(3) That the reports of the dean and registrar, together with all accompanying papers, be published in pamphlet form as a history of the movement.

(4) That the contributions of $25 be continued and that the date at which they are due be assumed to be July 1 in each year.

The report, with its recommendations, was adopted.

L. H. BAILEY,

H. P. ARMSBY,
M. H. BUCKHAM,
W. O. THOMPSON,
BROWN AYRES,
R. H. JESSE,

Committee.

REPORT ON THE SECOND SESSION OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. On the invitation of the committee on graduate study of the Association of the American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations the undersigned accepted the offices of dean and registrar, respectively, for a second session of the Graduate School of Agriculture, to be held at the University of Illinois in the summer of 1906. The committee acted promptly after the adjournment of the Washington convention of the association, November 16, 1905, by accepting the invitation of the president and trustees of the University of Illinois to hold the second session of this school at that institution, but some delay in making definite arrangements for the school was caused by uncertainty regarding the time of holding the next annual convention of the association inasmuch as the association had voted to hold its next convention in California, and it was felt that the school and the convention should not be held at conflicting dates. Before this matter was finally decided the dean and registrar had a preliminary consultation at Urbana January 4, 1906, at which time a tentative plan was made for courses of instruction and for conducting the business of the school. It was agreed that the duties of dean and registrar, respectively, should be substantially the same as these officers had performed in connection with the first session of the school. The dean was to organize the faculty and make arrangements with its members for the work which they should individually undertake. and the registrar was to conduct the correspondence and other business relating to membership in the school and make the necessary local arrangements for the housing of the school, laboratory, and other facilities, board and lodging of the faculty and students while in attendance, etc.

A decision having been reached that the second session of the school should cover the four weeks from July 2 to July 28, 1906, the following preliminary programme for the session was submitted by the dean to the committee on graduate study early in February, 1906.

This plan having been approved by the committee, correspondence with pro posed members of the faculty was at once begun by the dean.

Greater difficulty was experienced than in connection with the first session in securing the consent of persons invited to become members of the faculty. This was not due to any unwillingness to serve the school or lack of interest in its success, but to the interference of other duties or to other uncontrollable causes. It is clear that within the past few years the burdens of our leading agricultural teachers and investigators have greatly increased. After the faculty was formed there were more withdrawals than in 1902, caused almost without exception by ill health.

Announcements of the school were made by the registrar as follows: Postal card, February 3, 2,000 copies; preliminary programme, February 20, 2,000 copies; prospectus, April 18, 3,000 copies; programme, June 1, 3,000 copies. Copies of these announcements are submitted herewith. These were sent to agricultural colleges and station officers in all the States and Territories (600), farmers' institute lecturers (540), officers of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (200), graduates of college of agriculture of University of Illinois (150), and miscellaneous applicants. Copies of prospectus and programme were also sent to each dean and director in packages of 10 for distribution among the graduates of his college. In each instance the package was accompanied by a letter stating that additional copies could be supplied upon request. A number of such requests were received and filled.

Announcements were also published in the Experiment Station Record, Science, and other journals, and copies were sent to the agricultural press.

The university authorities put at the disposal of the school the large and well-appointed Agricultural Building, which contains lecture rooms and offices, thoroughly equipped laboratories, and an assembly hall. The other buildings

of the university, its library, and the farm of 600 acres, with its animals, experimental fields, etc., were freely opened to the inspection and use of the school. A stenographer was provided for the use of the dean, registrar, and members of the school. Arrangements for board and lodging were made in the neighborhood of the university for from $6 to $7 per week. Members of the faculty were assigned to places for board and lodging, and payment was made in lump sums by an officer of the university on behalf of the school.

The faculty included 35 men, of whom 5 were leading officers of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 12 were members of the faculty of the college of agriculture of the University of Illinois, and 18 were professors or experts from 16 other agricultural colleges and experiment stations. There were also 12 men who gave one or two lectures or addresses. In addition to these the school was attended by 91 men, who may be classed as students. Seventy-one persons paid the matriculation fee. In accordance with the instructions of the committee, no fee was required of any member of the Illinois College faculty, in consideration" of the fact that honorariums were not received by members of this faculty who lectured at the school. The total enrolled membership was 131 from 34 States and Territories and the District of Columbia. Hungary was also represented by the professor of agricultural chemistry of the University of Budapest, and there were 3 students from India. There were also a considerable number of persons not registered who attended one or more lectures as visitors.

The second session of the school opened promptly at 8 a. m. July 2, 1906, and continued four weeks.

The instructors and subjects in the several courses were as follows:

Jeremiah G. Mosier, B. S.

