state; pomoIvOGicai, society. 37 



teen. And in some of those compositions there was some of 

 the best language used, there was some of the best instruction 

 given — such as would grace any of the horticultural journals 

 published at the present time — so clearly had they taken in the 

 instruction in the schools, so closely had they followed it in the 

 planting of these plants, so closely had they studied the habits 

 of growth of the plant, that when they came to write about it 

 they wrote exceedingly interestingly as well as giving very cor- 

 rect information as to what they had done. 



I think the standard today of education in our country is ex- 

 ceedingly high, but I do believe that it is not being pursued in 

 the right direction entirely, that our methods are not entirely 

 wholesome and healthful. I believe the tendency today is too 

 much of rushing and crowding, too much of pushing our chil- 

 dren forward intellectually, and not enough of developing real 

 thinking, independent power of thought, within themselves. I 

 think that the criticism today of our public system of education 

 is that there is too much anxiety to pass children through exam- 

 inations and not enough that they shall have a thorough knowl- 

 edge of what they are studying. And so I believe that it is 

 possible for us to so modify our curriculum that in the course 

 of study there shall be more of that kind of w^ork which shall 

 lead our boys and girls along independent lines of thinking. 

 We need today as we have never needed before, correct think- 

 ing. Now what we need is a line of educational work that shall 



o 



make possible a wider dissemination of population, not so great 

 concentration in our cities, and there are hundreds and thou- 

 sands and millions of acres of land that ought to be occupied 

 with an industrious population. Our cities are growing to such 

 an extent that when labor agitations and riotous proceedings 

 begin because of employers and laborers being unable to agree 

 upon certain measures in their occupation and work, we shall 

 see in the future the most dangerous times that this country 

 has ever seen unless we can have more of a dissemination of 

 population and not so much of concentration as is the present 

 tendency in our great cities. And so I believe our public schools 

 are to solve these great problems in the future. We have got 

 to look to the education of the boys and girls and give them 



