the Rhine Province from 244 to 293; in the Hohenzollern province from 51 to 56; in the whole State of Prussia from 930 to 5349. The total number of scholars rose in the same time from 13307 to 86689; the average number of students per school rose from 14.3 in 1896 to 16.2 in 1911. In the Provinces of Silesia, Hanover and Hesse-Nassau most of the school-attendance was compulsory, which accounts for the extraordinary increase in the scholars in those districts. 3 - Standardization of Instruction in Forestry in the United-States. Report of the Committee of the Conference of Forest Schools. Forestry Quarterly Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 341-394. Ithaca, N. Y, 1912. Within the last decade the number of forest schools in the United States has increased with remarkable rapidity. To-day there are 24 institutions which give courses leading to a degree in forestry, and about 40 others which include forestry in their curriculum. Over 500 young men are preparing themselves in these schools for forestry as a profession. Within the last few years, it has been felt more and more that with the large number of forest schools there is a danger of lowering standards, and that it is desirable to attempt a standardization of forestry education. The first step towards such standardization was brought about in December 1909, on the initiative of Gifford Pinchot, who called a conference of forest schools to consider the aim, scope, grade and length of curriculum. At this conference a committee was appointed to draw up a plan for the standardization of the requirements for technical training in forestry. There were appointed on this committee Henry S. Graves (chairman), B. E. Fernow, R. T. Fisher, Gifford Pinchot and Filibert Roth. The committee formulated provisionally a standard for forestry education, and called a second conference of forest schools in December 1911, in Washington, to consider its report. The following institutions were represented at this conference: Yale University, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Michigan Agricultural College, Massachusetts Agricultural College, New Hampshire College, University of Maine, University of Missouri, Iowa State University, University of Nebraska, University of Washington, Ohio State University, Syracuse University, Pennsylvania State College, Pennsylvania State Forest Academy, and University of Toronto, Canada. The provisional plan of the committee was discussed in detail by the conference and an expression of opinion by majority vote obtained as to requirements for admission, the courses to be given in the curriculum, and the number of hours for each course. The need for at least four different grades of training has been recognized. I. Advanced professional training to include not only a substantial general education but also a well rounded course in all branches of technical forestry. II. Instruction for Forest Rangers, requiring merely a common school education and conducted mainly along thoroughly practical lines. III. General instruction in forestry supplementary to a course in agriculture, and designed to assist owners in the handling of their own woodlands. IV. General course in conservation and forestry designed for those who wish, as a part of their general education, to have some information on the economic problems involved. The work of the Educational Conference held on December 28-29, 1911 was confined exclusively to formulating the requirements of the high grade professional course, and this report, therefore, deals exclusively with the standardization of a course for advanced professional training. The Committee has recognized at the start that there is a constantly growing need for specialists in forest work of three distinct types, besides general practitioners namely: 1) Foresters who have specialized chiefly along the lines of either forest management, or forest planting, or forest valuation or similar technical problems; 2) forest engineers; and 3) forest technologists. To develop specialists along these three lines within four years of college work is an impossibility. Therefore the scope of the courses considered in this Report has in view a well-balanced professional school which does not aim at great specialization in any of these three lines of work, but attempts to give a general knowledge of the principles which underlie the entire field of the forester's activities, leaving the acquisition of specialized knowledge to be gained by the students after graduation. The technical courses considered essential in a high grade school and the number of hours accepted by the Educational Conference as the minimum time to be devoted to each course are given in the following schedule: An attempt has been made in this report to describe at some length the scope of each course, outlining, at least for the most important courses in forestry, the fields which are to be covered in them. But it is not the intention of the Committee to force the adoption of these exact outlines, since there is a full appreciation that on account of the personnel of the teaching staff and other practical considerations, there must be considerable latitude left to each school to arrange its course in such a way as to meet its special needs and use its particular facilities. 4- Instruction in Cold Storage Methods in France in 1912-1913. L'enseignement frigorifique en France en 1912-1913. La Revue Générale du Froid, Year 4, Vol. IV, No. 11, pp. 607-609. Paris, November 1912, In 1912-1913 the following courses of instruction in cold storage methods will be held in France. 1.