342 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 531. 



der the auspices of the association, and ree- 

 oniniended tliat the school be held in future 

 every two years, beginning, if possible, with 

 the coming summer. The committee was 

 empowered to aiTange for the holding of 

 such schools, and each agricultural college 

 was requested to make an annual contribu- 

 tion of $25 to aid in their maintenance. 



The committee on uniform fertilizer and 

 feeding stuff laws submitted a brief re- 

 port, through its chairman. Dr. II. J. 

 Wheeler, which dealt in part with the ques- 

 tion of nomenclature in reporting the re- 

 sults of analysis: this matter was subse- 

 quently referred to a special conunittee, to 

 cooperate with a similar committee of the 

 Association of Official Agricultural Chem- 

 ists. 



The conunittee on rural engineering re- 

 ported, through Dr. ^Y. E. Stone, the 

 progress which has been made during the 

 year in developing courses in agricultural 

 engineering and farm mechanics at the 

 land-grant colleges, and enumerated some 

 of the benefits of instruction and investi- 

 gation carried on by these departments. 

 The need of a central agency in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture was emphasized, to aid 

 these new departments of the colleges, to 

 carry on original research, and to establish 

 laboratories for practical tests of imple- 

 ments, etc. 



The committee on animal and plant 

 breeding, through Professor W. Hays, 

 reviewed the activity in research along 

 these lines, and described the formation of 

 the American Breeders' Association. 



Resolutions paying an eloquent tribute 

 to the late Major Henry E. Alvord, a 

 former president and member of the execu- 

 tive committee of the association, were pre- 

 sented by President James K. Patterson, of 

 Kentucky. These recorded the high esteem 

 and affection in which Ma.jor Alvord was 

 held by the association, and testified to his 

 eminent services to agriculture in the 



various public and private capacities in 

 which he served. 



'The Social Phase of Agricultural Edu- 

 cation' was discussed in a paper by Presi- 

 dent Kenyon L. Butterfield, of Rhode 

 Island. He laid down the broad proposi- 

 tion that the agricultural college should 

 serve as a social agency in helping to solve 

 all phases of the rural problem, and pointed 

 out that this was not merely a matter of 

 technic, but a problem of economic, polit- 

 ical and social significance. The present 

 courses of study at the agricultural colleges 

 were shown to deal almost exclusively with 

 the technical phase, and the training of 

 the individual to become a highly special- 

 ized expert. The introduction of rural 

 economics and the spirit which it stands 

 for was stated to be far more than the 

 adding of two or three subjects of study 

 to the agricultural course, but involved the 

 socializing of the whole spirit and method 

 of the college. The greatest need of Amer- 

 ican agriculture to-day was declared to be 

 social leadership. It was argued that the 

 college should assume this leadership and 

 should train men and women for the serv- 

 ice. A great enlargement of extension 

 work among the farmers was advocated in 

 order to teach the people who can not come 

 to the college. 



An address was delivered by Director 

 William Saunders, of the Central Experi- 

 mental Farm at Ottawa, Canada, on 'The 

 Upbuilding of Agriculture. ' This reviewed 

 the development of agricultural education 

 and experimentation in the United States 

 and in Canada, and noted many of the 

 material results of the experimental work 

 in Canada and British Columbia, especially 

 in the introduction and improvement of 

 cereals by selection and breeding. 



SECTION OK COLLEGE WORK AND .\DJ1INIS- 

 TRATION. 



The program of this section included 