AGRONOMY.

One lecture.

Soil physics in practical agriculture.

Cyril G. Hopkins, Ph. D.

Methods of investigation relating to soil fertility. Interpretation of results.

Soils deficient in nitrogen, in phosphorus, in potassium.

Application and liberation of plant food-direct and indirect effects.

Possible systems of permanent agriculture, with maximum and minimum crop yields.

Edward B. Voorhees, D. Sc.

The rôle of fertilizers in soil fertility. Five lectures.

H. J. Wheeler, Ph. D.

Lime and magnesia in their relation to soils and plant growth. Two lectures.

Soda and potash in their mutual relations to soils and plant growth and to the ash constituents. Two lectures.

Certain phosphates in their relations to soils and plant growth. One lecture.

Jacob G. Lipman, Ph. D.

Soil bacteriology in its general relation to crop production.

The chemical phases of decay involved in the transformation of organic
and inorganic constituents in the soil.

Oxidation processes in the soil: The formation of nitrites and nitrates..
Deoxidation processes in the soil: Denitrification.

Bacterial synthesis of nitrogenous compounds: The fixation of atmos-
pheric nitrogen.

A. N. Hume, M. S.

Field crops. Two lectures.

Mark A. Carleton, M. S.

Field crops. Three lectures.

Charles W. Burkett, Ph. D.

Grasses and forage plants for the South. Methods of teaching. Five lectures.

William J. Spillman, M. S.

Types of cropping systems. Two lectures.

Relation of types of farming to fertility. One lecture.
Distribution of grasses and forage plants. One lecture.

T. Lyttleton Lyon, Ph. D.

Modifications in growth, structure, yield, and composition of certain crops under different conditions of soil and climate.

Five lectures.

Henry P. Armsby, Ph. D., LL. D.

Feeding for meat production. Five lectures.

Henry J. Waters, B. S. A.

The profitable use of protein in the production of beef. Two lectures.
Limitations in baby beef production. Two lectures.

The influence of condition upon the rate and cost of gain. One lecture. Charles F. Curtiss, M. S. Agr.

Perfection of finishing. Five lectures.

Herbert W. Mumford, B. S.

Economic interpretation of data secured in feeding experiments. Five lectures.

The present status of horticulture in the Central West.

The cold-storage problem.

John W. Lloyd, M. S. A:

Investigations regarding factors influencing the earliness of yield and quality of muskmelons.

Charles S. Crandall, M. S.

The conduct of an experiment.

Making records.

U. P. Hedrick, M. S.

Factors governing the adaptations of fruits.

The formation of fruit buds.

Orchard ecology.

The influence of weather on setting of fruits.

The needs of horticultural experimentation.

Methods in experimentation and economics in horticulture.

John Craig, M. S.

Pruning orchard fruits.

The grape.

The present status of horticulture in the eastern United States.

Fruit bud development.

George E. Stone, Ph. D.

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.

Electricity and plant growth. Two lectures.

Physiology and pathology of shade trees.

One lecture.

Physiological and pathological troubles in greenhouses. Two lectures.

Charles F. Hottes, Ph. D.

Plant physiology-demonstration lectures and discussion of methods.
Three lectures.

Plant diseases: Characteristics and methods of investigation. Two lectures.

Merton B. Waite, B. S.

Diseases of orchard fruits with special reference to different types of diseases affecting apples, pears, and other fruits. Five lectures. Lewis R. Jones, Ph. D.

Potato diseases, including relations of development of the potato to susceptibility, disease resistance, etc. Five lectures.

PLANT AND ANIMAL BREEDING.

Herbert J. Webber, Ph. D.

The history and primary factors of plant breeding.

The causes and kinds of variations and their importance to the breeder.
The improvement of plants by selection.

The theories and laws of hybrids and their importance in practical breed-
ing work.

The use of hybridization in practical plant breeding.

Nels E. Hansen, M. S.

De Candolle's law of hardiness in prairie horticulture.
Travels and studies in America, Europe, and Asia.

Work with orchard and small fruits.

Laws and methods of producing variation.

Present status of and prospects for prairie fruit breeding.

Eugene Davenport, M. Agr.

Variation and type.

The mathematical nature of descent.

Regression and the regression table.

Correlation and coefficient of heredity.

Henry L. Rietz, Ph. D.

Statistical methods applied to problems in breeding.
General character of arguments based upon statistics.

George M. Rommel, B. S. A.

Some pressing problems in animal breeding. Three lectures. David Castleman, major, U. S. A.

