262 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OfE. Doc. 



a scliool of that type. Three or four districts in the country should 

 go together to operate a consolidated vocational or high school. 

 Furthermore, there should be some special inducement on the part 

 of the State for the formation and maintenance of such a school. 

 This was the agricultural laboratory in that school. Here are 

 the girls in the Freshman class. Notice the fact that the girls of 

 this school are more mature than the Freshmen of the average 

 city schools. It means that better work is being done and more 

 sensible work, you might say. One thing that the boys in the coun- 

 try — one opportunity that comes to them with the creation of a 

 school of this type, among many others, is the opportunity for a 

 chance to play with each other. These schools usually have their 

 athletic teams of various types. This school had a basket-ball team, 

 a baseball team, and a football team. I think it is a thing that 

 ought not to be overlooked. I haven't time to go into that phase of it 

 now. One other side to the work of this school — I believe the 

 school, while its chief function is the serving of the boys and girls 

 who come there, ought to have one other, which ought to be of some 

 service to the entire community, it ought to have on file all the 

 bulletins of the State Department of Agriculture, the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, and our agricultural colleges and experi- 

 ment stations, so that if any farmer wants to come and secure the 

 use of these for one day or three days, he has a place to go and 

 get them without any trouble or expense. 



Night schools can be operated for all classes of people in the dis- 

 trict. You notice the little girl in the front seat — she is there be- 

 cause her mother who sits immediately behind her had no one with 

 whom to leave her and had to bring her with her. When she en- 

 tered this school, she didn't have the ability to make a dress for 

 the little girl. When she finished the course tliat winter in this 

 evening school, she had made several dresses for the girl. Of course, 

 that condition of a mother not knowing how to do plain sewing 

 for a child, is not typical of the country districts. This is a picture 

 of a farmers' night school. This is one other way in which these 

 agricultural schools serve the people of the community. The farmers 

 of the community are invited to come in once a week, if they care 

 to, for the purpose of conducting what is sometimes called a farmers' 

 night school. This farmers' night school is presided over a part of 

 the time by the supervisor of agriculture, who takes up the topics 

 the farmers themselves desire. On various occasions, various other 

 agricultural leaders, members of the state department of agriculture 

 in the vicinity, come in and conduct the work for an evening, mem- 

 bers of the state college staff who happen to be in the vicinity, and 

 prominent farmers take charge, some evenings, men of exceptional 

 ability; in one or two instances, I have known the veterinarians of 

 the district to come in and give instruction at these sessions. 



Now what are we going to accomplish as far as the promoting 

 or improvement of agricultural conditions is concerned? Is it going 

 to be possible for us to grow sweet potatoes like that as a result 

 of agricultural education in our public schools? Notice the size of 

 those sweet potatoes. I have been growing sweet potatoes on a small 

 scale for the last two years, but I don't guarantee that those par- 

 ticular sweet potatoes were grown in my garden, nor that those 



