418 AXNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMEKT OF AGRICULTURE. 



aofiicultnre of North Carolina rej^ardinff the course. Visits were 

 made to the summer normal schools at Asheville. Durham, Raleigh, 

 Wake Forest. Chapel Hill, and Greensboro to confer with rural 

 teachers on the use of this course of study. Cooperation is now in 

 progress with the States of Oklahoma and Utah in the preparation of 

 similar courses of study for those States. 



The State courses of study in elementary agriculture and other 

 publications of the division have been used in normal schools offering 

 courses for rural teachers. There have been numerous requests from 

 teacher-training divisions for the classified lists of department pub- 

 lications, agricultural texts, and other lists of material prepared by 

 the division for the use of agricultural teachers. 



Teachers of agriculture are realizing more and more the advantage 

 of using farmers' bulletins and department bulletins giving up-to- 

 date information along certain lines. By cooperating with teachers 

 in service the division supplies large numbers of teachers with lists 

 of those pul)lications of the department best adapted to their needs, 

 with suggestions as to their use. Teachers are also realizing the 

 value of such publications in the hands of pupils as supplements to 

 the regular textbooks. 



In the preparation of suggestive outlines for the use of teachers 

 it is recognized that the successful teaching of agriculture in a com- 

 munity must have a vital connection with the farm problems of that 

 community. Pupils are naturally interested in those things with 

 which they come in daily contact, and the type of agriculture prac- 

 ticed in a community can be used to the best advantage in teaching 

 agriculture. Teachers are therefore offered suggestions and urged 

 to organize the subject matter which is of interest to the community 

 and to teach the subject in the concrete rather than the abstract, to 

 give seasonal application to topics when practicable, and to make 

 the program of work in the school touch as closely as possible the 

 life and experiences of the pupils. 



The demand from agricultural teachers for illustrative material 

 increased rapidly during the year, and large numbers of teachers 

 were supplied with lantern slides. In the new sets which are being 

 prepared from time to time special attention is given to adapting 

 the material to the needs of those teachers who realize the value of 

 illustrative material in teaching agriculture. Plans are under way 

 to increase the supply of such material available for distribution. 

 In cooperation with the Division of Publicatioiis. a number of 

 motion-])icture films were lent to agricultural teachers. 



Representatives of the division attended and took part in annual 

 conferences of State supervisors, State directors, and teacher-trainers 

 for vocational education in the Southern. North Atlantic, Middle 

 Western, and Western States. At these meetings conferences were 

 held with individual teachers regarding the practical value of the 

 publications prepared for their use. Suggestions were received as to 

 how cooperation might be carried on more effectively with agricul- 

 tural teachers. Representatives of the division also attended annual 

 State conferences of agricultural teachers in New Jersey, Massa- 

 chusetts, and Virginia and at the annual meeting of the agricultural 

 section of the State teachers' association of Wisconsin discussed 

 problems relating to the preparation of coures of study and methods 



