258 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



ADVANTAGE OF AGRICULTURE IN SECONDARY 



SCHOOLS. 



Jessk Bangs, Freedom. 

 (Prize Essay.) 



Agriculture in secondary schools is a great boom to any 

 community and has not been introduced until late years. In 

 Michigan, in 191 1, but six schools offered courses in agriculture 

 and in Massachusetts, the same year, only eight schools taught 

 this branch. Many states have seen their error and have fol- 

 lowed the example of their neighbors. The colleges have also 

 taken agriculture into their courses. 



The last few years has decided a new course fo" agriculture ; 

 from now on farming is going to be carried on scientifically 

 under better and improved methods. The farmer of tomorrow 

 is going to be a business man and he is required to be educated 

 in several branches, so as to be able to cope with any problem 

 which may come before him. In a high school, while a boy 

 is taking agriculture he is also taking other studies, such as 

 English, mathematics, history, etc. The people now are just 

 beginning to pick up the "Back to the Farm" movement, prob- 

 ably due to the teaching of agriculture in secondary schools. 

 The farmer of tomorrow is also going to be the aristocrat of 

 the country, partly on account of the invention of the automo- 

 bile and other machinery which enables him to "see the coun- 

 try," and to do his work without much hard labor. But mostly, 

 in that the boy, when entering high school, will become enthu- 

 siastic over the agriculture project and will take that course 

 and later enlist in the ranks of the world as a scientific farmer. 



Some schools have a school farm where experiments can be 

 carried on and where the boys can work their board and also 

 learn more than they would from what is in the various books, 

 but the majority of schools have no farm and the students 



