No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 335 



was delighted. He went straightway to the captain and says: "Cap- 

 tain, the other day you hired an Englishman without recommenda- 

 toin, but me you compelled to furnish papers. Do you know what 

 that fellow has done?" "No, Pat, I don't know." "Well, he's 

 gone off wid your buckit." 



Thus it seems that there is danger in placing too much confidence 

 in men, as well as in that which they represent. The disposition 

 to believe in slight evidence, or take things for granted, frequently 

 results in loss. Eecommendations and testimonials may bear false 

 witness or deviate just enough to betray confidence. In the matter 

 of soil improvement the good old way our fathers trod has been 

 productive of good results. It is yet preferable to the "get rich 

 quick" idea so indiscriminately advertised. Manure, legumes, lime 

 when needed, fertilizers intelligently used, will help create in the 

 soil the new life needed to produce crops for the present, allowing 

 the scientist opportunity to develop more the principle of nitro- 

 culture. We can afford to wait just a little longer; apparently 

 no danger of famine in the land. 



Another principle in successful teaching, is to teach what to do, 

 and how to do it, rather than what not to do. A mother on leaving 

 home told her children, "Now when I am away don't put beans in 

 your noses." And the first thing the children did was to put beans 

 in their noses. Had the mother failed to mention the matter the 

 children would not have thought of it. 



I remember clearly the "donts" one of my teachers employed; 

 almost one for every minute in the day. Some of them were new 

 wrinkles to us and naturally and good naturedly we wished to ex- 

 periment with them. These experiments invariably caused trouble. 



The surest way is to teach the rule, the principle, the means to be 

 employed. Every rule, however, has exceptions. Whenever the ex- 

 ceptions become more general than the rule, then the exceptions 

 become the rule. This direct teaching also economizes time. It is 

 also more logical and more easily remembered. 



Appealing more directly to our question, there are three things 

 worthy of particular mention. They are essential factors in the 

 problem and always applicable. The home, the school and the soil 

 should first be considered. I mention them in the order of their 

 importance, believing that these three, including their proper limi- 

 tations, complete the list of subjects. They are so closely allied that, 

 like the hues of the rainbow, one can not be removed without de- 

 stroying the symmetry of the whole. 



Concerning the home, it should mean more than a place to stay. 

 If it does not mean more than that, some of the qualities of mind 

 and heart that make life worth living are yet in an uncultivated 

 state. If the country store, the grocery, the village, the street has 



