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whose members, individually and collectively, believe in dignifying farm practice with a definite and important place in the education of young men for agricultural pursuits.

In elementary schools giving instruction in agriculture there is also, as in the secondary schools, a definite movement away from formal classroom work based largely upon the textbook, toward a practical industrial course in which children actually perform some of the operations of the farm. In the 17 States where agriculture is required. by State law to be taught in all elementary schools, most of the work still consists of a study of what might be called agricultural nature study and of the study of elementary textbooks about agriculture and agricultural products. The development of the "agricultural club work," already mentioned above, has done and is doing much to change the method of teaching agriculture in the elementary schools, and as the work develops further and the proper relationship between it and the school is found, its influence will be much greater than at present. It is already an extensive movement. Information concerning its extent is contained later in this chapter. It has not yet reached its maximum influence on the instruction given in the school because, having been organized largely by other forces than the school authorities, it is carried on for the most part. as a thing outside of and distinct from the regular work of the school. Its success, however, as a method of teaching is so evident that club work is now coming to be made more definitely than ever before a part of the school work. Where formerly teachers aided in the organization of the clubs and then permitted the work of the clubs to be done outside of school, as a thing distinct from the school work and under the supervision of other authority, they are now organizing the clubs and making the club work take the place of required agricultural school work. They are also using it as much as possible as a basis for composition, essay, and arithmetic practice.

Another indication of the change in method of teaching agriculture in elementary schools is the growth of the movement for cultivating school grounds in a manner similar to that reported by the Bureau of Education in bulletin 1912, No. 28, "Cultivating School Grounds in Wake County, N. C." In brief, this plan includes the cultivation of land adjacent to the school building by the patrons of the school, together with the school children. The movement started as a scheme for raising additional funds for the maintenance of the school. The greater possibilities, however, were immediately seen, and as the movement has grown the motives have increased from mere desire to raise funds for school purposes to include others such as (1) the socializing effect of the community meetings at the schoolhouse to cultivate the crop, (2) the possibilities of demonstrating better methods of cultivation, (3) the increased dignity of agri

culture in the eyes of the children that has come from the cultivation of the soil by a community gathering, (4) and the direct instruction in agriculture given by the school, with the school garden as an immediate demonstration. School gardening, as the term is usually understood, has not been altogether a success in rural districts. When districts can not afford to hire a teacher during the summer months, difficulty is experienced in taking care of the garden during the summer vacation. Under this other plan the garden, being a community garden rather than a school garden, is taken care of during the summer months and the children are there with their parents to assist in the work. The result has been a very successful teaching of agriculture.

This plan was introduced in Wake County, N. C., six years ago. It has now spread to many other sections and from reports received by the bureau is followed in probably 40 different counties in many different States. In northern Alabama direct assistance in this work has been given by the agricultural and mechanical college for negroes located near the city of Huntsville. The agricultural department of this institution has selected 8 or 10 rural schools for negroes in the county in which the institution is located and has made a demonstration farm out of the school grounds at each school where the school land is large enough for such purposes or has secured adjacent land for the purpose. The word "farm" can hardly be applied to these demonstrations. Each consisted of the cultivation of a few of the more staple crops on from 1 to 10 acres of land by the school patrons and children under the direction of a representative of the institution.

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AT MEETINGS OF THE YEAR.

THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS.

The twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth annual meetings were both held at Washington, D. C., in November, 1913, and November, 1914, respectively. The main topic of discussion at both was "Agricultural extension teaching." In the 1914 meetings the States' relation committee of the United States Department of Agriculture, in whose hands rests the management of the extension work of the department, in cooperation with the State colleges of agriculture, as provided by the Smith-Lever Act of Congress, explained the general plans under which such work will be conducted. The new problems of administration raised by this Federal appropriation and the cooperative extension work were discussed in the college section by the committee on policy and organization.

Meeting with the agricultural-college association annually are many other agricultural associations. The week of the association.

meeting has become the gathering time for nearly all national organizations of persons whose work is connected with agricultural education or the advancement of agricultural sciences. The principal organizations in this group are the American Association for the Advancement of Agricultural Teaching, the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, American Farm Management Association, the American Society of Agronomy, the Association of Official Seed Analysts, and the Association of American Agricultural Chemists.

THE SUMMER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

The sixth session of the Graduate School of Agriculture was held at the University of Missouri, June 29 to July 24, 1914, under the auspices of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.

There were 29 instructors, besides special speakers, and the enrollment of students reached 150, representing about 30 States and Territories, besides Porto Rico, Canada, and Scotland.

The central feature of the 1914 session was a course in genetics, comprising 40 lectures and 12 seminars. This course was given in response to a demand that more instruction in at least one subject should be given at the graduate school.

As a whole the work of the 1914 session was more generally of a kind and grade appropriate to such a school, and the students were more generally such as could profit by graduate instruction.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL TEACHING.

