MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 
131 
The limit of this paper precludes a detailed intelligible description of the 
sundry mechanism doing this work well and championed by enthusiastic 
friends or interested promoters. Those interested may obtain this informa- 
tion by further inquiry. 
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL GRADE. 
BY PROF. SAMUEL B. GREEN, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, ST. 
ANTHONY PARK, MINN. 
The subject as announced confines my paper to the discussion of Horticul- 
tural Schools of the High School grade, but on further consideration, I have 
decided to present to you the general subject of agricultural schools of the 
high school grade under which heading I can bring out the ideas which I 
had intended to mention regarding horticultural schools in. particular. 
The object of this society is to encourage the growing and improvement of 
fruits and in no way can it do so more effectively than by giving some atten- 
tion to the subject of agricultural education in its broadest sense. The 
membership list of this society is full of the names of high-minded men of past 
and present times who have given much thought to this subject and whose 
acts have been among the foremost factors in moulding public opinion in 
regard to it. 
My special object in presenting this paper is to oppose what I believe is 
pernicious doctrine and widely prevalent, namely, that it is not desirable to 
give horticultural or agricultural educa tion to students of the high school 
grade, but that it should be largely confined to those of the college grade. 
For nearly twelve years I have taught in the Minnesota School of Agriculture, 
which is an institution that has grown in that time from a mere “nothing” 
to the position of first in importance among agricultural schools in this 
country; from a doubtful experiment to a permanent establishment and 
from a position where it was despised by the horticulturists and agricultur- 
ists it has became the most popular state institution in Minnesota. This 
school is unique in its plan and I believe its inception marks the beginning 
of a special epoch in agricultural education in this country, in which horti- 
cultural and agricultural education will be put on a more helpful basis than 
at present. 
Permit me to call your attention to a brief outline of its progress which 
may be taken as an index of what similar schools may do for horticulture. 
The most of you are aware of the failures and successes of agricultural edu- 
cation in this country. How, that on the receipt of the land-grant from the 
national government, some of the states, having no faith in the possibilities of 
agricultural education, belittled their course in agriculture, so that it is now 
of little importance. Others have courses that were laid out by those who 
were not sufficiently, in touch with the tillers of the soil to understand their 
needs, which has resulted in a course of study poorly adapted to its purpose. 
And in other states the standard of entrance to the agricultural college has 
been put so high as to make it out of reach of those who would have most 
profited by it. 
In these ways agricultural education in this country has been kept away 
from the mass of our farmers and horticulturists. Within the last few years, 
however, a strong demand has led to the establishment of short lecture 
