DAVIS] DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL AGRICULTURE i 6i 



3. Social, which sees the basic nature of the subject, i. e., that 

 it is wrapped up in all sorts of human interests, and that in-so-far 

 as there is a general education along this line will those actively 

 engaged in agricultural pursuits be able to make their best con- 

 tribution to the good of the whole people. 



The recent conference on irrigation and conservation of our 

 natural resources are expressions of this point of view. Men in 

 all walks of life are taking part in this movement but not until the 

 masses of the people feel this interest will the individual directly 

 concerned in the soil and its produce be able to make full returns, 

 e. g., Destructive floods affect the productivity of the farm, but 

 the floods may be largely the result of a forest policy over which 

 the farmer has no control. 



We are glad to present as the introductory paper in this depart- 

 ment one by Professor William R. Hart, who was among the first 

 in the country to call attention to certain of the broader educa- 

 tional aspects of agriculture.* 



Benj. M. Davis 



Departmental Editor 

 Miami University, 



Oxford, O. 



THE PLACE AND FUNCTION OF AGRICULTURE IN 

 THE CURRICULUM 



By WILLIAM R. HART 

 Mass. Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. 



All school studies have some value. Confusion in current dis- 

 cussions of the relative values of studies arises from the fact that 

 writers fail to discern that but few studies can be measured by 

 the same standard. Utility as a measure of value for school 

 studies is being pressed just now more than any other standard. 

 But utility in the evaluation of a study may apply equally as well 

 to Latin as to manual training. Quite as much depends upon the 

 purpose, the attitude, the point of view of the learner as upon the 

 nature of the subject studied. This may make the study of 

 Latin, or other language for that matter, even more utilitarian 

 than the study of botany or chemistry. That this is true often 



'^Educational Agriculture, see Report of Xeb. State Bd. of Agr. for ic;o6. 



