432 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [11:9— Dec, 1915 



ture as a Means of Education," the author presents the aims of 

 Agricultural Education and it is notable that they are in large 

 measure co-incident with the aims of Nature-Study. He does not 

 for a moment think that Elementary Agriculture is merely an 

 attempt to teach the farm lad how to increase his yield of corn and 

 hogs. In fact, if any criticism is to be made, it is that he expects 

 to accomplish too much through Agriculture as a means of educa- 

 tion. It trains the child to win his needed food, clothing, and 

 shelter. There is a wealth of knowledge in it that might well 

 occupy him a lifetime. It serves "to whet and expand his intel- 

 lect." "No other subject offers greater opportunities for the 

 complete and harmonious development of man's mind, might and 

 morals." He thinks that rural people have always been famous 

 for their refinement, at least for the essential elements of refine- 

 ment, and that this is due to the education which they have receive 

 from Agriculture. It is the best means to culture and to ethical 

 training. "The farmer's canvas is his fields, and his art materials 

 are the soil and the great forces wrapped up in the physical mani- 

 festations of Nature. The artist-farmer brings perennial comfort 

 and gladness to the countless missions of the race." 



Chapter io, on Pedagogical Problems Involved, and Chapter 

 1 1 , on Administration in Teaching, are among the best in the book. 

 They review some of the simpler general methods of teaching and 

 apply them to the special problem of teaching Agriculture. They 

 suggest some of the unsettled problems. The last three chapters 

 of the book discuss some of the concrete methods to be used, includ- 

 ing demonstration plot, various home projects, and Agricultural 

 Clubs. The book undoubtedly is merely the precursor or a series 

 of books on this general subject, and probably is as good a presenta- 

 tion as could be expected thus early in our contact with the 

 problems of Agricultural Instruction in the Grades. 



Rural Life and Education. Ellwood P. Cubberley, pp. xiv + 

 367. Houghton Mifflin Company. $1.50. 

 This is an exceeding stimulating book. The first two chapters, 

 on "Changes in the Nature of Rural Life" and the "New Rural 

 Life Conditions," make admirable use of the data found in recent 

 census reports and local surveys. The concentration of urban 

 population, the increase in speculation in farm lands, with the 

 abnormal rise in prices, the increase in tenantry, are all brought 



