In 1908 these schools had substantial buildings, and their plants were valued at from $8,500 to $59,000. Five schools had from 40 to 55 acres of land, three had 80 acres, and one 163 acres. Outside of the State appropriation of $4,500, their income was from $1,757 to $6,755. Their enrollment of students was from 91 to 282 and aggregated 1,364. They graduated that year from 6 to 23 students each, a total of 86. The experimental work carried on by these schools was necessarily simple and largely demonstrational, consisting chiefly of variety and fertilizer tests, rotation of crops, and methods of cultivation.

These schools have continued operation on a comparatively modest scale. In 1919 their designation was changed by the legislature to the "State secondary agricultural schools of Alabama," and they were permitted to qualify for the teaching of vocational agriculture under the terms of the Smith-Hughes Act.

EARLY WORK OF THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS RELATING TO SECONDARY EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE

In 1893 the Office of Experiment Stations in the United States Department of Agriculture began to take a definite interest in agricultural education below the collegiate grade, as is shown by the report of the director of the office for that year and the year 1894.

In an article on popular education for the farmer in the Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture for 1897 (450), after calling attention to the secondary schools of agriculture in Minnesota and Alabama, and commending the establishment of such schools, the Director of the Office of Experiment Stations said:

But it is not believed that these special agricultural high schools will fully meet the needs of our farmers for agricultural instruction of this grade. Any school so distant from the farmer's home as to necessitate long journeys and residence at the school for two or more years must necessarily be too expensive for most of the farmers' children, especially after they have reached an age when their services may be more or less utilized on the farm. What is needed is courses in agriculture in numerous schools to which farmers' children resort, near their home, to "finish" their education after they are through with the common schools.

The Office of Experiment Stations then undertook an active propaganda in different parts of the country for the introduction of agriculture into the secondary schools, through its publications, addresses at educational and farmers' meetings, correspondence and conferences with educators and others interested in this matter, and by cooperation with the Association of Agricultural Colleges, particularly through its committee on instruction in agriculture. In 1901 D. J. Crosby, a graduate of and instructor in the Michigan Agricultural College, was added to the staff of the Office of Experiment Stations as a special assistant to the director in work relating to agricultural education. The more favorable economic conditions of agriculture, the rapidly increasing attendance at the agricultural colleges, the great growth of the farmers' institutes, and other causes helped to promote the movement for secondary education in agriculture, and it made great advances during the first decade of the twentieth century.

DEVELOPMENT OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE WITHOUT FEDERAL ENDOWMENT, 1900-1916

After 1900 the movement for secondary education in agriculture developed rapidly and broadly. It was promoted by Federal, State, county, and local agencies. Secondary instruction in agriculture was introduced into public and private colleges and schools of various kinds. Much of the work done by the agencies and institutions. interested in this movement was necessarily tentative and experimental. An attempt has been made in the following pages to summarize the leading features of this movement and the early work of typical institutions.

NATIONAL AGENCIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS

The Office of Experiment Stations in 1902 began to publish a section on the progress of secondary education in agriculture in its annual report, and this was continued for 10 years. In September, 1905, a department of agricultural education was established in the Experiment Station Record. Much information regarding the progress of secondary education in agriculture in this and other countries was collected by this office and published in its reports or in the Experiment Station Record. The appropriation act for the Department of Agriculture passed in 1903, for the first time gave the office specific authority for its work relating to farmers' institutes by providing $5,000 to be used

to investigate and report upon the organization and progress of farmers' institutes in the several States and Territories and upon similar organizations in foreign countries, with special suggestions of plans and methods for making such organizations more effective for the dissemination of the results of the work of the Department of Agriculture and the agricultural experiment stations, and of improved methods of agricultural practice.

This item was amended in 1906 by inserting the words "and agricultural schools" after "farmers' institutes." The appropriation was not increased until 1908, when it was made $10,000.

