326 STATE AID 



The administration of these funds represents a chain of three 

 links as follows: Local School State Board Federal Board for 

 Vocational Education. 



This form of administration leaves initiative with the local 

 school and the State Board. 



Money is appropriated for three kinds of education, namely, 

 agriculture, home economics, trades and industries. 



The Federal appropriation for agriculture under this act is 

 as follows : 



(a) For salaries of teachers, supervisors, and directors of agri- 

 cultural subjects: 



1917-18 $548,000 

 Increases annually to 1925-26 

 1925-26, and after $3,027,000 



(6) For training teachers, a portion of which shall be used for 

 the training of teachers, supervisors, and directors of agriculture: 



1917-18 $546,000 

 Increases annually to 1920-21 

 1920-21, and after $1,090,000 



Other Forms of Aid. In addition to the federal aid through the 

 Department of Agriculture and through the five acts named 

 above, there are other forms of aid, more or less direct, which 

 should be mentioned. They are the Federal-aid Road Act, which 

 means more good roads for the farmers; the Farm Loan Act, which 

 means to the borrowing farmer a system of cheap money based 

 on first mortgages on the farmer's land; the International Institute 

 of Agriculture at Rome, furnishing basic information on agricul- 

 tural questions, a share of the expense of which is borne by the 

 United States. 



Success of State Aid. State aid of a purely educational nature 

 has proved an unmixed blessing to the farmer. State aid in the 

 form of a direct cash bounty or subsidy has failed to achieve 

 success. State aid in organizing farmers into groups for collective 

 action, particularly marketing associations, has been attended by 

 both success and failure. The danger in state aid of this kind is 

 that it may be overdone, especially when in charge of an enthusiast, 

 since farmers are quite easily led to form organizations. This is 

 particularly true when little or no capital is involved. How- 

 ever, more and more experience is being gained in this field 

 by the state agencies interested, and after the experimenting is 

 done, doubtless much sound state aid can be given to farmers in the 



