s 533 4#^ ^'^ INTRODUCTION OF ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE INTO SCHOOLS. By A. C. TRUE, Director of the (Mice of I'liprrhmut Sidtioxs. [Repkint from Yp:akb<1(»k of Depakt.ment ok Aoiucultfre for ]itO(i.] 4550—07 -VASMINGTON . GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE . 190' ?3" '^X%^ C^^ ,ti> CONTENTS. Interest among fanners' organizatiuns 152 Attitude of seliool officers and teachers 152 Progress in legislation 1 55 Forunilation i if courses 157 rre[)aration of text-book.s and manuals 15S Provision for training teachers 15i» ( )rganizati()u of agricultural schools ItiO Number of jmpils studying agriculture 161 How farmers may lielj) the schools 162 II 3 ^ INTRODl ( TION OF ELE3IEM ARY AGRK I LITRE INTO ;^ SCHOOLS. ^ l'.y A. r. Trie. Director of the Ojjicr of E.rprriiiunt Stafinv.-^. The teachiiiji; of iini)r()ve(l inotliods of ag-riciiltiire to the masses of our agricultural youth has recently l)eeu advocated hy the President of the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture, a foj-iufT T'liited States Commissioner of Labor Vvlio is now the )n-esident of a Alassa- chusetts college, the pi-esident of one of our greatest railroads, the president of the University of Vu'ginia, the superintendent of schools of New York City, acting as i)resident of the National Educational Association, and by such bodies as the National Educational Associa- tion, the National Grange, and the National Irrigation Congress. This may fahdy l>e taken as a sure indication that the discussion of this subject has become ver}^ widespread, and that ])ublic opinion is becom- ing crystallized in favor of using the schools for the dissemination of agricultural knowletlge. After a long period of comparative neglect of agricultm-al interests by the leaders of thought and action in this country, a great awakening to the tremendous issues which are involved in the permanent ]5rosperity of our agriculture and in the maintenance of a high level of intelligence among oiu- agricultural peo])le has come, and happily the minds of our most influential men are turning more and more to the public schools as the fittest and best centers from which to spread a knowledge of the princi]:)les of agricul- ture and in which to inculcate a love of country life and an apprecia- tion of the dignity of agricultural pursuits. Sentiments favorable to agi-iculture are no longer expressed by our public men siuiply as a compliment to our farmers. It is rathc^r a new and serious sense of the real importance of the farmer to the commonwealth, and a fear of the perils into which the crowding of our population in great cities and the neglect to maintain the fertility of our soil are sure to bring us, that are leading thoughtful men of all classes to pa^^ earnest attention to the educational needs of our rural jiopulation. This means a great step in advance on this subject. It is now possible to secure a fair hearing of the claims of agricidture to a place in our public schools and a thorough testing of j)lans for the teaching of this subject in a wide and eflective way. It becomes importtmt, therefore, in look more closely at the methods which are being pursued to acquaint our 151 152 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. farmers, educators, and legislators with the needs of the rural schools in different parts of our country and to make definite suggestions for their imjn'ovement. Under the authority of Congress and the Secretary of Agriculture the Office of Experiment Stations has been collating information from yarious sources regarding the progress of this movement, and the present sunmiary is presented to sho\v in brief the residts of this invest igat ion. INTEREST AMONG FARMERS* ()R(iANIZATIONS. ()m- inv(\stigation shows that in the farmers' organizations through- out tlu> country, \yhich as a rule comj)rise our more intelligent and progressive fai'mers, the intro(hiction of agricultural instruction into the sciiools is being actively discussed and warndy a|)])roved. Local organizations are j)assing this question up to the State organizations, and tiiese in tui'u are sending it on to the National organizations. ('omniilt(>es on legislation are being apj)oint(Ml, and there are many evidences of an earnest and jxn'sistcnt etfort to secure definite results. Not content to wait for the fornndation of definite courses of instruction in agi'iculture for the rural schools and the training of teachers in this subject, there is in many places an eifoi't to do some- thing tangible to arouse the int(M-est of farmers' lioys in the study of agriculture. Through the agency of farniei's' organizations cooperat- ing with the State agricultm-al colleges and StaK^md county depaii- ments of education, boys' agricult ui'al clul)s have been oi-ganized, lai'geh' in coimection with the schools, in (Jeoi-gia, Illinois. India.iia, Iowa, KansiiS, Nebraska, Ohio, Te.xas, and pi'obably other States. The members of these clui)s iuive regular mstitut(> nu>e(ings and lecture c()urs;>s, go