The Republican journal., 1909-10-21
Training of Farmers.
,.s in America. Great Results of
..t;onal Work in Last Five Years.

ress in America. Great Results of
s.cational Work in Last Five Years.
u ]. Crosby, specialist in agricul-
Fn nducation in the U. S. Department
,sriculture, has just concluded his
!. ~ If the advance of agricultural edu-
y in the United States in the last
~ 81 Years. He is convinced that no
~ has ever made such progress, and
report to the Secretary of Agricul-
he says:
he progress made in agricultural
..tjon in the United States during
.asr eleven years as a result of popu-
ismand, stimulated by the work of
Stq,e agricultural colleges and ex-
lent stations of this department, is
in the history of the world.
H. when the present administration
h Iepartment began, all but one of
farl grant colleges were in running
- and doing excellent work, but their
income was only $1,000, 900; today
rs. 00O, 900. The property of these
tntjons was then valued at $51, 000,-
now IT is s1O6, 900, 900. Then there
.sss than four thousand students in
.Jturtl courses; now there are over
taqr thousand. Ninety of the grad
!. al these courses in 1907 accepted
ra0s in the agricultural colleges and
.rment stations, or in this depart
, AT salaries ranging from $500 to
n and averaging $94S.66. 1t is
". by presidents Of the agricultural
colleges that of late the
Ha,as of agricultural courses find
msr4tve employment much more
IN man the graduates from engi-
me- courses.
hi ne most rapid progress has been
he field of secondary and ele-
r eiucation in agriculture. In
T-aosota had the only State agri-
High school, and Alabama had
r. provision for the last Of its
lct agricultural schools. The
mz Of agriculture in the public
,rry schools was scarcely thought
Il Y there are fifteen agricultural
nools of the Minnesota type and
rrher agricultural High schools re-
ne state aid, sixteen privately en-
ii r5leges and High schools giving
1.uJn in agriculture, lis State and
nv normal schools preparing young
,s TO teach agriculture, and, on our
over two hundred and fifty public
srvate High schools and academies
ne some instruction in agriculture.
Re- are sixteen institutions offering
sspoadence and reading courses in
.a.ture, and twenty six private or
al eIementary agricultural schools.
NE National Education Association
rganized a department of rural and
cultural education, and has stand
0rmittee Investigating the desira-
+ and feasibility of teaching agricul-
IN rural schools. The constitution
h. new State of Oklahoma requires
ssching of agriculture in all its pub
sa5ols, and the Legislature of the
, has provided for four State normal
his. with departments of agriculture,
al agricuItural High school in each
Ella district of the State. The Legis-
.e of Virginia has appropriated $780,
tr instruction in agriculture, home
grirs and mechanic arts in ten dis
zglieultural High schools, and Mich
aa1 Mississippi have made provisions
gynty agricultural High schools.
& thirteen States the teaching OF
1rlre in the rural schools is now
l-sa by law. 1t is encouraged by
= and county school officers, and
tit IN some of the rural schools of
~-one other States and Territories.
v-four States and outlying posses
4: then, are making some effort to
their youth the underlying princi-
d our greatest productive industry.
PARTLY as a result of this remarkable
nth of sentiment in favor of second
and elementary instruction in agri-
u7 in public schools, and partly in
.1s7 to the stimulus given by the
a1 amendment allowing the land
{. colleges to devote a part of their
sas=d federal aid to the special prep
-7 # instructors for teaching the
e1ts of agriculture and the mechanic
about half of these institutions
r. training courses for teachers of
lure, ranging from summer courses
& lev weeks to regular four-year
S-s. With additional graduate work.
lais apartment has aided materially
noting the rapid development of
olJral education in the different
+, and Territories. In this work the
@tment has been represented prl-
q. nv the office of experiment sta
: but all of the other bureaus and
.a1s have aided in the work through
and through active CO.
ar17 with the educational agencies
1. itferent States and Territories.
-5s Weather Bureau is endeavoring
I'll In graduating the superstitions
.aaare prevailing with regard to the
tcer, and with this object in view en-
1g.ag its officials to give popular lee
Is and when practicable to offer sys-
a.lc courses of instruction. During
at YEAR numerous courses for the
-l IF High schools have been given,
r-guIar courses of instruction at
colleges and other collegiate
lmtlons have been offered in Califor-
Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Mis-
New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
mont Washington and Wisconsin.
Popular instruction has also been
Il al expositions by means of exhib-
md lectures, and the Department of
cation of the State of New York has
Nuced as a part of its visual educa-
scheme popular lecture on meteo-
1T prepared by J. R. Weeks of Bing-
lion, N. Y. This lecture, with the
slides, is loaned for repe-
n before any school or academy. The
ather Bureau has also given attention
ag the year to the improvement of
Jterature of meteorology for students
ayestigators, through the transla
Of special technical articles on the
lsnics of the atmosphere, the re-
% If the Smithsonian meteorological
es, the application of the handbook
a5oratory experiments and the sup
l1ting of a collection of problems
I I q IL r