ferences both classes of workers have their opinions and experiences broadened.

Institutes in the United States are carried on under all conceivable auspices; most commonly, however, by the state commissioners, the state boards of agriculture, or the agricultural colleges. In some states there is an independent organization with a secretary of institutes in charge. Some states make special appropriations for institutes, others merely allow a limited amount of the funds appropriated for the board of agriculture or college to be used for this purpose. Institutes are held usually during the winter or after the crops are "laid by" in midsummer, when the farmer has most time to spare, and continue in session from one to three or four days. The programs are arranged to promote the interchange of ideas between the farmers and the scientists, every effort being made to draw out a full and free discussion of the topics introduced by the addresses or papers of specialists. The best plan is to secure the assistance of an equal number of scientific experts and experimental farmers, the latter being selected, as far as possible, from the district where the institute is held. A local committee arranges for halls, music, literary and general exercises. The people of the community are usually attracted in large numbers, especially at the evening sessions when more popular subjects are discussed. Subjects connected with good roads, public education, and the interests of the home and farm are also discussed frequently. Those connected with sectarian religion or partisan politics should be carefully excluded, but almost any other topic of interest to the local community may properly find its place on the program of a farmers' institute. In states where institutes have been carefully planned and systematically conducted by competent persons they have become exceedingly popular, with the result that large appropriations are being made for them each year. Something like the farmers' institute is now held in almost all the states in the Union.

Closely related to the farmers' institute are the various

other methods of agricultural college extension work, such as co-operative field experiments, correspondence courses in agricultural sciences, reading circles for farmers, and itinerant agricultural schools. Co-operative field experiments were inaugurated soon after the establishment of the colleges for agriculture. The college or station makes plans and supplies the fertilizers or gives prescriptions for the same, with full directions as to methods of carrying out the experiments. The farmers report upon blanks prepared for the purpose, and the different results are compared and published. A great deal of good has been accomplished in this way, especially in educating farmers as to the proper method of using chemical manures. Similar methods have been used in testing seeds of field and garden crops, and in testing insecticide and fungicide materials and methods. Such co-operative experiments have done much to promote the study of scientific agriculture in the states, and especially to develop habits of observation among the younger farmers, who are always the ones to take hold of this work.

Instruction by correspondence and by courses of home reading in agriculture have been well developed under the direction of the State college of Pennsylvania. The main features of the plan are, "first, a carefully prepared course of reading designed to cover the most important branches of agricultural science and practice; second, a reduction of the price upon the books needed; third, personal advice and assistance through correspondence; fourth, examinations upon the subjects read, with certificates and diplomas for those attaining a certain grade of excellence." "This course has attracted great attention at home and received numerous applications from farmer students, many of whom have done excellent work, completed the prescribed courses, and received certificates." The courses have now been extended to include five subjects, with five books in each one; namely, crop production, animal production, horticulture, dairying, and domestic economy. A supplemental list of fifteen books is suggested from which students may select reading matter

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to form additional courses if they desire. The full course consists of the thorough study of ten books, followed by an examination. Lessons are provided from the various books, and sent the students free of cost, in the form of printed slips. They give suggestions for study, observation and experiment, with references to the books recommended. Each lesson is accompanied by an examination paper covering the particular subject. The students are expected to file answers to all these questions and discuss them before they receive the second lesson.

The itinerant agricultural school, a still later scheme, has been best developed in the state of New York, under the so-called Nixon bill, "for the purpose of horticultural experiments, investigation, instruction, and information in New York." This bill placed the sum of $35,000 under the control of the college of agriculture at Cornell university for the two years 1899-1900, and has enabled it to inaugurate a number of most interesting and promising experiments in promotion of agricultural knowledge, especially of nature study in the common schools. The itinerant agricultural school is one only of the plans now being tested by this institution. The meetings of these schools last two or more days, at which time certain instructors take up definite lines of instruction, giving by far the greater part of their attention to underlying principles and not to mere facts or methods.

AGRICULTURE IN THE COMMON SCHOOLS

From the earliest time it has been the idea of the friends of agricultural education that instruction in this subject should be given in the common schools. The subject has been presented to the legislatures of many of the states, and by some it has been required to be taught. For evident reasons, this instruction has, until comparatively recently, amounted to very little. Any real instruction in agriculture must be based upon a knowledge of chemistry, geology, and the physiology of plants and animals. Such a knowledge cannot be given to young children, and the old-fashioned

school teacher trained to study books and not things, could give no instruction in nature or science. The whole system of education had to be revolutionized to prepare the way for the study of agriculture in the schools. Since the introduction of the natural method great progress has been made. Agricultural colleges have trained the professors, who in normal schools have taught the teachers, who in turn have introduced the new methods in the common schools. This is the only way to promote the study of agriculture among country people who never get to college. The study of nature and of agriculture in the rural and village schools is, as we shall see, one of the latest developments in education in this country.

The following description of the Cornell attempt to introduce nature teaching into the rural schools is condensed from the article on "Popular education for the farmer" by A. C. True, Ph. D., director of the Office of experiment stations, in the Year-book of the Department of agriculture for 1897. p. 284 et seq.

"It was conceived that the fundamental difficulty with our agricultural condition was that there was no attempt to instruct the children in matters which will awaken an interest in country life, and therefore that the place in which to begin to correct the agricultural status was with the children and the rural schools. For the purpose of determining what should be done, many rural and village schools were visited during the past year and simple lessons were given on natural objects. The result was that all the instructors were impressed with the readiness with which the children imbibed the information, their keen desire for it and appreciation of it, and the almost universal interest which teachers took in this kind of work. It was clear that the greatest good which could be rendered to the agricultural communities was to awaken an interest in nature study on the part of teachers and children. In order to facilitate teaching in this direction, leaflets were issued to show teachers how nature study should be presented to the pupils, and these have been

received with the greatest enthusiasm by educators and many others who have examined them.

"The outgrowth of this work with the schools is that it seems certain that the best way in which to reach the pupils and the teachers is by short and sharp observations upon plants, insects and other natural objects, and not by means of definite lectures of stated lengths.

"Instruction by means of correspondence has been an outgrowth of the last year. There were about 1,600 readers upon the lists at the close of the first three months. It is the plan in this reading course to set the farmers to reading upon certain definite subjects, and then to make them think upon those subjects by periodical questioning. Some months ago the college of agriculture had enrolled under the head of 'university extension work' 15,000 pupils and 10,000 teachers of the public schools and 1,600 young farmers. The pupils and farmers receive guidance by means of printed circulars, and the farmers report progress and difficulties upon special blanks which are furnished. Six instructors are employed throughout the state in conducting university extension work, and special teachers are employed from time to time as occasion requires. These instructors meet the teachers of the public schools in the presence of their pupils and at teachers' associations and institutes for the purpose of illustrating methods for teaching nature studies directly related to agriculture. The leaflets furnished serve as texts for subjects taught. The result of pushing this educational motive into the rural communities has been a most decided waking up of those communities, which, even if the work were to stop at the present time, will continue to exert an influence for a generation and more.

"All this work has been experimental-an attempt to discover the best methods of teaching the people in agricul

The promoters of this movement believe that the most efficient means of elevating the ideals and practice of the rural communities are as follows, in approximately the order of fundamental importance: (1) The establishment