on e.xcui'sions to educational institutions and Large farms, conduct variety tests with corn, cotton, sugar beets, and other cro))s, and (>xhil)it their i)roducts at .school, county, and State fairs. The agi'icultural j)ress is de\'oling a lai'ger space th.an ever belore to the di-scussion of educational to])ics, and whercA'er an ;vttenij)i is made to establish ilu* teatdung of agriculture in the schools it is wid(>iy ;ind fully advert is(Hl. Entire nund)ers of some papers are given u\) to the ])resentation of vai'ious jduisc's of agricultural education. AI"HTri)K OF S( HOOL OFITCERS AND TEACHERS. A remarkable change has taken plac(^ in th(> attitude^ of school offi- cers and teacdiers regarding nature study and elementary agricultm-e as school sul)jects. A few years ago it was unusual to find any sub- ject relating to agriculture in pul)lic schools in the progrannnes of teach.ei's' meetings. Now .scarcely an educational meeting of impor- tance is held anywhere in the United States without at least one paper ELEMENTARY AGRTC'ULTURE TN SC'HOOEW. l^)?^ on somo ]iha8(' of this suliject, and in many cases whole s(>ssions are (l(>V()te(l to ih'/' chscussion of various t()]>ies i-ehiiinjj; to it, from nature study and scliool l.\s will serve to show how wides])read is tliis interest. At tlie sixty-seventh annual convention of (he American Institute of Instruction at New Haven, Conn., in duly, 1906, wlu(di is largely attended ])y school odicers and teachers from ditferent jiarts of New Eno-land, the teaching of elementary agriculture was largely discussed in the department of rural education, formal ])apers on this suhject being presented by the superintendent of education of Vermont and the ])rol"essor of agricidtm-e of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. New England has also been aroused to a serious and tlu)rough (hs- cussion of this matter by the report of a commission on industrial and tecduiical education ])resented to the legislatm-e of Massachusetts in April, 1 !){)(>. The chairman of this connnission was Hon. (^arroll ]). Wright, lor many years United States (/'onnnissioner of l^abor and now j^resident of Cdark l^niversity at Worcester, Mass. This com- mission was ap])ointed by the governor of Massachusetts in accord- ance with an act of the legislatuic, and sj)ent nearly a year in a study of the relation of children to oiu" industries and the condition of inchis- trial education at home and a])roacl. The commission found that "there is a wides])read interest in the general subject of industrial education, or special training for vocations," Init that our ))eo|)le gen- erally, and even those who are most interested in the sid)ject, have no definite iileas as to its ])ro])er sco])e or method. "Compared with the o])j)ortunities afforded in Europe for acquiring knowledge and skill in productive industry, the work now being done in Massachusetts is strikingly and ]>ainfully inadequate," and while in this country "the general ]nd)]ic has been strangely blind to the narrovniess of the ])ublic scliool education," in Europe there is " the universal recognition of the necessity of s]:)ecial eilucation for every form of industrial life.'' Among their conclusions were the following: The State needs a wider diffusion of industrial intelligence as a foundation for the highest teclmical success, and this can only he acquired in connect idii willi the general system of e(hication into which it sliould cTitcr as an integral part, from the beginning. The latest piiilosophy of education reenforces the demands of productive industry by showing that that which tits a child best for his i)lace in the world as a j)roe developed — (1) through thecxisting public school system, and (2) through independent industrial schools. In regard to the former the eonmiission recommends llutt anaeliino: in Harvard University, has been appointed cliairnian. Professor lianns is thoroughly alive to the need of industrial education, believino; that "the education demanded by democratic society in modern times nuist be a preparation for active life," and that '"tlu' only real preparation for life's duties, opportunities, and privileges is })articipation in them, so far as they can be rendered intelligible-, interesting, and accessible to children and youth of school age." This being so. he favors "liberal provision for elementary training in agricultui-e, industrial and conunercial pursuits, in addition to g( Ui^al manual training, at the u})per end of the granunar school and also at the upper end of tlu' high school." In New York, at the animal meeting of the State Association of vSchool Commissioners and Superintendents, held at Cornell Univer- sity, in October, !!)