Among the special publications of the Office of Experiment Stations on secondary education during the next 10 years were those on the American system of agricultural education, a secondary course in agronomy and in animal husbandry, training courses for teachers of agriculture, simple exercises illustrating some applications of chemistry to agriculture, community work in the rural high school, and home projects in secondary agriculture.

The work of the Office of Experiment Stations as a clearing house of information and advice regarding the courses, personnel, equipment, illustrative material, and literature for secondary instruction in agriculture greatly increased. Representatives of that office were active in meetings of the National Education Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Agricultural Teaching, summer schools for teachers, and other educational meetings and in holding personal conferences with school officers and teachers at schools in different States.

Cooperation with the Association of Agricultural Colleges on matters relating to secondary education, mainly through its committee on instruction in agriculture, continued to be a feature of the work of the office. Up to 1910 the proceedings of this association were published as bulletins of this office.

THE ASSOCIATION OF AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS

As the movement for secondary instruction in agriculture progressed the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations took an increasing interest in this subject, and its various phases were discussed at the annual conventions of the association.

In 1902 the report of the committee on instruction in agriculture contained a section on secondary courses in agriculture. The committee commended the definite organization of schools of agriculture within the colleges as emphasizing the desirability of distinguishing between collegiate and secondary instruction in agriculture.

It was believed that the special agricultural high schools in Alabama, Wisconsin, and California would, if successful, result in the establishment of similar schools throughout the Union, which would probably be under State rather than local control. But, in addition, "the teaching of agriculture should be introduced into the public high schools in or near the rural communities" (499).

As a practical measure it is believed that such courses may be added to those already existing in many high schools by the addition of a single teacher, who should be an agricultural college graduate, to the teaching force already supplied. The expense of maintaining this teacher and his equipment may properly be shared by the State, the village, or city maintaining the high school and the country districts from which the pupils from the farms are drawn to this school. The State may properly aid this movement by offering a stated sum annually to high schools maintaining agricultural courses (499).

At this time, where the teaching of agriculture in the public schools was advocated, there was insistent demand, especially from school officials, that it should be definitely shown how this could be done without disrupting existing school programs. The committee therefore undertook to show this by examples drawn to illustrate what might be done in the smaller high schools in Indiana, in the medium-sized cities of Lowell, Mass., and Des Moines, Iowa, and in the large city of Washington, D. C. Five periods a week of agriculture during four years were substituted in the Indiana course for Latin in the first two years and the elective offered in the third and fourth years. It was suggested that the work of such schools might be carried on by three teachers, one of whom should be an agricultural college graduate and might teach chemistry, botany, and zoology as well as agriculture. He might also act as principal. In the larger schools in the cities mentioned it was shown that agriculture might be introduced as an elective, to be added to the considerable number of electives already offered in these schools.

At the meeting of the association in 1905 the chairman of this committee read a paper on the relations of the agricultural colleges to the public schools. He said that the colleges should study the programs of the public schools, come into close touch with their officers and teachers, provide courses of instruction which would be attractive

to school officers and teachers, and by summer schools or otherwise seek to bring such persons into direct contact with the system of education represented in these colleges.

Elementary and secondary courses in agriculture and mechanic arts in the public schools were advocated to direct students to the land-grant colleges and prepare them to enter courses in these insti

tutions.

In 1907 the committee's syllabus of a secondary course in agronomy was published as Circular 77 of the Office of Experiment Stations. At the meeting of the association in 1909 the chairman of the committee read a paper in which he reviewed the status of agricultural education in secondary schools and suggested ways in which such instruction could be developed in harmony with the existing educational systems of the United States. His conclusions were as follows: Agriculture, including horticulture and forestry, should be a regular part of public secondary education; second, the unity of our educational system should be maintained, but there should be sufficient elasticity of curriculum to meet the various needs of our people; third, the standard of the curriculum of secondary schools having agricultural courses should conform in a general way to those adopted for the general school system of the State; fourth, the standard agricultural courses, whether in the ordinary high schools or in special schools, should not be narrowly vocational, but should aim to fit the pupils for life as progressive, broad-minded, and intelligent men and women, citizens and home makers, as well as farmers and horticulturists (439).

