REPORT OF the; commissioner. II 



The publication of the quarterly bulletins has been continued. 

 'Special efforts have been made to make these bulletins of great 

 value to the farmers and gardeners of the State. Articles have 

 been contributed for them by men who are experts in the various 

 branches of farm work and who keep in touch with the best 

 methods and the most up-to-date knowledge in all these lines. 

 The spraying calendar published in our spring number is of 

 inestimable value. The articles that have been written by the 

 farmers of the State, giving their personal experience in the 

 various lines of farm work, are full of useful suggestions and 

 they are worthy of all the careful study that the farmer can 

 bestow upon them. 



Applications for these bulletins are continually being received, 

 -and our mailing list has attained large proportions. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



In our w^ork the past year we have endeavored, whenever pos- 

 .sible, to emphasize the value and importance of agricultural 

 education, as we are largely of the opinion that if we improve 

 the farmer he will improve the farm. We are glad to know that 

 farmers are doing more reading and thinking along agricultural 

 lines than ever before, but there is need of more agricultural 

 teaching in the common schools of the State. We are proud of 

 ■our State, of its resources, its natural attractions, its strong and 

 intelligent men and women, but we must not forget that agri- 

 culture is one of its fundamental industries, and the decadence of 

 agriculture will strike at the root of its greatness. Maine is fast 

 becoming an agricultural State, and it is eminently proper that 

 the money of the State should be used in educating her children 

 along the line which they intend to pursue. The agricultural 

 prosperity of our people will be in proportion to the amount of 

 intelligence and skill which is put into their work. ]^Iany of the 

 western states have recognized the importance of agricultural 

 •education for their husbandmen, and are giving much attention 

 to the teaching of agriculture in the public schools. We regard 

 the teaching of agriculture in our schools as a necessity for the 

 "best advancement of the State ; but it will never be properly 

 taught in the public schools until the teachers have fitted them- 

 selves to teach it, and this preparation should be made in the 

 normal schools. We unhesitatingly declare that the normal 



