254 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



the school building during the vacation in December. Will not 

 the community interest aroused in this way tend to vastly im- 

 prove farm conditions? Who can estimate how much finan- 

 cial assistance the secondary school, through its agricultural 

 instruction, may be to the farmers of the community? 



The fourth reason is, that it benefits the school. Farming 

 communities are slow to see the value of a school offering 

 purely classical courses, whereas, they will see visible proofs 

 that a school offering an agricultural course is benefiting them 

 and will tender it their support. Boys, too, who intend to 

 farm would rather go to an agricultural school. I know at 

 least two boys in my own town who would probably have at- 

 tended other schools, had not Greely Institute been the only 

 school within a practical distance which offered instruction in 

 agriculture. 



In the school garden the community sees the methods taught 

 actually applied. This fall we ploughed about one-half an 

 acre on the school campus and sowed one-quarter of it to 

 winter rye which we shall plough under in the spring. Next 

 spring we shall plant the remainder of the ploughed ground to 

 early vegetables which we shall take turns in marketing, it 

 being as important for a farmer to know how to market his 

 crops as to grow them. These experiments in the school gar- 

 den, in the laboratory, and on the farms of the community, 

 make the course in agriculture seem practical and interesting 

 to the students. They serve as an attraction to prospective 

 students. They increase the interest of the alumni and of the 

 community in the school. For these reasons I believe agri- 

 culture should be taught in our secondary schools. 



