DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

Chapter I.

HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT.

Lines not clearly drawn.-It is not easy to trace the development of agriculture in the secondary or high schools as such, because in the earlier days of our educational history distinctions were not made between elementary, secondary, and collegiate instruction as they are made now. The development of much of the agricultural instruction in the agricultural colleges should be classed as secondary agriculture when judged by present-day standards. In establishing the landgrant colleges there was not so much the intention to establish schools of college rank as to give some direct aid to the farmers. The discussions of the Morrill bill in Congress bring out the fact that many of those who voted for it did not realize that they were voting to establish colleges, just as some of the Members of Congress who voted for the Smith-Hughes Act thought they were voting to aid the elementary schools. A consideration of the early development of secondary agriculture must be of necessity a review of the general effort to improve agriculture by means of education.

Agricultural societies.'-Probably the first organized effort to improve agriculture was by means of agricultural societies and fairs. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were members of the first society for the promotion of agriculture, which was organized in Philadelphia in 1775. About the same time a similar society was organized in South Carolina, which proposed, among other things, to establish the first experimental farm in the United States. In 1792 a small volume representing the transactions of the New York Society for the Promotion of Agriculture was published. This society, organized in 1791, was followed by a similar organization in Connecticut in 1794.

The establishment of fairs and exhibits was an outgrowth of the work of the agricultural societies and the desire of men going to ex

See Dabney, C. W., Agricultural education. In Monograph No. 12. Butler's Monographs in Education. New York, American Book Co., 1910. Pp. 5-8.

pense in importing improved types of farm animals from Europe, to exhibit their importations. The first fair was held in Massachusetts in 1804. In 1809 the Columbian Agricultural Society, composed mostly of farmers in Maryland and Virginia in the vicinity of the National Capital, was organized to further agriculture by means of fairs.

From the beginning the various State and local agricultural societies and fair associations have been strong factors in the direct improvement of agriculture and in securing additional means for improving the lot of the farmer. There have been, however, several movements of a national nature, which have had a wide-spreading influence. Most notable of these are the National Grange (Patrons of Husbandry), organized in 1867, and becoming a national society in 1873, and the Farmers' Alliance. While these organizations spread their influence chiefly in the North and West, their place was filled in the South by such organizations as the Brothers of Freedom and the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union.

Many of the societies have been instrumental in securing national and State aid for the promotion of agricultural instruction in the schools.

Development of the land-grant colleges.-The first proposal to have the Federal Government aid in the training of farmers was made by Representative Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, in 1857. Due to the able plea of Mr. Morrill in behalf of the farmer, and to his skill in parliamentary procedure, the bill passed the House by a narrow majority, but was held up in the Senate. The bill finally passed both House and Senate in 1859, only to be vetoed by President Buchanan. Soon after the Thirty-seventh Congress met, in Decem ber, 1861, the bill was again introduced and finally passed both Houses. On July 2, 1862, President Lincoln signed the bill which has been since known as the Morrill Act.

This act provided for Federal aid as a stimulus to State aid in establishing colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts. Inasmuch as the Federal aid given was in the form of grants of public land, the institutions established have become known as the land-grant colleges. Agricultural colleges had already been established in the following States: New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and Maryland, before the land-grant act was passed. In other States, notably Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, departments of agriculture were established in connection with existing institutions, which departments afterwards developed into colleges which secured the benefit of the land-grant act. Such institutions

See Kandel, I. L., Federal Aid for Vocational Education. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Bulletin No. 10, 1917. Pp. 3-58.

as Harvard, Yale, and the Universities of Virginia and Georgia made some advancement in agriculture as a science before the Federalaided agricultural colleges were established.

The act of 1862 was soon accepted by the legislatures of the States then loyal to the Federal Government, and, after the war, it was extended to and accepted by the States out of the Union during the war. Many of the colleges established were not colleges when judged by present-day standards for other lines. They were not strictly agricultural and mechanical colleges in that they did not confine their work to the training of farmers and mechanics. A perusal of the curricula of those colleges of earlier days shows that some of them did not approach very closely to practical agricultural training. Nevertheless, they performed a needed function in extending public education of a more or less special nature to a greater number of the common people, performing for a relatively small number the function performed now by rural high schools to great numbers of farm boys and girls. Yet a relatively large number did not receive training in agriculture and did not return to the farm, . hence in a large measure these institutions failed in filling the mission for which they were established. The fact that they were appreciated, however, is shown by the increased appropriations made for these institutions. No sooner had the colleges become established than Senator Morrill and his colleges began a campaign for additional funds. Their efforts were unsuccessful, however, until 1890, when the so-called second Morrill Act was passed. This act provided for each college then established an additional sum of $15,000 for that year and an annual increase of that amount thereafter of $1,000 until the annual appropriation should reach $25,000 for each State. These funds were further supplemented in 1908 by what is known as the Nelson amendment, which provided for an additional sum of $15,000 to be given that year and additional sums of $5,000 for four succeeding years; united, the total appropriation from the Federal Government would be $50,000 each year.

