236 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE OflE. Doc. 



These are, in a general way, the lines in which I think we ought 

 to work; that is, first in elementary schools, then by the establish- 

 ment of these secondary schools, in which agriculture shall be 

 taught, and which shall be chietly a preparation for actual farm 

 life, and, of course, if you once get these secondary schools, they 

 will be a good preparation for our agricultural colleges. 



Now, as to the situation here in Pennsylvania. I have given 

 it a little attention, and I think you are ready for the advance 

 movement along the line of rural education. You have, I under- 

 stand, made a very large appropriation for schools, and for good 

 roads. JS'ow, these two things go together. You have youi' high 

 schools, which you can proceed to reorganize for agriculture, and 

 you are re-organizing your agricultural college with the idea of 

 making it more efficient as a college, and of allying it more closely 

 with the educational system of the school, so it will be able to help 

 in this movement for the improvement of rural education. You 

 are bringing into this State, to the head of the agriculture at your 

 State College, one of the best teachers of agriculture in this coun- 

 try, and I am sure if you are loyal to him, he will do a great work 

 here in re-organizing along these lines. The United States has been 

 doing its part to help you by increasing the national appropriations 

 to the agricultural colleges and schools, and to what better use 

 can these appropriations be put than to training the teachers for 

 these elementary and secondary schools, and I understand that 

 the colleges in this State, like the colleges in other states, is con- 

 sidering a plan now for carrying out that part of the work. Among 

 other things I understand you are thinking of summer schools for 

 teachers. Now, it is possible for the intelligent teacher in a summer 

 school course to go through all the exercises that are contained in 

 this bulletin, and that is enough for a year's work in elementary 

 agriculture, so it is possible to help your teachers very greatly if 

 they will attend these summer sessions at the Agricultural Col- 

 lege and get in line with this movement in education. 



At this late hour I will not undertake to go further into this 

 matter. I thank you for your patient attention, and shall be glad, 

 through the Office of the Experiment Stations, to give you any infor- 

 mation which you judge may be useful to you in this great work. 



The CHAIKMAN: The hour has become late, but if there is any- 

 thing to say in discussion of this subject, we will give ear to it. 



DR. DETRICH: A great many persons apply to me for informa- 

 tion regarding agriculture, and I find that the whole situation is 

 related to the education which boys receive in our public schools. 

 It is a mystery to me that there are so many poor scholars come 

 out of our public schools. I have time and again tried to get gradu- 

 ates of our public schools, or students, to parse a sentence of 

 twelve ordinary' words, but they were unable to do so according 

 to the common rules of English grammar. What is the reason? 

 Why are they unable to parse a simple English sentence? Simply 

 because the children are not taught in the fundamentals. I have 

 four boys on the farm today. They make no efi'ort to advance any- 

 thing. Their spare time is passed in novel reading or playing crap. 

 They have no time to improve, or to experiment, or to study agri- 

 culture. Yet these boys expect to be farmers. But what kind of 



