1378 Rural School Leaflet 



CORN DAY 



(Friday, December 3, 191 5) 



Edward M. Tuttle 



'AST year showed that the spirit of Com Day is growing,' in the schools 

 of New York State. Coming as it does on the first Friday in 

 December of each year, it affords an opportunity for the cele- 

 1) rati CHI of the harv^est, and while the interest centers primarily 

 on the com crop, the scope of the occasion is often broadened 

 to include many other things. In any year it is desirable to 

 take advantage of the opportunity offered during 

 September, October, and November, to make a study 

 of the com crop in the local district, but it is par- 

 ticularly important in 19 15 because com is outlined by the State 

 syllabus for special study. Between the time that school opens and 

 Com Day, the teacher should encourage and guide the pupils in making 

 a study of the local com crop, and the information so obtained may 

 be condensed and presented to the visitors at Com Day. There are 

 many points on which it would be interesting to obtain local facts. 

 Among them are : the acreages devoted to com on the different farms ; the 

 total acreage for the district; the yield per acre, highest, lowest, and 

 average; the place that com occupies in crop rotation; how the land is 

 fitted for com ; what varieties are grown most extensively ; how the com 

 is cidtivated; what use is made of the crop — whether most of it is cut 

 for the silo, or whether most of it is allowed to mature and is then cut 

 and husked; where the farmers obtain their seed com; if they select it 

 themselves, what method they use; how the com is stored over winter; how 

 many farmers test their seed com. Questions such as these, answered 

 by the pupils on Com Day from information that they have gained by 

 actual study during the fall, will be highly interesting and exceedingly 

 instructive. 



It has been said sometimes that when Com Day is held annually, the 

 interest flags after the first year or two. This may be true in some dis- 

 tricts, and where there is no special interest to make a worth while cele- 

 bration. Com Day should be omitted and something else substituted. 

 Even in such schools, however, a Com Day celebration should be held 

 at least once in three or four years in order that the children may have an 

 opportunity to study this important crop and to present to their elders 

 the work that they have done. There are many schools that find it de- 

 sirable to celebrate Com Day annually, and that obtain excellent results. 

 There is an unboimded wealth of information that can be learned about 

 com. It can be approached from many different angles, and wide-awake 