Public exercises were held on the evening of July 4 when the school was welcomed to the university by Dr. T. J. Burrill, vice-president of the university. Prof. L. H. Bailey presided and made an address in which he pointed out the need of a comprehensive system of agricultural education comprising institutions or departments for research, graduate study, college courses, extension work and secondary and elementary courses. The graduate school is needed to aid in the more complete establishment of such a system and to stimulate workers in our agricultural institutions to more thorough study and research. Dr. A. C. True gave a short history of the graduate school and pointed out the great development of agricultural education and research in this country since the first session of the school was held at Columbus, Ohio, four years ago. He also called attention to the pressing need for more trained workers in different branches of agricultural service. The claim was made that the battle for adequate recognition of agriculture in our higher institutions of learning is essentially won and that our leading educators are convinced that agriculture in some form should form a part of the industrial element of public school education. It was pointed out that so great is the public interest in agricultural education and research that funds are coming to our agricultural institutions fully as fast as they can be utilized and that a very great responsibility is being laid on our agricultural teachers and scientists to make the best use of the money put in their hands. A paper by Dr. H. W. Wiley, Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, was also presented, in which the meager opportunities for study along agricultural lines in preparation for the doctor's degree at our leading

universities were shown and contrasted with the wider opportunities for such work offered in the German universities.

A conference for the discussion of general questions relating to the organization of agricultural education and research was held July 7. Dean Davenport outlined the organization of the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois. The system followed there involves the division of authority and work in such a manner that definite responsibility is laid on officers in the several departments and full credit is given for each man's share in the work. Questions involving "team work" are discussed at meetings of the workers, and every effort is made to secure full agreement on plans before their execution is attempted. It is assumed that responsibility for progress in the various agricultural lines lies fundamentally with the associations of farmers representing these interests, e. g., animal husbandry and horticulture.

This insures not only interest in college and station work on the part of these organizations, but it also secures financial and moral support of the leading and presumably the more progressive farmers of the State, not as individuals, but in an organized capacity.

Professor Bailey argued in favor of the establishment of regular provision for agricultural studies leading to the doctor's degree in our universities, and would make this a matter to be controlled by the university rather than by the college of agriculture. He also favored the simplification of degrees and would have Ph. D., M. S., and B. S. (or M. A. and B. S.) the only degrees to be conferred in course. This suggestion met with much approval from members of the graduate school.

Dr. W. H. Jordan, director of the New York State Experiment Station, spoke very earnestly of the need of more thorough scientific research along agricultural lines and impressed his hearers with the great importance of maintaining the strictest integrity in making and recording agricultural investigations.

Dr. W. O. Thompson, president of the Ohio State University and one of the founders of the graduate school, gave a brief account of the origin of the school and expressed his strong belief in its value as an aid to broadening and strengthening our system of agricultural education. He predicted that it would have a career of increasing success and usefulness.

Dr. Brown Ayres, president of the University of Tennessee, spoke from the standpoint of one interested in general educational advancement and emphasized the importance of the movement for the development of a thorough system of agricultural education. Interesting remarks were also made by Mr. L. H. Kerrick, chairman of the committee on agriculture of the board of trustees of the University of Illinois, and Mr. Joseph Carter, former superintendent of schools of Champaign, Ill.

A conférence on extension work in agriculture was held July 21. At this meeting Prof. John Hamilton, Farmers' Institute Spécialist of the Office of Experiment Stations, outlined a somewhat comprehensive plan for the extension work of the agricultural colleges and urged the importance of organizing a corps of special workers for this service. Mr. C. A. Shamel, editor of the Orange Judd Farmer, explained the requisites of appropriate articles by college men for the agricultural press. Mr. F. H. Rankin, superintendent of extension work in the Illinois College of Agriculture, explained the methods employed by this institution to arouse the interest of boys and girls in agricultural education, discussed the question of competitive contests and prize giving, and urged that the burden of providing funds for this and other forms of agricultural education should be laid on the agricultural organizations. Prof. J. L. Stone, of Cornell University, described the different forms of extension work undertaken by that institution and emphasized especially the cooperative demonstration experiments conducted by farmers in different parts of the State as an efficient means of interesting farmers in station work. Director Burnett, of the Nebraska Experiment Station, who is in charge of farmers' institutes in that State, briefly described the institute work there, and urged that college men give more attention to the practical problems of the farmers when attending institutes. Mr. D. J. Crosby, expert in agricultural education, of the Office of Experiment Stations, described the work of the Office with reference to agricultural schools, and asked for the cordial cooperation of college men. The dean of the graduate school briefly urged the importance of such training in English in the agricultural colleges as would fit their graduates to be effective speakers and writers.