ii6 Rural School Education. 



corn products. Some of the exhibits used by the children for Corn Day 

 in their own school were sent to the New York State College for exhibition 

 during Farmers' Week. The exhibit proved one of the most interesting 

 features of the school work. It was much larger than the exhibit of the 

 previous year. 



Competitions were encouraged throughout the State in the raising of 

 corn, potatoes, and garden crops. The response from the children was 

 gratifying. From the communications received we realized that the rural 

 schools were ready to do a real work in the interest of agriculture. The 

 Department of Poultry Husbandry offered to send thirteen eggs to each 

 of a limited number of boys and girls who wrote the best essay on 

 " My Experience with Poultry," and who would promise to hatch and rear 

 the chickens with as little help from others as possible. A full report 

 was to be made to the College by December i. The hundreds of com- 

 positions received from rural schools in response to this offer were so 

 excellent that it was difficult to make the selection for the limited number 

 who could be supplied with eggs. 



The State Department of Education has been most helpful in strength- 

 ening the relation between the New York State College of Agriculture and 

 the teachers of the rural schools. Mr. Arthur C. Dean and Mr. C. 

 Edward Jones are advisers to the Rural School Leaflet. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



In order to keep the most advanced ideas relating to agriculture before 

 the rural school teachers, there should be strong extension work from the 

 College. Such a work is now well organized. The Cornell Rural School 

 Leaflet stands for the modern viewpoint on agricultural education in its 

 wider sense, and places in the hands of the rural teachers subject-matter 

 for instruction in agriculture. This subject-matter is prepared by experts 

 in scientific agriculture and is presented by one who has knowledge of the 

 public schools in New York State. The work of the editor is strengthened 

 by the interest and help of the State Education Department. The founda- 

 tion is laid for the interrelation between the State College of Agriculture 

 and the rural districts, but the funds for the work are absolutely inade- 

 quate to conduct it in a dignified and accurate way. Our clerical force 

 is small ; we need more help ; our funds are not sufficiently large to supply 

 the demand for our work ; we have been obliged to limit the number and 

 size of our publications for this year. In the interest of better agri- 

 culture in New York State it is exceedingly unfortunate that we are 

 unable to give help when the rural schools are asking for it. We have 

 had to refuse hundreds of teachers each year whose letters showed that 

 they were earnest and willing to utilize whatever could be given them to 