Some disapproval of separate agricultural schools was expressed in the discussion of this paper, but the importance of such schools as finishing or vocational schools and as a means of training teachers of agriculture for the elementary schools was also brought out. The general views expressed in the paper were indorsed by formal vote of the convention, and its separate publication was requested. (See Office of Experiment Stations Circular 91.) Later in this meeting a paper was read by E. A. Burnett, dean of the Nebraska College of Agriculture, on "The Function of the Land-Grant College in Promoting Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools," in which he favored the establishment of a limited number of agricultural schools in connection with existing high schools favorably situated for serving a large country constituency. Dean Davenport, of Illinois, stated his belief that vocational agriculture should be put "within walking or riding distance" of every farm boy by creating agricultural departments in the high schools.

In 1910 the association discussed the correlation of secondary and short courses with the 4-year college course in agriculture. This discussion was introduced by a paper by D. J. Crosby, of the Office of Experiment Stations, in which he urged that in connection with secondary courses opportunities should be afforded to capable students to enter the regular college courses. He also advocated supervised home projects during the long vacation for students in schools having a 6-months term. W. M. Hays advocated secondary schools at all the agricultural colleges to aid in preparing teachers for the lower schools.

In 1911 the new committee on college organization and policy in its first report advocated the inclusion of secondary instruction by the colleges in a department of agricultural extension, but this was strongly opposed. After a long discussion of measures for Federal

aid for education pending in Congress the association declared in favor of such aid for public schools of secondary grade providing education in agriculture, home economics, trades and industries, and manual training. This action was reaffirmed the following year.

In 1912 the committee on instruction in agriculture reported on the work of the agricultural colleges in training teachers of agriculture for secondary schools. An account was given of this work in the several States, and the existing situation was summed up as follows (499):

From the best available sources of information it appears that 40 of the agricultural colleges for white students are offering courses designed to train high school teachers of agriculture. In some cases little more than an elective or two in psychology and pedagogy is offered; in others there are summer schools; in others definitely outlined teacher-training courses, and for the most approved instruction in education, supplemented by practice teaching under expert supervision.

The committee recommended that students preparing to teach agriculture should be well grounded in the general principles of agriculture and should have not less than 20 semester hours of professional training, including special methods of teaching agriculture and practice teaching. Special provision should be made for teachers in service in secondary schools to acquire a knowledge of the science and practice of agriculture.

In 1916 this committee made a study of the relations of the agricultural colleges to the high schools in which agriculture was taught, with special reference to the problem of entrance or college credit for secondary agricultural courses. A report was made on the basis of information received from 2,200 high schools (535).

It appeared that 97 per cent of these schools were teaching agriculture and that 92 per cent of the agricultural colleges were offering entrance credit of from one-half to 4 units in this subject. But only one college was allowing credits for graduation for high-school agriculture and no colleges were making class sections for students who had studied agriculture in high school. The committee recommended that the colleges should train teachers of agriculture for the high schools, assist in developing suitable courses, textbooks, manuals, and equipment for high-school agriculture, and cooperate with the State departments of education in supervising high-school agriculture.

THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION

The Bureau of Education has promoted the teaching of agriculture in the secondary schools by the collection and publication of statistics and other information regarding such work in this country and abroad. For a number of years it has had specialists in rural or agricultural education who have given special attention to this matter and have aided the movement through participation in educational meetings in different parts of the country, as well as by the preparation of publications. Among the bureau's publications relating to agriculture in the secondary schools are the following: Bulletin No. 1, 1908, The Training of Persons to Teach Agriculture, by L. H. Bailey; No. 6, 1912, Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools; No. 2, 1913, Training courses for Rural Teachers, by A. C. Monahan and R. H. Wright; No. 6, 1913, Agricultural Instruction in High