()(), the best means of adapting rtn'al schools to th(Mr environment was discussed, and it was gcMun-ally agreed that agricultin-e should Ix^ taught as a ])art of tho general scheme of peda- gogy, of which it should be the basic factor. In Indiana the coimty superintendents in twelve counties have organized clubs for the study of ci'oi)s, and the Association of County Suj)erintendents has asked l'ui'(hie rniversit\' to organize a training school for teachers in agriculture and nature study. Tlie State TeacluM's' Association of Michigan at its meeting in 1905 a(lo|)ted resolutions favoring the tc^acliing of agrictdtu''e in the public schools. In Missouri the State superintendent made the following statement in his I'epoi't for HK)4: Fifteen years ago 1 urged at county teachers' associations and granges that the ele- ments of agriculture l)e tauglit in public schools. Since then sentiment has grown until there is a great demand for it. For live yi'ars the law has recognized it by makiiig it one of a grou]) of subji>cts from which applicants must select to be examined for first- grade certificate or State certificate. Four years ago State normal schools established departments of agriculture and nature study. There are now many t(>achers in the State prejiared to teach elementary agricullui'e. In 1 ()()") tlie Missouri State Teachers' A.ssociation asked that agri- cult lu'c be made a requirement for any grade of teachers' certificate. In California, at a joint meeting of the State Teachers' Association and the State Farmers' Institute, held at the I^niversity of California ET.EMENTARY AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 155 in December, l',)05, and attended by some 7,000 persons, the subject of acrricultural education was discussed from various ponits of view, and Is a result of this meeting a committee was organized to promote the interests of such education in the pubhc schools of the State. At a conference for education in the South, held at Lexington Ky. in May 1906, and attended by leading educators from a number ot States, 'much attention was given to the claims of agriculture to a ■ place in the school curriculum. ... , At the meeting of the Virginia State Teachers' .^sociation and affiliated organizations in November, 1906, the teachmg of agricul- ture in the public schools was widely and thoroughly discussed and President Alderman, of the ITniversity of Virginia, m the closing address of that great meeting, declared that among the things which should be considered as settled in the campaign for a l)etter school system now being actively carried on in that State was that agricul- ture in some form should be generally taught in the schools. At the annual convention of the National Educational Association held at Asbury Park, N. J., in July, 1905, elementary agricultural instruction was a prominent subject of discussion, and such instruc- tion was favored in the annual address of the president, Dr. A\ illiani H. Maxwell, superintendent of schools of New York City, delivered to thousands of teachers at th.> opening session. The committee on mdustrial education in schools for rural communities, appomted two years before, brought in an elaborate report, in which it mauitamed - that the rural schools, which train nearly one-half of the school popu- lation of this country, should recognize the fact that the major portion of their pupils will continue to live upon the farm, and should pro- vide specific, definite technical training for them for the activities ot farm life It adduced strong arguments in support of this position and emphasized the educational value as well as the practical utility of courses of study framed with this end in view. The committee favored the consolidation of rural schools in order that teachers specially fitted for this work might be secured and the mstrm-tion made more efficient. It also advocated the cstal^lishnKnit of high schools to meet: the special needs of the rural population for secondary education directly related to agricultural practice." PROGRESS IN LEGISLATION. Steady progress is being made in securing legislation favorable to the teaching of agriculture in public schools. The laws of over 30 States now permit or require such instruction. Among the States which require the teaching of agriculture in all elementary schools are Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wisconsm. Legisla- tion on this subject is commonly accompanied with provisions makmg 156 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. agriculture one of the subjects on which teachers may or must be examined. In Nebraska, for ( xaniple, candidates for fu-st and second grade county certificates must pass an examination in the elements of agriculture. In Wisconsin, since 1001, teachers have been required to pass an examination in elementary agriculture in order to secure any grade of teachers' certificate. In New Hampshire teachers in secondary schools are required to have training in agriculture. In Virginia teachers securing first-grade certificates must pass an exami- nation on eitht>r jjhysical geography, elementary physics, or elemen- tary agriculture. In Alabama, Georgia, ^lississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, and South Dakota all teachers must pass examination on this subject. In New York the new syllabus for