860 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 574. 



methods of teaching agriculture, outlining 

 the future work of the committee and men- 

 tioning the proposed extension of the 

 studies in matters relating to agricultural 

 education in the Office of Experiment Sta- 

 tions, an appropriation for which has been 

 recommended to congress. 



The committee on graduate study re- 

 ported, through Professor L. H. Bailey, 

 that arrangements had been made for hold- 

 ing the second session of the school of grad- 

 uate study at the University of Illinois 

 during the coming summer. The associa- 

 tion took more definite action in fixing the 

 relations of this school, adopting it as a 

 regular part of its work and assuming re- 

 sponsibility for its maintenance and success. 

 Contributions from the various agricultural 

 colleges have been pledged toward the sup- 

 port of the school. 



There was considerable discussion of the 

 bills before the last congress providing in- 

 creased endowment for the agricultural ex- 

 periment stations and for the establishment 

 of mining schools, and the association in- 

 structed its executive committee to lend its 

 aid toward securing the passage of these 

 bills, and especially that providing addi- 

 tional funds for the experiment stations. 

 The committee was also instructed to secure 

 if possible the establishment of a depart- 

 ment of agricultural education in the Na- 

 tional Educational Association. 



SECTION ON COLLEGE WORK AND 

 ADMINISTRATION, 



The general theme for discussion before 

 this section was 'The Field and Functions 

 of the Land-Grant Colleges, ' which was con- 

 sidered under the heads — curriculum, dis- 

 cipline and environment. The program 

 included papers upon 'A Minimum General 

 Culture Requirement,' by President A. B. 

 Storms; 'Relative Amounts of Pure and 

 Applied Science,' by President J. M. 

 Hamilton; 'Courses in Agriculture, Horti- 



culture and Allied Subjects,' by Professor 

 F. W. Rane; "What is a 'Liberal and Prac- 

 tical Education' for an Engineer?" by Dr. 

 H. W. Tyler; 'A Degree Course in Home 

 Economics,' by President W. E. Stone; 

 'What Ought a Degree Course in Home 

 Economics to Include?' by President J. L. 

 Snyder; 'Student Control,' by President 

 W. 0. Thompson; and the relations of the 

 land-grant colleges to— (1) the state uni- 

 versities, by President W. J. Kerr, (2) the 

 normal schools, by President K. C. Bab- 

 cock, (3) the public schools, by Dr. A. C. 

 True, and (4) the farmers, by Professor 

 John Plamilton. 



Throughout the discussion in this section 

 there was apparent unanimity of opinion 

 that the land-grant colleges should offer 

 courses equal in educational value to those 

 of other institutions granting degrees, that 

 industrial subjects properly taught have a 

 high educational value, and that the college 

 courses should not be narrow or severely 

 technical. There was also recognition of 

 the fact that the function of the land-grant 

 college includes more than the conducting 

 of degree courses. These colleges should 

 lend their aid, through cooperation with 

 other established institutions and in other 

 ways, to the establishment and development 

 of efficient secondary and elementary 

 courses in agriculture and the mechanic 

 arts in the public schools or in special 

 schools, supplementing their four-year 

 courses with short courses and other forms 

 of extension work until the work of the 

 secondary and elementary schools is well 

 established. They should also continue, so 

 far as their resources will allow, the exten- 

 sion work intended to reach adult farmers 

 and others unable to attend school. 



SECTION ON EXPERIMENT STATION WORK. 



There were two main themes considered 

 by this section — a series of papers upon 

 'Soil Investigations,' and a general discus- 

 sion upon the subject 'How Much Dem.on- 



