November 27, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



761 



leges. This is already overburdened by the 

 rapid increase in the number of students. 

 Under existing conditions this increase vcill 

 grovsr larger at an accelerating rate, for the 

 people are just beginning to realize the value 

 of an agricultural education. It is very im- 

 portant that the colleges should seriously con- 

 sider the situation confronting their teaching 

 departments vcith a view to adjusting them 

 to the new demands. For it is clear that the 

 agricultural colleges must soon reach a deci- 

 sion as to what grades of teaching they will 

 undertake and what they will leave to other 

 agencies to i)erform. It is clearly their duty 

 to provide thorough and ample courses of 

 study for those who are to become investi- 

 gators, teachers in secondary and collegiate 

 institutions, extension workers, federal and 

 state officials, managers of large enterprises 

 directly or indirectly connected with agricul- 

 ture, and those farmers who are desirous of 

 thorough college training as a preparation for 

 following the art of agriculture. 



On the higher and more technical side of 

 agricultural education greater attention is 

 urgently needed to develop strong collegiate 

 courses with ample specialization for various 

 purposes and graduate instruction of the best 

 type. On the other hand the flood of short 

 courses which has so rapidly increased in 

 amount and variety in recent years must be 

 stemmed and plans must be definitely made 

 for diverting this into channels outside the 

 college. No doubt these courses have served 

 a very useful purpose but the situation with 

 regard to them is wholly difl^erent from what 

 it was at their inception or even a few years 

 back. Agricultural education is now a great 

 universal demand and will be much more gen- 

 erally sought when the extension system is 

 well under way. Much more must be done, 

 and done as quickly as possible, to provide 

 schools in the local communities which can 

 take care of the great mass of students who 

 desire only elementary and fragmentary in- 

 struction in agriculture. Well-trained and 

 experienced teachers, capable of giving thor- 

 ough collegiate and graduate instruction, are 

 not so numerous that we can afford to use up 



their time and energy in giving superficial in- 

 struction to great classes of a hundred or more 

 miscellaneous students at short winter courses 

 or in summer schools. Where are we to get 

 the great agricultural scholars who are to lead 

 and inspire our college students if we do not 

 give such men the time and opportunity to 

 keep up-to-date in their specialties, to read, 

 think, investigate and travel as college pro- 

 fessors ought to? One broad effect of the 

 new developments in the general college organi- 

 zation should therefore be a clearer differen- 

 tiation of the collegiate teaching body and a 

 systematic arrangement under which the prob- 

 lems of strictly collegiate and graduate teach- 

 ing shall receive the attention which they de- 

 serve. Obviously many things are now being 

 done in the regular college courses in agricul- 

 ture which should be turned over to the 

 secondary schools and other things which 

 should be relegated to the extension divisions. 

 There is plenty of opportunity for a better 

 pedagogical standard, better laboratory and 

 field exercises and equipment, more satisfac- 

 tory text-books, manuals and illustrative mate- 

 rial for work in the higher ranges of agricul- 

 tural instruction. 



Not only is there need for more attention to 

 the perfecting of the collegiate courses of in- 

 struction for the general body of agricultural 

 students, but special attention should be given 

 to courses for the training of teachers for the 

 regular work of the colleges, for extension 

 work, and for secondary schools. As regards 

 extension work this need is now very urgent. 

 The demand for secondary teachers of agri- 

 culture is also growing apace. The constantly 

 broadening interest in vocational education is 

 sure to bring a far greater demand on the 

 land-grant colleges for the training of teachers, 

 not only in agriculture, but also in the trades 

 and home economics. The National Com- 

 mission on Vocational Education made the 

 following reference to this subject in its recent 

 report to Congress. H. E. Doc. 1004, 63d 

 Congress, 2d session, p. 43. 



We can not rightly undertake a program of 

 practical education in this country and carry it 

 through successfully without teachers properly 



