Carpentry. The attendance in this shop was 36 pupils. The proceeds of the work done by the inmates was $20.80. Shoemaking. The shop was attended by 48 pupils. All the shoes of the inmates are made here; they numbered 875 and were made at a cost of $1,587.09, or an average of $1.81 per pair. The pupils also half-soled 396 pairs of shoes at a cost of $84.76, or an average of 21 cents per pair. Library.-A library has been established in the institution and at present it contains 125 volumes, which have been donated by a number of friends. Barber shop. This shop was established also during the last year and was attended by two pupils. Expenditures for the two charity schools for the fiscal year 1916–17. The University of Porto Rico comprises the normal department, the College of Liberal Arts, Law and Pharmacy, the University High School, and the Practice School, which is attended by elementary school pupils, all located at Rio Piedras; and the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts situated at Mayaguez. RIO PIEDRAS DEPARTMENTS. The work accomplished in the normal, liberal arts, law and pharmacy departments at Rio Piedras during the year 1916–17 has been marked by increasing efficiency The board of trustees established important regulations concerning courses of study. conferring of diplomas, duplication of subjects and substitution of courses and credits from other institutions. Graduates of the normal department who wish to prepare themselves for administrative positions or to teach in high and continuation schools may be admitted to the College of Liberal Arts with the provisional rank of junior and may complete the course in two years, receiving the degree of bachelor of arts in education. The demand for high-school teachers warrants a further organization of this course and the assignment of one section of university high-school students for each year of the course to provide opportunity for high-school practice teaching by candidates for the degree in education. In the normal department very few students have been enrolled in the first and second year courses because nearly all candidates preferred to complete the highschool work and obtain their diplomas before entering the two-year course for highschool graduates. The special course for the preparation of rural teachers, including work in agriculture, rural hygiene, sanitation, and elementary science, has proved to be a success. When further additions to the faculty become possible the normal department should offer, in addition to the course leading to the principals license, the course for the preparation of rural teachers, and the course for the preparation of teachers of home economics-special courses for the preparation of teachers for primary grades, for intermediate grades, and for upper grades of elementary schools, with a scheme of guidance for the purpose of aiding the prospective teacher in his selection of a field for specialization. In the practice school the work done by the practice teachers has been more intensive and effective than in previous years. The law course was extended from three to four years and the faculty made the necessary rules for the examinations outlined in the act passed for the examination of those who study for admission to the bar outside of the university. An additional instructor was appointed and the registrar of the university has conducted some classes. Prof. José E. Benedicto has been granted a leave of absence for next year, having accepted appointment as judge of one of the sections of the San Juan district court. Fortunately, he has volunteered to give a course of free lectures the coming academic year on mortgage law. The course in pharmacy has been extended from two to three years and an additional instruction was provided. The campus roads have been provided with electric lights through the generosity of the municipal council of Rio Piedras. Prof. Louis W. Rapeer, Ph. D., of Pennsylvania State College, has been elected dean of the colleges at Rio Piedras to succeed Dean Fred K. Fleagle, resigned. Through the efforts of a student committee a fund of $1,558.85 has been obtained by subscription from members of the university body and others for the purpose of erecting on the university campus a memorial to the late Hon. Luis Muñoz Rivera, distinguished patriot and for several years Porto Rico's Resident Commissioner to Washington. The practice school building has been altered, in preparation for the coming year, so that an assembly hall is provided. A part of the university reserve funds has been used for the purchase of liberty bonds. Two members of the instructional staff have been granted leaves of absence for one year without salary to enter the officers' training camp. COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS. The College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts reports a year of steady progress. The enrollment reached 290, the largest so far, taxing the facilities and equipment of the school to the utmost. The division of the courses into two parts, collegiate and subcollegiate, with a diploma in agricultural or polytechnic science granted at the end of the subcollegiate period, has given excellent results. This subcollegiate course extends four years beyond the common-school course and is equal in length to the high-school course but, due to the large number of technical branches, it covers the first year of collegiate work also. A saving of one year is thus effected in securing a degree of recognized standing. Students entering with high-school diplomas are required to make up the technical subjects necessary for admission to the collegiate courses. This subcollegiate course is designed to offer a further thorough practical education to boys who are unable to continue in college until they receive a degree. The great majority of Porto Rican boys are poor, though ambitious, and must get to work to earn their own living just as soon as they can. Porto Rico needs these young men with practical training in agricultural and polytechnic science for the development of its resources. At the same time boys of the right sort will not be satisfied until they have secured a degree and will return later. Due to the lack of facilities, it has been necessary to raise the requirements for admission to the end of the ninth grade. The new ten-room science building has been opened for use. It contains the administration offices, assembly hall, library, a mechanical drawing room, botany laboratory, and four class rooms. Besides this building, a machine shop has been fitted up, completing the shop equipment in carpentry, wood turning, pattern making, forge, foundry, and machine work; a new chemical laboratory has been equipped and additional facilities provided for a balance room and storerooms; and a laboratory for soil analysis and crop experimentation has been provided. A direct-current electrical laboratory, a testing laboratory for strength and resist ance of materials, a concrete and a hydraulic laboratory were ordered and are being installed. The department of the interior, in whose charge are placed by law all permanent improvements, is inclosing the grounds with a substantial fence, installing a new water system, putting a new glass roof on the greenhouse, besides making other minor repairs. The last legislature passed a law authorizing each municipality to appoint a student to pursue the course in agricultural science with a scholarship of $200 a year. This act gives recognition to the imperative need for scientific agricultural training. Although Porto Rico exports an average of $33 an acre of agricultural products (the highest in the world), still the average general farmer has had no instruction in better methods of farm ing and agriculture, the basis of