- Course given by M M. Marchis and Maillard at the Higher School of Aeronautics and of Mechanical Construction of Paris. 2. Evening course held by M. Blanchet at the Philotechnical Association of Paris. 3. Course held at the Central School of Arts and Manufactures of Paris. 4. — M. Jules Henriet's course at the Marseilles Polytechnic Association. - The instruction in the first course is directed to satisfy the requirements of the examination for the diploma of Cold Storage Engineer given by the French Cold Storage Association. For detailed programmes see the original publication. 5- An Enquiry into the Condition of Association in Swiss Agriculture. Enquête sur l'état de l'Association dans l'Agriculture Suisse. Exposé du Secrétariat suisse des paysans, No. 44, pp. 1-138. Berne, 1912. The enquiry made by the Swiss Peasants' Secretariat for the purpose of determining the number of Agricultural Associations, Syndicates, Corporations, Societies and Leagues, together with their aims and the number of their members, extends to the whole of Switzerland. According to this enquiry, the latter country possesses 6230 local associations. The number of the members has been ascertained in the case of 6065 of these (97.3 per cent.) and amounts to 293 719; on adding to this figure, the members of the 95 cantonal, intercantonal, and national organisations, the actual number of members belonging to the agricultural associations of Switzerland is 380 129. There are in Switzerland, in addition to the "Union suisse des paysans", 81 cantonal, intercantonal and national organisations formed by the Union of Associations; these possess a total of indirectly attached members amounting, according to this enquiry, to 346 225; on adding the 144 377 members of the Union suisse des paysans, a total of 870 731 persons affiliated to Agricultural organisations in Switzerland is obtained. The following table has been drawn up for the purpose of classifying the different associations according to their aims: AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS Switzerland possesses, according to the census of Aug. 9,1905, a total of 243 710 farms of which the soil is cultivated; this gives a coefficient of representation for each farm of 3.56 for the associations with directly attached members, together with those composed of sections; and a coefficient of 1.55 for the associations possessing only directly attached members. Since many cases occur in which one person is a member of several associations, it is impossible to say exactly how many of the farmers belong to agricultural associations, and how many are not members of these bodies. 6- Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers. BEAL, W. H. and HAMILTON, JOHN: U. S. Department of Agriculture: Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin 251, 75 pp. Washington, September 18, 1912. At the sixteenth annual meeting of the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, the Committee on institute organization and methods presented a report in which some statistics are given which indicate the vastness of the farmers' institute work now being undertaken in America. During the fiscal year ending in November 1911, there were held in the United States 16 741 sessions of regular farmers' institutes. These were made up of 3539 one-day meetings, 1942 two-day meetings, and 172 three or more day meetings, representing 7935 days of farmers' institute work. The attendance reported at all institutes was 2 412 600 persons. Attendance upon agricultural trains 995 220. The appropriation from all sources of support for the farmers' institutes was $ 445 193. In many States three or more forms of instruction in agriculture and domestic economy are now being supplied the people outside the college walls, namely 1) the farmers' institute proper, 2) the operation of agricultural trains, 3) the conducting of demonstrations, 4) the holding of six-day schools or campaigns, 5) the organization of boys' and girls' clubs, 6) the establishment of the woman's auxiliary as a special feature of the institute work. The farmers' institute proper is but one phase of the general extension movement. Fundamentally, the farmers' institute is not by nature a well-disciplined school consisting of teacher and tanght. Instruction here assumes the form of positive statements, the declaration of established principles and the presentation of material facts of value to the producers of the country. A successful farmers' institute must accomplish at least four things: 1) yield practical information to those having agricultural problems to solve; 2) more clearly define the farm problems of a community; 3) widen the circle of institute interest and influence; and 4) leave a permanent local organization, club, or institute that stands for agricultural progress. Thirty-five States have recognized the importance of the farmers' institute work by providing specific appropriations for State support. The amount so appropriated for the past fiscal year aggregated $ 372 430. 7- International Exhibition of Import and Export Products in Barcelona, Spain, from April 28 to July 2, 1913. Daily Consular and Trade Reports, 15th Year, No. 232, pp. 32-33; No. 282, p. 1116. The exhibition will include, among others, the sections: Alimentation, Agriculture and Horticulture. Applications for space should be addressed to "La Exposición Internacional de Productos de Importación y Exportación, Barcelona ". Branch offices of the exihition are also located at 148 Boulevard Voltaire, Paris, France, and 87, Rue des Foulons, Brussels, Belgium. AGRICULTURAL CONGRI S3LS |