r, XATlRIi STl'DV REVIEW |'J:I — Ian., ]9i:! 



Sells vegetal)les ami keeps the money. Class experiments sliow osmosis. 

 conservation of soil moisture, etc." 



Proliahlv most of the instruction in agriculture in the rural 

 schools lias hcen by text-book with little or no illustrative ma- 

 terial.. This practice is defended on the ground that it is too 

 difticult in the average school to secure facilities for any other 

 kind i)f instruction. The second group of questions (4-10) refei" 

 t(» methods used by successful teachers to present the subject 

 concretely by dealing directly with the material upon which the 

 subject matter is based. That such a procedure is feasible is 

 indicated in the answers to questions of this group. 



The i)roblem of apparatus- necessary to ]jerform simple ex- 

 periments was solved by teachers in various ways. \'erv little 

 purchased apparatus is possible in the rural school even if it 

 were desirable. One teacher says: "I believe if the pupil can 

 make his own ajiparatus. nuich of the unnatural coloring is 

 eliminated from his results. He is likely to be influenced unduly 

 by the fact that he is using a fine piece of apparatus and un- 

 consciously feels that somehow a large portion of the results 

 come from the apparatus rather than from operation of the 

 natural law which is being investigated." Forty-two of the one 

 hundred and forty-six teachers responding to this question (4) 

 used home-made apparatus, .sixty used school-made, thirty-nine 

 used both, and five used some purchased. The use of home- 

 made apparatus seems to have had two advantages, one in sav- 

 ing .school time, the other in carrying school interests into the 

 h.ome. The school-made apparatus brought more children in 

 contact with the work, and gave the ptipils the benefit of the 

 teacher's suggestions. A few of the answers will be of interest : 



"Both should he used. In this connection we have constructed an 

 unusually successful "go-devil" for diking land for irrigation, drawing 

 plans m school and having the hoys construct the machine in the home 

 shop. Hot hcds and cold frames have been Iniilt and used in the school 



"Home-made, mostly, except the Babcock test, for which we use a 

 Fmall portable outht. Home-made saw-dust seed corn tester Home- 

 made apparatus for soil experiments; models of chicken houses, si'os 

 barns, etc. 



"In all cases when possible I use home-made apparatus-e. g. illustrat- 

 ing t.Ie drammg, irrigation. Pupils make necessary apparatus " 



h,.„=. '•;'"'' 1""'", *^?y" -'■^'" '•''■" germinating box; model chicken 

 house, soil and sand table, on which is fastened a top to be used for 

 N..nous purposes as holding a milk tester, seeds, etc.; milk cabinet, as a 

 ni..del t.) be used in barn to hold records, etc." 



■■n..me-niade corn tester, lirooder, nest builder." 