Porto Rico's prosperity. With its congested population Porto Rico imports a considerable amount of its food, while a goodly portion of its people do not have enough of the right kind of food to strengthen them against the attack of tropical diseases. The main purpose of the college is to train young men in agriculture, and all other ends must be kept subordinate. The majority of the students come from poor families and are dependent to some extent upon their own efforts for support. The sum of $2,000, set aside by the board of trustees for student labor, has enabled a considerable number to earn their books and uniforms. Through the generosity of Dr. A. J. Fredholm, the college surgeon, the money derived from the medical examination of students has been placed in a students' loan fund, administered by a committee of faculty and students. While the purpose of the college is that of instruction, still, as far as means have allowed, it has carried on experimental work. A 4-acre tract of land has been used for work in crop fertility, taking up problems of preparation of clay soils for seeding, the effect of lime, guano, green manure, and other fertilizers upon various crops; corn, beans, rice, kaffir corn, and sunflowers. As far as results have been determined they indicate that the clay soils of Porto Rico respond more quickly than those in colder climates to either good or ill treatment, and that there is nothing the matter with much of the land that has been allowed to go to waste, if given proper treatment. A soil survey of the campus has been made. The results from the use of guano, of which there is a large supply in Porto Rico and Mona Island, have been especially satisfactory. Experiments are also being conducted in growing vegetables during the winter months with a view to making commercial shipments to the States. From the data obtained there seems to be no reason why Porto Rico should not only supply all its own needs of the common vegetables but export large quantities of cabbages, onions, celery, and sweet potatoes to New York at a time when they command high prices. The animal husbandry department is conducting investigations in poultry, covering effects of change of climate upon egg production, and also results from crossing native and northern stock; in securing a better breed of goats and the introduction of Belgian hares as a source of meat supply. The college has joined in the movement for the increase of food supply by furnishing plots of land to those who would plant them. A number of agricultural students are at present engaged in garden and demonstration work under the direction of the extension department of the United States Experiment Station, working in connection with the food commission. There are three student societies-the Agricultural Society, the Engineering Society, and the Literary Club. The college is an institutional member of the Mathematical Society of America. Mention should also be made of the general efficiency of the military training under the direction of Lieut. H. W. Gardiner, formerly of the Philippine Constabulary. At the time of the departure of the Porto Rico Regiment to Panama the battalion went to San Juan, where it was received by the governor, by the commissioner of education, and the board of trustees, and was guard of honor to the regiment. THE NEEDS OF THE UNIVERSITY. The imperative need of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is more buildings. An effort was made to secure an agricultural building at the last session of the legislature, but without avail. Two buildings are needed, one for agriculture and one for engineering and until they are secured the efficiency of the institution will be seriously handicapped. No new buildings have been erected at Rio Piedras during the past year, though there is pressing need for several. The accommodations now available for the library, the College of Law, and the College of Pharmacy are quite inadequate, and new buildings must be had before extension along these lines will be possible. There is no gymnasium for men and no place is available for indoor military drill on rainy days. One good building could serve both of these purposes and could perhaps be designed so that it would also meet the very real need for a recreation hall to serve as a social center for the university. The university library suffers not only from cramped and unsuitable housing, but also from the paucity of funds for new purchases. The university has had a successful year and it presents a creditable record of achievement, while at the same time it exhibits a crying need for funds to provide especially for new buildings, for a systematic extension of the library both along professional and literary lines, and for additions to the faculty which would make possible the realization of certain definite plans of development. For the financial report of the University of Porto Rico for the fiscal year 1916-17, see Exhibits 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the auditor's report. REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY. The Carnegie Library, formerly known as the insular library, has completed its first year in its new and permanent home, the gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie. At first the response of the public to the increased facilities of the library was disappointing, as evidenced by a considerable decrease in the attendance. This was probably entirely due to the fact that the new location is not so accessible to the public of San Juan as the old. However, interest has been stimulated through the generosity of the press in giving considerable publicity to the work of the library and frequently publishing lists of new books. The attendance is gradually increasing, at present being about 150 a day, and with the completion of the projected sidewalk from the city to the building a much larger number may be expected. One of the distinctive features of the new building is a splendid assembly hall, which is used for lectures, for meetings of various societies, and for conventions. In the past there was very inadequate provision for juvenile patrons of the library. The new building contains a large room exclusively for the use of children, and special attention has been paid during the year to securing books and magazines appropriate for this department. Provision has been made for two clerks to take charge of the children's department and to present the benefits and uses of the library to the children of the city. A plan has been developed to put into operation a system of traveling libraries by which the smaller towns may participate in the benefits of the library. The necessary books, generally duplicates of books most in demand, have been ordered and the system will be installed at first in 40 municipalities with the cooperation of the supervisors of schools, and gradually it will be extended until every community is served and the library becomes insular in scope, which was the original purpose when it was created and given the name insular library and its maintenance provided for with insular funds. A number of the patrons of the library have donated books, mostly fiction, to the number of 263. A notable addition to the collection of "Puertorriqueña" is the library of the late Manuel María Sama, comprising over 200 volumes of works of Porto Rican authors. The total accessions amount to 1,830, distributed as follows: Spanish books-by purchase, 312 nonfiction, 249 fiction; by gift, 159. English books-by purchase, 651 nonfiction, 355 fiction; by gift, 104. The above figures compared with those of last year show a decrease, but this is only apparent, due to the fact that books are not added to the accession list until actually received. Large orders were placed, both in the |