254 THE NA TU RE- STUD Y RE VIE IV [4:8- nov , 1908 



■course, or to see its direct relations to other things. With this 

 in mind, we cannot present to them problems involving such in- 

 direct relations without seriously interfering with the spontan- 

 eous activity that naturally characterizes creatures in that 

 objective stage of intellectual development. They can do much, 

 they can be made to do much, they must do many things of 

 ■a certain kind which, if they do not do in childhood cannot be 

 done for them, or by them at all. They can learn facts, but not 

 philosophy of facts, nor interpret facts. The facts of nature, 

 they can learn, can learn systematically] and if they do so learn 

 them, it will become fruitful knowledge to them when experience 

 of riper years shall have given them interpretive power. I em- 

 phasize systematically to call attention to the different counsel 

 given by many who advocate "free and natural processes," 

 regardless of the fact that no colt by any such process ever be- 

 came an efficient horse. Harnesses and traces and systems, 

 and hard and fast lines for beginners, and out of that, at length, 

 comes initiative, and spontaneity, and grace, and movement, and 

 results that count. I cannot see it any other way. 



Hughes High School, Maximilian Braam. 



Cincinnati, Ohio. 



The Relation of Agriculture to Science. In a recent issue of the 

 School News, Dean Davenport of the Illinois College of Agricul- 

 ture says that "when I speak of teaching agriculture in our high 

 schools. I mean agriculture. I do not mean nature-study nor do 

 I mean that some sort of a pedagogical kink should be given e^en 

 to geography and arithmetic. Let agriculture introduce new 

 matter into the schools and with it a new point of view." It is 

 certainly difficult to understand what all this means, because 

 agriculture is certainly only an application of the principles of the 

 various sciences. A splendid illustration is found in the same 

 number of the same magazine in an article by Professor Barto, 

 also of the Illinois College of Agriculture. This article discusses 

 how water is held in the soil and the sub-topics are texture of soils, 

 pore space, the relation of pore space to weight of soil, the impor- 

 tance of careful tilth in order to give the open porous texture of a 

 fertile soil, the difficulty of handling clay soil because of the fine- 

 ness of the grains of the particles, the capacity for water depends 

 upon pore space, and the forms of soil water and control of soil 