elementary schools contains nature study and agricultiu'e, and teachers in training classes are recpiired to cover all su])jects in the syllabus. In Ohio the Teachers' Reading Circle requires the study of one text-book on ele- mentary agricidture each year. The laws are also beginning to rec- ognize the fact that definite provision should ])e made for the training of teachers along agricultural lines. Thus a recent act in Michigan, which enables counties to maintain normal training classes with State aid, requires the teaching of agriculture to such classes. In ]\Iassa- chusetts the legislature appropriated $5,000 for normal work at the State Agricultural College as one result of the rej)ort of the conuuission on industrial education above referred to. It is also bemg seen that the high schools are very largely the insti- tutions in which the teachers of the rural schools receive tlieir most advanced training, and this fact is now making it easier to secure legislation for high-school instruction in agriculture. Already under State laws there are agricultural high schools in Alabama, (California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In 1905 the Minnesota legislature passed an act providing for local option in the estal)lishment and mainte- nance of county schools of agriculture and domestic economy, limituig to $20,000 the amount which any county may appropriate for this purpose in one year. Two or more countless may unite to establish such a school. Each school must have coimected with it a tract of land suitable for experiments and demonstrations of not less than 10 acres. At the session of ]i)06 the Georgia legislature ])assed an act estab- lishing 11 agricultural high schools, as branches of the State College of Agriculture. These schools will each receive from the State about $6,000 a year, derived fi-om the inspection fees collected by the wState department of agriculture, but each conununity in which such a school is located must furnish not less than 200 acres of land and the necessary equipment. The people are res])onding enthusiastically to this requirement, and about $800,000 in land and money has been offered for the equipment of these schools. ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 157 In New Hampshire, beginning with 1906, high schools and acade- mies maj" be approved by the State superintendent of education if they are prepared to teach agriculture. Recent legislation in Virginia provides for the establishment of public high schools under the authority of the State superintendent of education. Arrangements are being made to open about 150 such schools, and it is intended to make instruction in agricidture a feature of the course in such of these schools as are located in the rural districts. FORIVTULATION OF COURSES. One of tlie objections often made to the introduction of agricidture into our schools is that the teachers do not know what should be taught under this head. This may have l)een a valid excuse in the past, ])ut to-day is no longer so. While there is still much differ- ence of opinit)n as to details, the general scheme of instruction has been pretty well worked out. For example, the Office of Experiment Stations has published an outline plan of a course in nature study and elementary agriculture for rural schools. This was prepared by a committee of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, and therefore represents broadly the views of educators in different parts of the country on this subject. In tliis publication," which may be obtained on application to this Depart- ment, it is suggested that during the first six 3"ears of the child's attendance at school he should be led to make observations of the plants and animals on the farm and in the fields and woods, together with simple studies of soils, weather conditions, and other natural objects and phenomena. A more formal study of climate, soils, fer- tilizers, farm cro])s, fruits, domestic animals, dairying, farm build- ings and machinery, marketing, and farm accounts is outlined for the seventh and eighth school years. The committee has followed this with a series of simple exercises and demonstrations on some of the elementary princi})les of agriculture. These have recently been published as a circular of the Office of Experiment vStaiioiis. In Missouri a course in agriculture for the public schools was pre- pared several years ago by the State superintendent of schools. This has since been superseded by a more nearly complete ])resentat ion of this subject in a bulletin prepared by the State superintendent and published by the State board of agriculture. This bulletin advocates presenting the subject of agriculture "(1) by experiments at home and in the field, (2) by studying facts as given in texts and bulletins, and (3) l)y school gardens connected with school grounds." Nu- merous experiments and observations are suggested throughout the bulletin. a Office of Expcriiiiciit Stations Circular GO, The Teaching of Agriculture in the Rural Coninidii Schools. 