News and Notes 



Where Agriculture may be Studied. Nineteen States now 

 require that an examination in agriculture be passed before a 

 teacher may obtain his certificate, according to the bulletin (No. 7) 

 just issued by the Department of Agriculture entitled, ''Agri- 

 cultural Training Courses for Employed Teachers." This is an 

 indication of the impetus that has recently been given to agri- 

 cultural education all over the country. In the two years ending 

 March, 191 2, the number of institutions giving courses in agri- 

 culture increased at a rate of more than 76 a month, and the 

 total number grew from 863 to 2575. 



Now that 19 States require, by law, the teaching of agriculture 

 in the common schools, the demand for teachers of the subject 

 is constantly growing. Normal schools, therefore, are introduc- 

 ing courses of agriculture, and many agricultural colleges are 

 offering special lines of work to raeet this demand. Still, there 

 are hardly enough teachers for the secondary schools and the 

 special schools of agriculture. It has been the object of the Office 

 of Experiment Stations to discover, by investigation, just how 

 teachers already employed may acquire the training required to 

 enable them to teach the elementary phases of agriculture. 



Without doubt the most popular, as well as the most efficient 

 means of giving this training is the summer course offered by a 

 college or normal school. The instruction is usually of a. high 

 class, and adequate equipment and apparatus for laboratory 

 and field work are usually available. 



There are also special short courses in agriculture oft'ered hi 

 some institutions during the regular school session, usually the 

 spring term. For instance, the Agricultural and Mechanical 

 College of North Carolina, holds a special "May School" for teach- 

 ers, at which agriculture is taught. Afternoon, evening and 

 Saturday classes in agriculture during the regular school year are 

 offered at Columbia University, in New York City. 



The study of agriculture by correspondence has grown rapidly 

 in favor during the last few years. The expense incident to a 

 correspondence course is usually small; but this method has its 

 disadvantage, as there is considerable danger of the students 

 getting incorrect ideas on the more complex questions which 



