192 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



The financial and statistical reports of the colleges receiving appro- 

 priations under the act of August 30, 1890, which in accordance with 

 the law are regularly forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture, have, 

 as hitherto, been deposited in this Office. On the basis of these 

 reports and replies to special circulars of inquiry, this Office has pub- 

 lished statistics relating to the agricultural colleges for the year ended 

 June 30, 1900. Reports for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1901, have 

 now been received. 



SECONDARY AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 



One of the most hopeful signs to those interested in agricultural 

 education is the effort on the part of the faculties of agricultural col- 

 leges and of others charged with the education of our youth toward 

 the development and support of secondary agricultural schools and 

 the introduction of nature study and elementary agriculture into the 

 rural schools. Alabama continues to support nine Congressional dis- 

 trict agricultural high schools, Avhich annually accommodate about 

 2,000 pupils at a cost to the State of $22,500. Minnesota has for a 

 number of years supported a successful secondary school of agri- 

 culture in connection with the State university, and the legislature of 

 1901 appropriated $2,000 a year for two years for the introduction of 

 agriculture into the rural schools. The University of Nebraska has 

 recently inaugurated a similar school of agriculture with a three-year 

 course. A recent law in Wisconsin provides for the establishment of 

 county agricultural high schools. In Missouri increased attention is 

 being given to carrying out the provisions of the law requiring agri- 

 cultural instruction in rural schools, and to prepare teachers for this 

 work departments of agriculture have been established in the three 

 normal schools of that State, located at Cape Girardeau, Kirksville, 

 and Warrensburg. Through the efforts of the committee for the pro- 

 motion of agriculture of New York a school of practical agriculture 

 and horticulture has been put into successful operation at Briar Cliff 

 Manor, N. Y. ^ 



In many States the problem of improving the rural schools is caus- 

 ing general discussion, and there seems to be a marked tendency 

 toward concentration, that is, the elimination of small schools and 

 the establishment of centralized schools, often with free transporta- 

 tion for pupils living at a distance from the schoolhouse. This move- 

 ment has in several cases resulted in the establishment of rural high 

 schools, with the township or the county as a unit. Reports coming 

 from sections where centralization has been tried show for these 

 schools better supervision, better teaching, better buildings and other 

 facilities for instruction, better health and morals on the part of the 

 pupils, more regular attendance, a longer continuance of the large 

 boys and girls in school, and considerably enriched courses of study. 

 These courses of study at the present tima are in the formative state; 

 they are merely outlined, or, at most, in the first years of experimental 

 development. Means for improving them are eagerly sought and 

 thoughtful suggestions receive careful consideration. 



The time seems favorable, therefore, for the Department . to take a 

 more active part in encouraging the introduction of nature study and 

 elementary agriculture into the curricula of rural schools, with the 

 idea of developing the natural tendencies of the pupils to observe and 

 take an interest in the natural phenomena surrounding them, and of 

 fostering in them a love for the country and its pursuits. Such 

 encouragement may be given by cooperating with departments of 