158 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. In Illinois a somewhat detailed course has been prepared by the dean of the College of Agriculture. This course is arranged by months, and gives suggestions for a large number of experiments and observations bearing on all the divisions of agriculture. Consider- able reading along agricidtural lines is suggested, as well as drawing, composition, and other work intended to correlate agriculture with other school work. This Illinois course has not only been used in that State, but has also been adopted by several other States and published in the reports of their State superintendents of education. In Minnesota a bulletin prepared by Prof. W. M. Hays, then pro- fessor of agricultiu-e of the College of Agriculture and now Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, has been widely used in the schools of that and other States. This bulletin contains a large number of practical and illustrative exercises for use in comiection with elementary instruction in agriculture. In Wisconshi the State superuitendent of public instruction, in 1!)0G, prepared an outline for instruction in the elements of agricul- ture for the us(> of teachers in (•omnion schools. In this outline it is recommended that agriculture be taught in the last half of the eighth year, and that nature study be given hi all grades tlu'ough general exercises and in connect ion with language exercises, geography, reading, and liistory. The outline is divided hito three parts, (1) agriculture, including the soil, water and the soil, tilling the soil, soil enrich- ment, the plant, the leguminous plants, plant enemies, rotation of cr()])s, selection of seed, the farm garden, weeds, and home and school gardens; (2) farm nnimals, including care and feeding, t>pe forms, and I arm economics, and {'A) farm poultry. Outlines of courses, sam])le lessons, and other helps for teachers have also been published by the State dej)artments of education ui Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, and ])r()bably in other States. The New York State department of education has published a sylla- l)us of a course in agriculture for high schools, and this will be followed by a detailed series of lessons and laboratory and field exercises. PREPARATION OF TEXT-BOOKS AND MANUALS. The demand for text-books, manuals, and reference books on agri- culture adapted to school use is steadily growmg. The agricultural experts connected with our agricultural colleges and experiment sta- tions are thus encoui-aged to prepare such books, and publishers are now act ive in seeking for l)ooks of this character. The number of bul- letins useful to teachers and students which are issued by the United States Department of Agriculture and the State experiment stations has o-reatly increased in recent years, and the demand for these from educational institutions is now large. Among elementary text-books ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 159 which are already used more or less extensively in schools are Biirkett, Stevens and Hill's Agriculture for Beginners; GofT and Ma>iie's First Principles of Agriculture; Bailey's Principles of Agriculture; Good- rich's First Book of Farming; Brooks's Agriculture; Jackson and Daugherty's Agriculture through the Laboratory and School Garden; Shepperd and McDowell's Elements of Agriculture (prepared espe- cially for North Dakota schools), and Hatch and Haselwood's Ele- mentary Agriculture with Practical ^ii'ithmetic. The last mentioned is an interesting attempt to correlate instruction in agriculture with that hi arithmetic by connecting with the several lessons in agriculture a number of practical arithmetical problems directly relating to the farm. For the high-school library and the teachers' use we have such advanced manuals as Hunt's Cereals in America; Smith's Profitable Stock Feeding; Henry's Feeds and Feeding; Jordan's Feeding of Animals; King's Soil, Irrigation and Drainage, and Physics of Agricul- ture ; Decker's Dairying; Snyder's Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life ; Mead's Irrigation Institutions; Taylor's Agricultural Economics, and others. For general reference books we have the new Interna- tional Encyclopedia; Bailey's Encyclopedia of Horticulture; Wilcox and Smith's Encyclopedia for Farmers; Bailey's Garden Craft and Rural Science Series; the Yearbooks of the ITnited States Department of Agriculture, and others of similar character. The bulletins and books wliicli the schools can easily secure contahi many descriptions and illustrat ions of simple and inexpensive apparatus and other facili- ties which may be purchased or made by the teacher. There is no excuse for keeping agriculture out of the schools to-day because of a lack of suitalile books or other aids to such instruction. Suggestions for the adaptation of country schoolhouses to this new work are now bemg made. At Cornell University a model schoolhouse is being erected, which, in addition to the usual recitation