretary of the State Board 
of Agriculture. We believe the proper channel for the disseminating 
of all agricultural statistics should be through the State Department 
of Agriculture. This is in conformity to similar methods followed in 
other states, and is a step in the right direction for making the work 
and reports of the various departments of agriculture in the various 
states more uniform. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
The work of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and 
Experiment Stations and American Association of Farmers' Institute 
Workers in their effort to perfect a better organization of extension 
teaching in agriculture is to be commended. At the meeting at Baton 
Rouge, Louisiana, in November, 1906, the committee from the agricul- 
tural colleges and experiment stations made the following recommen- 
dation: "(1) That each college represented in this association organize as 
soon as practicable a department of extension teaching in agriculture, 
co-ordinate with the other departments or divisions of agricultural work, 
with a competent director in charge, and if possible, with a corps of men 
at his disposal * * *. (2) If in case of any agricultural college this 
step is at present impracticable, we would recommend most strongly that 
the college appoint a faculty committee on extension teaching in agri- 
culture." 
We are pleased to report that the first session of the Iowa legis- 
lature following this meeting a bill was enacted providing for agri- 
