16 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Jan., 1919. 



linen. Emphasis is laid on the importance of a proper system of 

 keeping household accounts. Each girl becomos in turn hostess, cook, 

 waitress, maid, and laundress of the cottage. 



A feature of the course is the efforts made to reduce drudgery in the 

 farm home to a minimum by the use of various types of labour-saving 

 devices, and by the wise planning of the kitchen and kitchen equipment. 

 The number of students taking courses in home economics range from 

 300 to 1,000, according to the size of the college and the number of its 

 rural population. 



It is related that the President of the Cornell University, when a 

 school of home economics was first mooted, protested on the ground that 

 it would mean that cooks would have to be admitted to faculty meetings. 

 But to-day the president is one of the strongest supporters of home 

 economics. 



The old idea that anybody can farm and that anybody can cook and 

 manage a home has well nigh disappeared, and with it the idea that 

 farming means ploughing only, and that the activities of the home are 

 fully represented by the making of hot scones. 



The schools of home economics have dignified labour by sending 

 forth from their halls not merely cooks, but educated women who, 

 because of their knowledge and skill in the practices and principles of 

 the arts of the home, are able to use them as a means of expression 

 for their best endeavours. 



The Americans believe that for the young man who takes up farm- 

 ing an agricultural education is especially necessary. He faces more 

 ■difficult problems than any preceding generation of farmers. He must 

 go on to land many times more valuable than his father first occupied, 

 and at the same time this land has lost much of its fertility. He must 

 fight against more destructive insect and fungus pests and animal 

 diseases than any farmer preceding him. He faces new problems in 

 management and marketing. He must face these problems not only 

 with experience, but with science as his ally, and intelligence broadened 

 by the best education. 



In addition to the 53 colleges, agriculture is being taught in 4,000 

 high schools and 100,000 elementary schools. America began her agri- 

 cultural instruction in the colleges and universities. "When a supply of 

 highly-trained teachers of agriculture was available, agricultural edii- 

 catio7i was extended to the high schools. Then, v/hon the elementary 

 teachers had received a training in agriculture, the subject was brought 

 into the elementary schools. 



Investigational Wokk — The Experimental Station. 



Agricultural investigation and research work is regarded both in 

 the United States and Canada as a necessary and vital part of any 

 system of agricultural education, and must form the basis for framing 

 a sound policy for future agricultural development. 



The American Experiment Stations were founded by the Federal 

 Government in response to a desire for aid in solving problems in 

 American agriculture, and to perfect methods of improving agricultural 

 practice. There are 60 of these experiment stations, and the average 

 expenditure on each is £18,400 per annum. 