room, will have a large hihoratory for nature study and elementary agriculture. PROVISION FOR TRAINING TEACHERS. Realizing that a vital pomt in the effective teaching of agriculture in our public schools is the training of teachers in this swbject, the friends of this movement are now making active efforts to establisli agricultural courses for teachers in our colleges and normal scliools. The agricultural colleges in a number of States have given instruction to considerable numbers of teachers at summer schools. They ave now beginning to establish regidar normal courses, provision for such work having recently been made at the colleges in Illinois, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Michigan, ]\Iissouri, and New York. The colleges in Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, New York, Mississippi, and Rhode Island also have so-called extension departments which are seeking to come into close 160 YEATtBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. touch with teachers as well as with country boys and girls, and thus promote the wider difi'usion of agricidtural education. These colleges are also using ilieir iiifluence to turn students in their regular courses to the career of teacliing. Tiie agricultural liigJi scjkjoIs, whether attached to the agricultural colleges or independent of them, are also training teachers. Some of the normal schools in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, California, Louisiana, Maine, ]\hissachusetts, Michigan, MissoiuM, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are givhig regular histruction in nature study and elementary agrictdture. ORGANIZATION OF AGKICULTITRAL SCHOOLS. Meanwhile the esiahlisliiiient of courses in agricidture in secondary and ])rimary schools is going on in diU'ereni ])arts of the country. The agi-iculiural high schools organized in conneci ion with the agricultural colleges in Mimiesota, Ne1)raska, Oklahoma, Kliode Island, and Wash- ington report an increased munber of st udeiils, aiul are better equipped than ever before. The National Farm School at Doylestown, Pa., has been recognized by I he Slaie legislature, which granted ii an appro- ])rialion of $12,000, to be used for agricultural instruction. This school now receives more a|)j)licants for admission than it can acconi- modat(>, and is obliged lo kecj) a wailing list. In Wisconsin the Dunn (\)unty School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy at Menominee has graduated three classes 21 i)oys and girls in 11)04, 19 in IDOo, and l(i ill 1 !)()(■». The Oalifornia I'olylechnic School, at San Luis Obispo, has become (irmly established and has a good ecpiipment and a consider- able mimber of agricultural students. The nine district agricultiu-al schools in Alabama are steadily growing in j)oj)ularity, and the efli- ciency of their agricultural work has been nmch increased. The agi'i- cultural course at the Mount llermon School, in Massachusetts, is being- well maintained. In Missouri agriculiur<> is being taughi in 200 high schools, in Ohio in lU), and in one or more schools in Alabama, New Iianij)shire, Pennsylvania, New York, Iowa, Kansas, Nebra.ska, Louisiana, Indiana, ]\bune. Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South (^u'olina, Tcumessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and AVisconsin. Agricultural high schools have receiu ly been organized at Crookston, Minn., and Calvert, Md. At the latter a graduate of the Iowa Agri- cultural College has been elected principal, and a course of study closely following the course recommended by the conunittee on instruction in agriculture of the As.sociation of American Agricul- tural Colleges and I^xperiment Stations" has been adoj^ted, and the ' aOllice of Experiment Stations Circular GO. ELEMKN I.VKV AOEICULTUBE IN SCHOOLS. 161 asricuUural w..rk is avousir,;,' uiuch interest not only among the pnpils but , o Imon- the farn.eis of tlie county. The prmoipal ytsits other ' oot in 1« Vicinh. for .he purpose of getting thetr teachers a,>d ptmt in erested in agrtc.tltnral snhjeets. The Softool ts strtetly n,ra , . although it has iH-ett run.ttng only shtce the 1st of Noventber 1 9t th r s ttn mrollnteni of 47, the school bttihhng ts crowded, atrd alr«^ t ire is talk of a new buildhtg ne.Kt year. Georgta ts organt.t-.g ele^ > s eh schools The agricttltural courses ni schools for negroes v. ,llamp- on V. UKl Tttsk^gee, Ala., are tnait.taitted very effictently and efforts are beittg tnade to strengthen the agricttltttral c.ntrses of sec- oX'^radc itt a nu,nf,er of the lattd-grant colleges for negroes ttt other Southern States. . . i + ;,-, n Ohio it is reported that elententary agrtcttlturo ,s taught, tn .u> ox , nately .500 township schools; i.t Missouri tn 3,000 schools; tn N Xl akot. it, 300 schools; and this sttbject is regttlarly taught tu a «:;siderable ttuntber of schools itt Ala batna Georgta. "^"■-: ™'^; ■ Indian Territorv, Iowa, Louisiana, Maute, Nebraska, New H.. mp.slute. New York, Penttsyl.ania, South Carohna, South Dakota, Vtrgmta, Wisconsin, atid Washitigtoii. NUMBER OF PVPILS STUDYINC. .iOtilCULTUtlE. Reliable statistics of the number of pupils studying agricultttre in ottr p bhc schools are not available, but from the .