This association continued to follow its previous custom of meeting at the same time and place as the Association of Agricultural Colleges; in fact, many of its most active members are professors of agricultural education in the State agricultural colleges. For these it is a decided advantage that the two meetings be held together. The question of affiliating this organization with the Association of Agricultural Colleges and making it a section of the larger association has been raised. The plan seems to meet the approval of many members of the Association for the Advancement of Agricultural Teaching, not only those whose work is in agricultural colleges, but others, including the State supervisors of agricultural education, employed by State departments of education, and agriculture teachers in secondary schools. The meetings of the association since its organization, in 1911, have been given largely to the discussion of two subjects-the preparation of teachers of agriculture for secondary schools and methods of teaching agriculture in such schools. Its investigation on the use of land has been already mentioned. The 1914 meeting consisted principally of a discussion of this investigation, together with further discussion of college

courses in agricultural education. The papers presented at the meetings in 1911, 1912, and 1913 have been published by the Bureau of Education in three separate bulletins:

Bulletin 1912, No. 6, Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools.
Bulletin 1913, No. 14, Agricultural Instruction in Secondary Schools.
Bulletin 1914, No. 27, Agricultural Teaching.

The proceedings for the 1914 meeting have not yet been published.

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION.

Considerable discussion on agricultural education has taken place during the past meetings of the National Education Association, particularly in the Department of Rural and Agricultural Education. Meeting with the Department of Superintendence annually for several years has been the National Committee on Agricultural Education. A movement has been started to unite these two bodies. into one. In the 1914 meetings the principal topic of discussion was teaching agriculture in secondary schools through the home project.

AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

The fiftieth annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association, which was held at the Hotel Astor, New York City, from September 1 to 5, marks an epoch in the history of veterinary medicine, a profession that is intimately interwoven with the art of agriculture. It is now more than 50 years since, on June 9, 1863, the first meeting was held at the Astor House by a small group of veterinarians for the purpose of forming the United States Veterinary Medical Association. Of this group of men the only one alive to-day is Dr. Alexander Liautard, now of Paris, one of the founders of the New York-American Veterinary College.

Some of the notable advances that the veterinary profession has achieved during the past half century were briefly referred to by Dr. John R. Mohler, of the United States Department of Agriculture, in his presidential address to the association. He said:

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The acquirement of knowledge in the domain of animal diseases during the last five decades has been constant and amazing and compares favorably with the progress in other branches of science which has attracted the admiration of the world. What a revolution in veterinary thought and practice has resulted can be appreciated only by comparing the textbooks of 25 years ago with those of the present day.

In the opinion of Dr. Mohler

No one factor has done more to elevate the standard of veterinary institutions in America than the investigation of their curricula and equipment by the Bureau of Animal Industry, in conjunction with the United States Civil Service Commission. While the primary object of such supervision was to make it possible for the Government to obtain men better educated and better qualified for its veterinary work, it nevertheless succeeded in raising the standard of veterinary education in the United States and enabled the students to obtain greater and better facilities for study.

The agricultural colleges and experiment stations have also been important factors in veterinary progress in this country. As early as 1868 courses were being given in the agricultural departments of the Illinois Industrial (now the State) University, and of Cornell University. A year later the Massachusetts Agricultural College included the subject in its curriculum. By 1877 veterinary science was also being taught in the agricultural colleges of Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Vermont, as well as in the Bussey Institution of Harvard University. This list of institutions has gradually been lengthened, and to-day 8 agricultural colleges are giving full courses in veterinary medicine leading to a degree, while 44 are offering lectures or other work, either as an integral part of their agricultural instruction or as a preparatory course for the further study of the subject.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

At a meeting of the council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. E. W. Allen, of the United States Office of Experiment Stations, was elected secretary of the new section M, on agriculture. The selection of a sectional committee for the section and also its representative on the council was intrusted to the vice president, Dr. L. H. Bailey, and the secretary of the section.

SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE.

The thirty-fourth annual meeting of the society was held at Washington, November 11, 1913. Two joint sessions were held with the American Society of Agronomy, which met at the same time.

The address of the president, Dean E. Davenport, was on the subsubject, "How will Extension Work React upon Research?" The effect of the present popularity of demonstration and extension work on the popular mind, on appropriating bodies, on students, and on the standards of work was traced. This effect was felt to be such that

We may well feel solicitous for both the college and the station, especially for the latter, which can not hope to compete either in spectacular show or in immediate promise with its younger but robustious brother, the extension service.

The responsibility was placed upon those in authority to "insist upon and to maintain at all cost a proper balance between real research and all other agencies for agricultural progress, however attractive, however expedient, however necessary." Agricultural education in Latin America was described by Clinton D. Smith, who recently served as director of the agricultural school at Piracicaba, Brazil. He gave accounts of the various agricultural schools in Brazil, and also in Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and Chile.

73226°- -ED 1914-VOL 1-20

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