28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



The Agricultural College and Other Educational 



Institutions. 



Up to the opening of the war the college had enjoyed a par- 

 ticularly prosperous year, with a full enrollment of students, the 

 use of new buildings and an adequate teaching staff. At the 

 outbreak of hostilities, however, the student body was so re- 

 duced and the teaching staff so broken up that but little work 

 was attempted during the spring months, and the reopening in 

 the fall was delayed over four weeks. The activities of the 

 institution have not ceased, as many of the staff and stu- 

 dents have been engaged in public work and in various lines 

 of agriculture, while many of them have joined various branches 

 of the army and are now rendering splendid service to their 

 country. 



The extension service has had a most active year, and the 

 demands upon their force, due largely to the increase in war 

 gardens, have been almost impossible to meet. 



There has been added to the college for a forestry demonstra- 

 tion and experiment station a large tract of land on Mount 

 Toby, which is certainly one of the beauty spots of the State 

 and well worthy of development. This tract of land offers a 

 splendid opportunity for stud}^ and experimentation in forestry, 

 and the college is indeed fortunate in being able to secure it. 



Since our last report on the relationship between the Board 

 and the college little has been accomplished, for while a working 

 arrangement was agreed upon, the practice of this agreement 

 has not been carried out. The whole question has, however, 

 been placed before the committee to investigate the Agri- 

 cultural College, and we may hope for some settlement of the 

 matter from them. It is interesting in this connection to note 

 that this same question is a live one in nearly all of the States, 

 to such a degree that practically the same working plan as was 

 suggested in Massachusetts was adopted by the Association of 

 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations at Washington, 

 November 15, 1917, after a meeting of the executive committee 

 of the Association of Commissioners and Secretaries of Agri- 

 culture with the executive committee of the Association of 

 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. 