-P-l>,'«-» ^ r "eived at the Office of Experiment Stations tt -- -' ' *7. are mitnbered by thottsands. Frotn the report of the St, t', st^tpe. fnteXt of education ,.f Missottri for 190.5 we have gathered the f" lowi g interesting statistics; The tottd number o schools dot. g gh-school work ,n Aat State is .55.5 with 1,428 t-che.--d i^.>. 4 students The total nutnber of stitdents tn agricu tttre ts 1 SO. in Le sdlnces, which are tnorc or less related ^^ ^^'^^'^ ^:^. bers are as follows; Botany, 2,742; zoology, 1,00.5 <'''™'^' > ' l'/' 7 physics, 3,386; physical g<-«g>-Pl'>^,^2\5 ^ ''"T ooo' , ' t.tanua s taken by 14,117 students, but Greek by only 200^ In t u t,-,inin,ere should be little difficulty in laying a proper foundat.o. or effcth. agricultural itrstruction; (3) that there are so many 162 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. farmers' children in these schools that with proper courses of instruc- tion the high schools of Missouri may easily become powerful agen- cies for sending back to the farms young people thoroughly alive to the advantages of country life and the requu'cments of a pro- gressive agriculture; (4) that it is vital to the advancement of the best interests of the elementary rural schools that the atmosphere and instruction of schools shoidd be favorable to agriculture, for to these liigh schools the country school must largely look for teachers. HOW FARMERS MAY HELP THE SCHOOLS. Ha^nng now reviewed the progress which has been made in recent years in opening the way for the teaching of agriculture in our public schools, it may be well to give brief attention to some of the ways in Avhich the farmers themselves may further promote the improve- ment of the rural schools in this and other respects. Our agricul- tural conmiunities have never been so pi'osperous as to-day. And there is every reason ti) ])elieve that with intelligent management of the land and sound judgment in the marketing of the products this prosperity may be permanently maintained. The farmers now have the means to improve not only their lands and buildings, but also their general social conditions. The experience of the j^ast century has shown that a thorough and effective school system in which the curriculum recognizes the industrial, intellectual, and social needs of the community is a most influential factor in pro- moting material wealth, as well as a broad and satisfactory life. Our farmers will be wise, therefore, if they use a portion of their increased means to strengthen and improve the rural schools. Some have feared that agricultural prosperity would lead to a neglect of education in our rural communities. But the indications are that this is not to be so. Our agricidtural colleges and schools report both an increase in the number of students and an improvement in their quality. It ajjpears that with the improvement of agricultm-al conditions there is a renewed interest in farming as a business, and farm boys of strong mental caliber and active ambition are seeking in larger numbei's to prepare themselves in the best way for a life on the farm. There is also widespread recognition of the fact that our })resent agricultural prosperity rests on a different basis from that of pie- vious periods in our history. There have been times when multitudes of our farmers were prosperous because they had occupied large areas of virgin soil freely granted them by the Government or purchased at a very low price. To-day our agricultural prosperity has come partly from increased demand for farm products at home and abroad and partly from the more sicillful use of the land and the growing of im- proved crops and animals. And the improvement of agricultural ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE TN SCHOOLS. 163 methods and products has been very hirgely the result of the work of the United States Department of Agricuhure and the State experiment stations. Technical and scientific knowledge is, as never before, a requisite of the most successful fanning. The schools can be made efficient aids to the acquirement of that knowledge which our farm youth must have in order to perpetuate and extend the prosperity which their fathers now enjoy. Therefore our intelligent farmers are seeking to improve the rural schools, and will do so more actively as they come more generally to understand the im- portance of such action. Better-trained teachers, improved school houses and groimds, more apparatus and books, free transportation of pupils to consoli- dated schools, high schools made available to all country children, and the teaching of agriculture and home ecomonics will cost some- thing, and if they are to be had they must be paid for. But imless all past experience is a false guide, this improved school system will be one of the mcjst profitable