AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS IN UNITED STATES. 13 



comparative effects on crops of different kinds; the adaptation and value of grasses and 

 forage plants; the composition and digestibility of the different kinds of food for domes- 

 tic animals; the scientific and economic questions involved in the production of butter 

 and cheese; and such other researches or experiments bearing directly on the agricul- 

 tural industry of the United States as may in each case be deemed advisable, having 

 due regard to the varying conditions and needs of the respective States and Territories. 



Under the Adams Act, which grants $15,000 to each State, the work 

 must be confined to original research. The funds provided under this 

 act are therefore used for the more fundamental scientific work of the 

 stations. For a considerable period the work of the stations was chiefly 

 on problems relating to plant and animal production. In recent years 

 increasing attention has been given to studies connected with cost of pro- 

 duction, marketing, standardization of products, and other economic 

 problems. 



In addition to their experimental work, many of the stations have 

 carried on analytical and other work connected with State control of 

 fertilizers, food, feeding stuffs, seeds, diseases of plants and animals, etc. 

 The present tendency is to lodge such work more fully in the State de- 

 partments of agriculture. 



The headquarters of the stations are as a rule at the agricultural col- 

 leges, where the more important work in laboratories, greenhouses, barns, 

 and fields is carried on. There are, however, many special investigations 

 and experiments in different localities, including a considerable number of 

 experiments in cooperation with farmers. 



The results of the station work are disseminated through annual re- 

 ports and popular and scientific bulletins, which are transmitted in the 

 mails free of charge for postage. In 1921 the stations issued 400 publi- 

 cations and their mailing lists aggregated 1,000,000 addresses. Summa- 

 ries of these publications and other information regarding the stations are 

 also widely circulated through the agricultural and other journals. 

 Station officers, State and county extension agents, and cooperating 

 farmers give information and demonstrations to large numbers of farm- 

 ing people at meetings, through correspondence, telephone messages, 

 visits to farms, and in other ways. 



HIGHER EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 



The institutions for higher education in agriculture are of two types: 

 (i) Colleges of agriculture in universities, and (2) separate colleges in 

 which instruction in agriculture is combined with instruction in mechanic 

 arts, home economics, and a variety of other subjects. The courses in 

 agriculture in these two, types of institutions do not vary materially. 

 Their number and range depend chiefly on the income, equipment, and 

 size of the agricultural faculty. College courses in agriculture are given 

 chiefly in the public land-grant colleges and universities, but a number of 

 private institutions also offer such courses. 



