46 



" In nearly every county in the State a good beginning has been made, and in 

 several counties the interest and progress has been little less than remarkable. 

 In many rural schools the subject is being studied, following the outline found 

 on page's 1G6-180 of the Illinois Course of Study for the Common Schools. Some 

 of the graded schools are doing systematic and intelligent work along this line 

 and are conducting in connection with the schools successful school gardens. 

 That the interest is growing is shown by the many tiiousand requests for corn 

 and seeds, which are received by the secretary of the farmers' institute." 



According to statistics collected by the superii:tendent of farmers" institutes 

 in Illinois, fourteen counties report that in nearly all the schools agriculture is 

 being taught as suggested in the State Cdurse <;f Study, and in fifteen other 

 counties a majority of the schools are attempting this work. 



In addition to agricultural work in the schools of Illinois, considerable is done 

 by the State College of Agriculture, the superintendent and the secretary of 

 fiirmers" in.stitutes. and county sui>erintendent>s of schools to arouse an interest 

 in farm life by means of clubs of farmers' boys, which are organized in the dif- 

 ferent counties for the purpose of conducting experiments at their homes in 

 testing improved varieties of corn and sugar beets. These clubs hold regular 

 meetings similar to farmers' institutes, and once a year are given places on the 

 programmes of the county farmers' irstitutes. Several of these clubs have had 

 lecture courses, with lectures from men jn-ominent in the agricultural colleges 

 and experiment stations, and some of them have gone on excursions to different 

 agricultural colleges. Eight thousand of these boys exhibited corn of their own 

 raising at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and 1,250 of them drew prizes 

 ranging from ."»(» cents to $r>00. The girls have sinnlar organizations, which are 

 devoted to the consideration of subjects relating to the farm home. 



Similar organizations of boys and girls are also found in Iowa. Ohio, and 

 Texas, all of them organized "under the auspices of the State agricultural col- 

 leges or of agricultural journals. The membership of the boys' and girls' clubs 

 in Ohio is nearly 2.000 and in Texas over 1,200. though the latter organizations 

 are little more than a year old. Everywhere that work of this kind has been 

 done it has seemed to meet with enthusiastic approval. The boys and girls 

 take pride in their organizations and in doing in a small way what their parents 

 do more extensively. 



In Missouri the course in agriculture for the public schools was prepared 

 several years ago by the State sui)erintendent of schools. This course has been 

 superseded by a bulletin prepared by the State superintendent of schools and 

 published by "the Missouri State Board of Agriculture in September of tlie pres- 

 ent year, entitled "Elements of Agriculture for the Public Schools." This 

 bulletin advocates presenting the subject of agriculture "(1) by experiments 

 at home and in the field, (2) by studying facts as given hi texts and bulletins, 

 and (o) by school gardens connected with school grounds." 



" Teachers are advised to utilize school grounds or gardens near the school as 

 experiment stations, to have pupils exi»eriment at home and make field observa- 

 tion.^, and to secure bulletins from the Department of Agriculture, at Washing- 

 ton, D. C.. from the Missouri State Board of Agriculture and from the agricul- 

 tural college, both at Columbia. The school library should have copies of sev- 

 eral good texts. Appeal to the pupils' interests along all lines and enlist the 

 cooperation of the parents." 



The course in agriculture, as outlined In the bulletin, includes (1) studies on 

 soil — origin and composition, kinds, plant food, impi-ovement, rotation of crops, 

 and experiments: (2) roads — value of good roads, road drainage, artificial 

 roads. g(»o.l diit ro.ids. inttuence of roads, road laws, and experiments; (3) 

 studies (in seeds and related subjects — germination, vitality, and parts of seeds. 

 wMth experiments in corn planting, corn growing, corn judging, selecting seed 

 corn, and observations and exi)erinients with vrvn (similar treatment of 

 wheat) ; (4) studies of plants — their classification, relation to soils, buds, 

 twigs, etc.: f5) orcharding and gardening— api>les. grapes, berries, home 

 gardening, connnercial gardening, enemies t() gardens: (0) study of insects. 

 (7) stock raising and feeding— horses, mules, cattle, sheep, hogs, and domestic 

 fowls. Numerous experiments and observations are suggested through mt 

 the bulletin. Two bulletins have also been issued by the College of Agriculture 

 of the TTniversitv of Missouri which are intended for use in the public schools. 

 One of these is mi Plant Propagation and the other on The Principles of Plant 

 I'roduction — the Seed. 



The suiierintendent of public schools, the College of Agriculture, and the 

 State normal schools in Missouri are cooperating in agitating the introduetioa 



