10 Sept., 1918. J Agriculture in America. 555 



AGRICULTURE IX AMERICA. 



Letter from Mr. A. E. V. Richardson, M.A., B.Sc, Agricultural Superintendent 

 to the Director of Agriculture. 



Agricultural Education of College Grade. 



It seems to me that the agricultural work in the highest grade — 

 the university and college — has been organized in America very 

 thoroughly and completely. 



Canada has followed the American plan of organization for the 

 liighest grade of instruction, so also has South Africa and the South 

 American States. 



The essential features in this organization are — 



(1) Entrance requirements equivalent to four years' high school 



work ; age eighteen. 



(2) A four-years' eourse leading to the degree of B.S.A. or B.Sc. 



(3) N^o manual work in the university eourse, but farm experi- 



ence to be acquired during the long vacation on approved 

 private farms. Practical and laboratory instruction is 

 given in each technical subject throughout the entire 

 course. 



(4) This type of training is given for — ■ 



(a) The teachers of agriculture in the high schools and 



elementary schools. 

 (h) Agricultural specialists and extension workers. 



(c) Research workers in agriculture. 



(d) Farmers' sons. Half the graduates at the 



universities go straight back to the land. The 

 farmers now are sending their sons to the colleges 

 and universities in increasing numbers. Over 

 15,000 students attended the four-year course at 

 the universities in 1916. 



(5) The curriculum consists of four years of intensive study. 



An actual study of the curricula of 48 colleges of agricul- 

 ture in the United States shows that the student's time 

 during the four-years' course is taken up as follows : — ■ 



(1) Technical agricultural subjects — agronomy, 



animal husbandry, horticulture, dairying, 

 farm management, &c. . . . . 42 % 



(2) Pure and applied science — Agricultural 



chemistry, botany, physics, biology, &c. . . 38 % 



(3) Non-technical and general subjects and 



foreign language — English, mathematics, 

 civics, &c. . . . . . . . . 16 % 



(4) Military training and physical training — 



required by law under the provision of the 

 Agricultural Colleges Act . . . . 4 % 



(6) The colleges train for leadership in agriculture and rural 



life. 



Dr. Bailey, formerly Dean of the JSTew York State College of Agri- 

 •culture (Cornell University) says that the American ideal is to train 

 rural citizens. He declares emphatically that you must break ■ away 



