[V,\2 ItKPCmT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



tioii. il is liijrli tiiiic lliiil .ill (iiif nir;il schools liiriicd llirir iiUontion.as some of 

 tlit'iii liMVt- (loiif. to sciciitilic ;i;,'rl(iillur(>. Tlicrc is no study of {greater iiiipor- 

 taiicc. 'riicir is iioii(> more ciilcrtainiii};. If rvery couiilry boy i-ouid Ik'Coiiio, 

 aivordiiif; to his ability, a lUirl)aii]v, iiicn-asiiij; llio yii'ld of Iho fruit tiro, the 

 yrain licld. and the cotton plantation, producing food and clotiiiuf; where befoi'e 

 llicic was only waste, what riches woubl be .added to our country, what liai)pi- 

 ness woidd be infused into life. 'I'o obtain on(> jilant that will nietaniorpliose 

 the tiehl or the j;arden, l(),()(»(t plants must be grown and destroyed. To find 

 cue Burbank. lO.OOO boys must be trained, but, unlike the ])lants, all the boys 

 will have been l)enetited. The gain to the nation would be incalculable. Scien- 

 tific agriculture, i)ractically taught, is as necessary for the rural school as is 

 manual training for tlie city school. 



In the report upon educational progress of the year by Howard J. 

 Ilo«;ers, first assistant ooniiuissioner of e(hication of the State of New 

 York, who had charge of the educational exhibits at the Louisiana 

 Purchase Exposition, the teaching of agrictdture was referred to 

 among the few leading subjects of interest in the educational world 

 at present. 



Most inii)ortant of all, however, was the report of the committee 

 on industrial education in schools for rural communities. This com- 

 nuttee was appointed at the Boston meeting of the association in 

 1903, to investigate and report to the association conclusions as to 

 Avhat shoidd be midertaken in the field of industrial education in 

 schools for rural communities. The members of the connnittee are 

 L. D. Harvey, chairman, superintendent of schools of Menomonie, 

 AVis. ; L. H. Bailey, director of the College of Agriculture of Cornell 

 University; Alfred Bayliss, State superintendent of public instruc- 

 tion in Illinois; W. T. Carrington, State superintendent of public 

 schools in Missouri, and W. M. Hays, Assistant Secretary of Agri- 

 culture. 



The report includes a summary of conclusions regarding industrial 

 education (agriculture, domestic science, and manual training) in 

 rural schools; an argument for such education; a discussion of what 

 in the field of industrial education should be undertaken in rural 

 schools of different grades, namely, one-room rural schools, consoli- 

 dated schools, rural high schools, and secondary schools of agricul- 

 ture and domestic economy; with suggestive outlines for courses in 

 nature study and agriculture for elementary and secondary schools; 

 suggestions for eliminating part of the mmecessary Avork now under- 

 taken in rural schools to make room for industrial subjects and for 

 the training of teachers to give instruction in these subjects, and an 

 accoinit of boj^s' experiment clubs, and other agencies available for 

 cooperation in the development of industrial education. 



Information regarding the organization and courses of study of 

 the existing and proposed schools discussed by the committee is given 

 in four appendixes, Appendix A. treating of the Dunn County (Wis- 



