758 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1039 



broad and rapid development of extension, 

 work is relatively so recent and as yet so in- 

 complete that there has been little realization 

 of its ultimate far-reaching effects. Un- 

 doubtedly it is too early for us to see very 

 clearly what these will actually be and unin- 

 spired prophecy is always " a shot in the dark." 

 On the other hand when we are laying the 

 lines for a great and permanent enterprise it 

 will not do for us to consider merely past ex- 

 perience and the pressing needs of the present. 

 Whither are we going and what will be the 

 goal of our efforts are reasonable questions 

 and incomplete ansvs^ers are better than none. 

 So far extension work ia this country has 

 been very largely an incidental function of 

 the agricultural colleges and the department. 

 I do not mean by this that it has been carried 

 on in a small way. Large amounts of infor- 

 mation collected by these institutions have 

 been broadly disseminated through the printed 

 page and by itinerant lectures. In recent 

 years demonstration work and the activities 

 of the county agricultural agents have assumed 

 considerable prominence, but have been looked 

 upon as in an experimental stage. In the 

 main the colleges and the department have 

 done extension work with funds under their 

 immediate control and with agents sent out 

 from the central headquarters. Now we have 

 an Act of Congress permanently providing for 

 " cooperative agricultural extension work," to 

 be supported not only with federal- and state 

 funds, but also with contributions from coun- 

 ties, local authorities and individuals. The 

 plan of organization already generally adopted 

 involves the appointment of county agricul- 

 tural agents as one of its leading features. 

 Carried to its logical conclusion this means 

 that the colleges and department will before 

 long have a definite existence as educating 

 agencies in practically every county of the 

 United States. Through organization of the 

 farm men and women into small groups they 

 may ultimately have classes in agriculture and 

 home economics in every school district. This 

 is an educational organization radically differ- 

 ent from that followed in the public school 

 system of the United States where local initia- 



tive and control have largely obtained, state 

 supervision has been very largely of a general 

 character, and federal supervision has been 

 entirely lacking. The agricultural college is 

 to be changed from an institution having a 

 strictly local habitat with comparatively 

 limited powers for the diffusion of knowledge 

 to a widely diffused institution dealing edu- 

 cationally with multitudes of people at their 

 own homes. And it is to carry with it wher- 

 ever it goes the national Department of Agri- 

 culture not only as a provider of funds but as 

 an active coadjutor in its educational opera- 

 tions. And this education is to be not merely 

 the giving out of information to be absorbed 

 by the students but rather the training in- 

 volved in active participation in the demon- 

 stration and discussion of practical affairs, 

 which will constitute a large share of the ex- 

 tension instruction. Moreover this instruc- 

 tion will deal with matters which are of vital 

 and immediate importance to the students 

 since they will affect their incomes, daily 

 practises, and community interests. 



The character of the atmosphere and work 

 of every educational institution is powerfully 

 affected by the character and aims of its stu- 

 dents. There is therefore no doubt that the 

 reaction of the great masses of extension stu- 

 dents on the agricultural colleges and the de- 

 partment will be a very important factor in 

 their future development. This will manifest 

 itself in various ways. The real problems of 

 the farming people, for example, will be 

 brought out much more definitely and clearly 

 than heretofore and these will be pressed home 

 upon the research workers in the stations and 

 the department. The young people brought up 

 in communities where the extension service 

 has been well organized and effective will be 

 much better prepared to enter the agricultural 

 schools and colleges, but they will also not be 

 satisfied with much of the instruction as now 

 given in our agricutural colleges. The atti- 

 tude of the farming people toward the col- 

 leges and the department will be broader and 

 more sympathetic but it will also be more 

 intelligently critical. 



The results of the investigations of the de- 