The agricultural experiment stations.-At the time several of the first agricultural colleges were established provision was made for investigational work to go hand in hand with the instruction of students. The act providing for the establishment of the Maryland Agricultural College also provided that the college should establish a model farm upon which a series of experiments might be conducted. It may be remembered that the early settlers of this country spent a great deal of time and effort as individuals in attempting to secure crops suited to the New World. They were very willing to let the State do this work. A great deal of the foundation for real investigational work was done by Dr. Samuel W. Johnson, who was ap

pointed professor of agricultural chemistry in Yale. Many of the early leaders in research in agricultural science were Dr. Johnson's students.

Although many of the States established experiment stations in connection with the agricultural colleges, the greatest impetus was given this movement by the passage of the Hatch Act in 1887. This act provided $15,000 each year of funds from the sale of public lands toward the establishment and support of an agricultural experiment station in each State.

The Hatch fund was supplemented further in 1906, by the passage of the Adams Act. This act appropriated an annual sum of $5,000, with an increase of $2,000 each year until the total sum per year should be $30,000 for each State. The individual States now appropriate more money each year than does the National Government for research work.

The United States Department of Agriculture.-George Washing ton, as President, favored congressional aid for agriculture, and so recommended it, but Congress at that time did nothing by way of direct aid for the farmer. In 1836 the Patent Commissioner, Henry L. Ellsworth, received a considerable quantity of seeds and plants from representatives of the Government abroad and distributed them to progressive farmers in this country. Although this work was begun without authority or financial aid, it lead to an appropriation of $1,000, made for such purpose in 1839. The Patent Office soon began collecting and disseminating statistics and other informa tion as well as seeds. The work grew in this office until, in 1862, the same year the agricultural colleges were established, a separate department was organized, with a commissioner of agriculture at its head. In 1889 this department was raised to the first rank in the executive branch of the Government, and was put under the direction of a Secretary of Agriculture, a Cabinet member.

The Department of Agriculture in its phenomenal growth has without doubt branched out into lines of work undreamed of by those who worked so hard for its establishment. Its work is chiefly along three lines, viz: Research, regulatory supervision, and dire t instruction. From the beginning the department has done a great deal in the way of directing investigation as well as to direct the agricultural research carried on in the States with Federal funds. As Government control of agricultural production and marketing has increased, the police duties of the department have been added upon. Through direct contact of its corps of trained specialists and by extensive correspondence and publications, the department has

1 So Greathouse, C. H., Historical Sketch of the United States Department of Agit al ture. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Publications. Bulletin 3, 2d Rev, 1907.

aided the agricultural colleges in the direct education of the people. It has done a great deal to aid the colleges and schools of lower grade in their problems of instruction as well as research.

Agricultural extension work.-Largely as a result of the work of the experiment stations and the Department of Agriculture, a beginning was made in this country toward developing agriculture as a science. A great mass of scientific material pertaining to agriculture has been accumulated, while the most valuable resources of the country were being wasted by poor methods of farming. The agricultural colleges reached a relatively small number of students, and a large percentage of them did not return to the farm. Early in the history of the colleges, however, an effort was made to take their information directly to the farmer. Farmers' institutes' developed along with agricultural societies and fairs. It became evident in time that a more comprehensive program and a better organized plan were essential in reaching the men and women on the farm. Once again Federal aid was sought and secured in what is known as the Smith-Lever Act. This act, passed in 1914, provides for Federal aid to State agricultural colleges for agricultural extension work in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. The money was not to be spent upon resident instruction, but provided for various means of instruction away from the college. At the beginning $10,000 for each State was appropriated, a total of $480,000. This sum increases year by year until an annual appropriation of $4,100,000 is reached. This sum is divided among the States in the proportion that rural populations bear to the entire rural population of the country. The States must meet the Federal appropriation dollar for dollar.

Inasmuch as this extension work has reached a large number of people and has secured direct results, it has been on the whole very well received. In the extension service an organization has been effected under the direction of the Department of Agriculture through which additional funds may be spent effectively as a war measure in increasing efficiency in the production and consumption of food.

It has been the experience of many extension workers in agriculture and home economics that time and money were more effectively spent upon boys and girls than upon mature farmers and their wives. In many cases it was found to be easier to reach the fathers and mothers through the boys and girls; hence the boys' and girls' club movement and other forms of extension work among young people have been given an increasing amount of attention. There is a strong tendency at the present time to link such work as closely as possible with the public school system.

See History and Status of Farmers' Institutes in the United States and Canada. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Office of Experiment Stations. Bulletin 79.