204 • FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



the most broadly educated man who is thorough in nothing. The person who- 

 is not master of anythiijg is loose in the sea of life without a rudder. 



Mr. Pillage: President Willits says that those who are properly taught in 

 the district schools can come from them to the Agricultural College. Do many 

 of the students there come from the common country schools? 



President Willits: About three-fourths of them. Those who come from the 

 high schools are apt to pass a better examination in algebra than in arithmetic. 

 So in the normal school we had to keep an arithmetic class running all the 

 time. At Annapolis, Avhere I have just visited, they have the same standard of 

 admission that we have, excei)t for our requiring a little algebra. We hear 

 much of the aristocracy of the navy, but there at Annapolis no such thing is- 

 tanght. Three or four hundred boys go together in their blouses into the 

 shops and work for three or four hours every day, and learn to forge a chain 

 and build a ship. But at Annapolis they find that the preparation of the com- 

 mon school in algebra was almost worthless, and that half of their applicants 

 for admission come tliere better prepared in algebra than in arithmetic. It is 

 not simply the question of doing a problem, but lohy do you do it ? what is the 

 principle that underlies it? what is the principle of the greatest common 

 divisor? There is where the thought comes, — the principal profit, — and the 

 scholars are blind to it. They do not see the relation of things. I do not- 

 know who is to blame for this. I simply urge you to get the best of teachers, 

 even for the smallest schools ; at any expense. Pay first-class wages and then 

 hold your teachers responsible for the results. 



Mr. Adams : Every family should be a school and if it becomes so we will 

 have the best possible schools. Those children wiio are taught at home are well 

 taught and can surpass their mates in competition. I once visited our school 

 here. The teacher was a fine mathematician. It was his forte. I asked for 

 his highest arithmetic class to give them a problem. There were twenty in 

 the class. The question was this: A father says to his son I have here- 

 $10,000. If you will tell me what is the one-hundredth part of every mill 

 of the 110,000, you may have the whole. Not one did it. 



What does this mean? It means defective primary training. 



Prof. Carpenter: I had seven years' experience in the schools of this county^ 

 and believe that there is as much fault on the part of the parents as of the 

 teachers. They do not take interest enough to visit the schools. I remember 

 a school in which a long term was taught and not a single person came to visit 

 the school during the entire term. Now, if you don't care how your schools 

 are run, if you simply hire a teacher and expect him to carry on your business 

 without your applying any attention to it, it is no wonder that there are com- 

 plaints of the laxness of tlie teacher. 



The districts are already as large as they should be. They generally include- 

 a distance of three miles and some of the pupils must walk a mile and a half 

 each way, which is a great task for the smaller ones. There are already too- 

 many of our children who come about two days out of the five in the week and 

 consequently receive what education they get, in a very loose, rambling way. 

 They are in a class that are continually advancing and they get tvro out of the 

 five lessons a week, and as a result only skim over the subject and it is impos- 

 sible for the teacher to give them that individual efl[ort and instruction to keep 

 them up with the rest of the class. 



At the College, we have to examine many of them and we find their instruc- 

 tion is likely to be one-sided. They are likely to be good in arithmetic and 



