10 BULLETIN 269, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
aged by women's unions, and 17 by private individuals and others. The whole 
maintenance cost amounted to $146,520. 
Germany. — The West German Agricultural Board, after a tour of inspection 
of the rural itinerant home economics schools of the region under its jurisdic- 
tion, reports * that the instruction given by these schools is confined very largely 
to needlework and to cooking, and that instruction even in elementary agricul- 
ture is given to only a very limited extent. The board deprecates this situation 
and points out the necessity for teaching agriculture to at least a limited extent 
in the housekeeping schools, emphasizing the fact that this is particularly neces- 
sary in the flat sections of west Germany, where the farms are usually small 
and the wives and daughters have charge of the stable, yard, and garden, as 
well as the housekeeping, and where an income can be assured only when all of 
the farm work is done with expert knowledge. The board therefore holds that 
ibe housekeeping courses will be more useful if the needlework is limited to 
unending, darning, and repairing, and to the making of simple linen articles, and 
the time thus saved devoted to instruction in some of the simpler farm opera- 
tions. Another argument in favor of such agricultural instruction is that it 
might tend to create a different attitude toward farm life among the young 
women of the region who at present show very little interest in agriculture and 
prefer to marry those engaged in other occupations. 
The insufficient agricultural instruction is thought to be due in many cases 
to lack of knowledge of farm life and farm work on the part of the teachers in 
tbe schools. It was also found "that the teachers were frequently unfamiliar 
with the household and farming conditions of those taking the courses. It is 
stated that the plan of giving agricultural instruction in the home economics 
schools as recommended by the board has been approved by the minister of 
agriculture and appropriations will be granted to these schools only on condi- 
tion that this plan is followed. 
Belgium. — Movable housekeeping schools were established in Belgium 2 in 
1S90, in which year 13 of these schools were started. Over 6.000 girls have re- 
ceived diplomas in these schools since their organization. The primary design of 
the school was to elevate the national dairy industry and to teach better methods 
of utilizing milk and of making butter and cheese. The length of the session 
is four months, and the schools are moved two or three times a year from 
one community to another. Courses are now offered in agronomy, zoology, 
dairying, cheese making, domestic economy, and bookkeeping. 
A movable school is established at the request of the community or an 
agricultural association. The budget of the school amounts to about $500 for 
a session of four months. This sum is borne by the State, the Province, and 
the agricultural societies. The instruction is given without expense to the 
students. 
The instruction is theoretical and practical. The courses are conducted 
s:x days a week. Two hours are devoted to theory and three to practical work. 
All the pupils are day scholars. The maximum number of pupils admitted to the 
school does not exceed 20. To be admitted to the school, girls must be 15 years 
of age, must have had good primary instruction, as shown by a certificate, and 
must be physically able to do the work. 
The teaching personnel is composed of a principal, who has charge of the 
courses in agronomy ; he also attends to the organization of the school. Two 
female teachers living at the school have charge of the courses in domestic econ- 
omy, dairying, cheese making, and bookkeeping, and they direct the practical 
a Ztschr. Landw. Kammer Schlesien, IS (1914), No. S, p. 343. 
-Jiev. Gen. Agron., n. ser., 9 (1914), Xo. 2, p. S4. 
