The first State law making specific appro priation for extension work was probably the Nixon Act which was passed by the New York State legislature in 1894. At the present time practically every college of agriculture has an extension department with a head who is usu ally designated extension director. There are approximately a thousand extension specialists home economics to persons not attending or resident in said colleges in the several com munities, and imparting to such persons infor mation on said subjects through field demon strations, publications, and otherwise; and this work shall be carried on in such manner as may mutually be agreed upon by the Secretary of Agriculture 'and the State agricultural col lege or colleges receiving the benefits of this act.' By the provisions of this act, $480,000 were appropriated for the first year, $10,000 of which went to each State accepting the provisions of the act. For the succeeding year there was an appropriation of $600,000 and this will increase annually at the rate of $500,000 until the sum of $4,580,000 is attained. These grants, except the $480,000, are "allotted annually to each State by the Secretary of Agriculture in the on the faculties of the agricultural colleges. Much of the stimulus for this work and plans for its organization have come through the Smith-Lever Act which became effective 8 May 1914. This law differs from the previous acts in which Federal funds were granted to the States for the development of agriculture, in the fact that the National government retains a larger measure of control than in any pre vious legislation. This is done by making the funds available only for co-operative extension work that is carried on by the land grant col leges of agriculture and the United States De partment of Agriculture. The nature of this co-operative work is set forth in section 2 of the law as follows: "(Cooperative agricultural extension work shall consist of the giving of instruction and practical demonstrations in agriculture and proportion which the rural population of each State bears to the rural population of all the States as determined by the next preceding Federal census.' In order to secure the bene fits of the act an amount equal to that coming from the Federal government must be appro priated from sources within the State. The law is administered through the States Rela tions Service of. the United States Department of Agriculture.
The most notable developments under this act have been the systems of county agents home demonstration agents, and boys' and girls' club leaders. March 1, 1918, there were co-operatively employed 2,645 county agents 1,514 home demonstration agents and 441 boys' and girls' club workers. Not all of these per sons are employed on permanent funds as 2,950 are emergency agents put into the co-operative work for the purpose of stimulating agricul tural production and food conservation after our entrance into the war with Germany. This act was made possible by an emergency appro priation of $4,350,000. The table on the preced ing page, furnished through the courtesy of the States Relations Service, shows the growth of the co-operative extension work since the pas sage of the Smith-Lever Act. .
The various Federal acts relating to instruc tion, research and extension in agriculture have resulted in the development of a group of strong institutions that are making their influ ence felt throughout the entire country. In 1918 there were 67 state and federally supported institutions of college grade giving instruction in agriculture, 17 of which were for negroes.
In 23 States and Porto Rico the college of agri culture is a part of the university. Tuition is free to residents of the State in which the col lege is located in most cases. There were 7,066 persons engaged as instructors or inves tigators in these institutions.
Foreign Countries.—The most widely known college of agriculture in Canada is the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. This institu tion was established in 1874. Several other colleges have been established since that time. In addition to its collegiate instruction in agri culture Canada has done much to encourage the introduction of agriculture into the rural high and elementary schools.
The first chair of agriculture in England was established in the University of Edinburgh in 1790. In 1838 the Albert Agricultural College was founded at Glasnevin, Ireland, as a state supported institution. The Royal College of Agriculture was established at Cirencester, Eng land, in 1845. There have been other colleges opened for the purpose of giving instruction in agriculture and in addition there are a consider able number of other colleges giving agricultural instruction. National aid is given to this work through the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The Institut National Agronomique de Paris, which is supported by the national government, stands at the head of the French system of collegiate instruction in agriculture. In addition there are three national schools, one each at Grignon, Rennes and Montpelier. France has an excellent system of secondary schools of agriculture, some of which are specialized in their work and others give general instruction. There are also chairs of agriculture in many lyceums and colleges. Since 1879 instruction in elementary agriculture and horticulture has been obligatory in the normal and primary schools. Institutions for giving instruction in agriculture both of college and secondary grade are to be found in most of the civilized coun tries of the world.
Secondary Schools.— As has been noted most of the early efforts to give instruction in agriculture were made in schools of secondary grade. Numerous attempts were made to estab lish farm schools in the East and Middle West during the first half of the 19th century. While some of these met with a measure of suc cess, sooner or later they were compelled for one reason or another to close. It was not until 1K: that a permanent secondary school of agriculture was established. This was the Minnesota State School of Agriculture, located at Saint Anthony's Park, in connection with the State College of Agriculture. Following the opening of this school there came a period in which there was considerable development of special secondary agricultural schools. In 1915-16 there were 28 such schools maintained by State colleges of agriculture, 74 special agri cultural schools receiving State aid, and 12 private agricultural schools of secondary grade. These special schools have in some cases been supported entirely by State aid and in other in stances by a combination of State and local funds. The unit of territory that they attempt to serve varies greatly. In some cases, e.g, New York and Minnesota they have been sup ported entirely by the State, and no boundaries set from which students may come, within the State. In Wisconsin the county has been made the unit and the schools are supported by State and county. In Georgia and Alabama a school was established in each congressional district, in Oklahoma the judicial district was made the unit, while in Arkansas the State was arbitrarily divided into four districts.