l64 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [5:6— sept. 1909 



Other modes of soil enrichment may be practiced without much 

 knowledge of bacteria, or, of the chemistry of fertilizers, or, of 

 plant physiology. Seed selection may be carried on quite exten- 

 sively with little or no knowledge of the laws of heredity. Feed- 

 ing one ration to obtain milk and another to produce flesh need 

 not involve much knowledge of the physiology of assimilation or 

 of the chemistry of digestion. vSpraying for insects and fungi as a 

 protective measure need not imply an extensive knowledge of 

 entomology or cryptogamic botany. Grafting, budding, and 

 other forms of propagation need not rest on a very broad knowl- 

 edge of plant anatomy and physiology. 



Learning to do the things in the foregoing summary has some 

 very decided educational values. One of its values lies in the 

 fact that it stores the mind with a fund of experimental knowl- 

 edge. This makes it vital to one's thinking. It is also valuable 

 as a stimulant to the inquisitive mind looking for the real reasons 

 why things transpire as they do. It is further valuable as afl'ord- 

 ing a reservoir of material for example or illustration to one in 

 pursuit of a law or principle in the natural world. 



From the discussion thus far it seems reasonable to conclude 

 that the study of agriculture may both precede and follow the 

 study of the underlying sciences. It may also accompany the 

 study of some of the sciences, may even be identical with them. 

 An experimental study of the structure, propagation, growth, ard 

 improvement of the corn plant is both good agriculture and good 

 botany. The place and function of agriculture in a complete 

 school curriculum, therefore, is indicated by these three charac- 

 teristics. It furnished a good body of material which may be 

 used as a point of departure for the study of the other 

 sciences. It contains much material identical with good material 

 in other sciences thus giving impulse to a further study of those 

 sciences. It also opens a vast field for the appHcation of the 

 laAvs of other sciences. This three-fold characteristic makes 

 agriculture a study adapted to almost every type of intellect, and 

 to practically every stage of mental development. 



