8 A,GRiTjLTURE, AND EOME ECONOMICS IN UNITED STATES. 



and colored faces. The States have liberally supported the land-grant 

 institutions, and at present the Federal funds constitute only a small 

 part of their current revenues. 



In 1839 the Federal Government, through the Patent Office, began 

 the collection and distribution of seeds .of economic plants. This was 

 soon supplemented by studies and publications on agricultural subjects. 

 In 1862 a Department of Agriculture was established, and in 1889 this 

 became a department of Cabinet rank, having at its head a Secretary of 

 Agriculture. Scientific research related to agriculture has been greatly 

 developed in this department, particularly since the beginning of the 

 present century, and it is now the greatest organization for this purpose 

 in the world. Research in the field of home economics has also been 

 carried on in this department since 1894. 



The first agricultural experiment "station was established in Con- 

 necticut in 1875. Other States very soon followed this example. 



In 1887 Congress passed the Hatch Act for the maintenance in all. 

 the States of agricultural experiment stations, which, with few excep- 

 tions, are departments of the agricultural colleges. This was supple- 

 mented in 1906 by the Adams Act. Under these acts each State receives 

 $30,000 annually. The stations also receive State and other funds 

 greatly in excess of the Federal funds. 



In 1914 Congress passed the Smith-Lever Agricultural Extension 

 Act, which provides for extension work in agriculture and home eco- 

 nomics to be carried on by the State agricultural colleges in coopera- 

 tion with the United States Department of Agriculture. The act grants 

 to the United States considerable amounts of Federal funds which are 

 to be mainly offset by funds from sources within the States. 



Meanwhile the teaching of agriculture had spread from the colleges 

 to many secondary schools and a considerable number of elementary 

 schools. 



During the second half of the nineteenth century the teaching of 

 cooking and sewing was introduced into many elementary schools. 

 Broader courses in these and other subjects in the field of home eco- 

 nomics were given in the secondary schools. The teaching of home 

 economics was, however, chiefly confined to city schools but has recently 

 spread to a considerable number of rural schools. To supply teachers 

 of home economics, a number of State and private colleges and normal 

 schools undertook to give courses in which the teaching of household 

 practices was combined with instruction in the natural sciences and 

 their application to household arts and family life. 



The instruction in agriculture and home economics in schools and 

 colleges is a part of a broader movement for education relating definitely 

 to the various vocations pursued in modern communities. Technical and 

 vocational schools and courses have greatly multiplied in recent years. 