investments ever made by a civilized comnumity. And if our farmers are alert to their interests they will ]iush these improvements along rapidl3^ and they will not permit the entire expense to come out of the taxable farm property. The villages and cities, whose prosperity rests on the farms, and the accumulated wealth of the State should contribute to the education of the rural people. This is' already recognized in a number of oin- States as a wise and just principle. The nation has also recognized it by appropriating large sums for the higher agricultural education. It can not be too strongly tirged that the movement for the im- provement of the rural schools, and in particular for the teaching of topics directly relating to agriculture and farm home life, should receive the active support of the masses of our farmers. And this support should be felt in oin- legislatures, boards of edtication, and local school management. This will require study of the present condition of our rural schools and careful consideration of their needs. As regards agricidtural instruction there should be an imder- standirg of what the elementary and secondary schools may prop- erly teach and the relation of such studies to those ordinarily pursued in our schools. For example, oin- farmers should conxe to under- stand that it is not the ordinary practice of agricidtiu'e which can or shoidd be taught in the public schools. It is rather the obsei'vation of the things in the natiu'al world which the farmer has to deal with, the use of natural laws for the benefit of agriculture, the reasons why certain farm practices are beneficial and others injurious to the land that the school ma}^ teach. For example, in a dairy region the composition of milk, the causes of the souring of milk, and the ways of preventing this may be taught in school; in a potato-growing region, the nature and cause of potato blight, the reason why it is necessary to spray the vines before the disease api)ears; where the 164 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. soils are deficient in nitrogen, the advantage of green manuring with k'guminoLis plants and the reasons therefor; in an arid region, the use of the soil mulch and why it prevents the escape of soil mois- ture. And, above all, the farmer should see to it that the rural school-teacher is a friend of agriculture and loses no good opportunity to show his or her pupils the advantages and opportunities of country life. The farmers can also do a great deal to promote the teaching of agriculture in the rural schools by encouraging the teachers to take up this subject and to prepare themselves to give mstruction in it. The farmers are very largely the managers of rural schools and their children are the teachers in them. Merely by taking an active inter- est in the local schools, inviting the teachers and scholars to visit the farm, especially when there are unusually good crops and fine ani- mals to be seen there, or sending specimens of products or injurious birds or insects to the school, the intelligent farmer may help to create a sentiment in favor of agricultural instruction there. Teachers, like other workers, will inevitably respond to an active demand for new things. As soon as it becomes generally understood that the farmers are bound to have agricultm-e taught in the schools, candi- dates for teachers' positions will get ready to teach it. With many of our educational leaders fully believing that subjects directly related to the life work of the pupils should be taught and a host of the intel- ligent farmers insisting that our future agricultural prosperity will largely depend on such teaching in the schools, a way will surely be found to bring this great reform to a successful issue. Meanwhile let us have great patience with even the most imperfect attempts on the part of our schools to work along this line. The whole matter of elementary and secondary instruction in agriculture is in an experi- mental stage. Many trials of courses, methods of teaching, books, apparatus, and other facilities must be made before plans fully adapted to the conditions of different agricultural regions can be matured. Intelligent and kindly criticism should be invited and utilized by all who are engaged in this work. In this way alone can the best prog- ress be made. What is now being done, with all its imperfections, is tremendously important. Principles of action are being determined. Every suc- cessful example of the effective teaching of agriculture, whether in a little country school or in the agricultural high school, is helping to indicate along what line the future growth of this movement must proceed. There is therefore much cause for congratulation that in so many different States and under such a variet}^ of conditions honest and substantial efforts are being made to solve the problems of our rural schools and to test the usefulness of agricultural instruc- tion as a means of improving country life and perpetuating agricul- tural prosperity. O DDDE7fl273bb