47 



of airricnltnre into the puhlio schools throushout the State. This is done by 

 acUliessinj; te;u-liers' institutes, farmers" institutes, and other pui)lic nieetiufjs; 

 by condu'tiiig suuuner schools for teaeliers at tlie College of Agriculture, in 

 Avhich sjiecial attention is given to courses which will prepare them for teaching 

 agriculture, and by conducting regular courses in agriculture at the three State 

 normal schools. 



The State sui)erintendent of public instruction of Indiana, in his State Manual 

 and Uniform Course of Study for the Elementary Schools of Indi.ma, 1004-13, 

 Includes a nature-study course intended "to acquaint the puiiil with his environ- 

 ment and to train hini to see and understand the relationship and meaning of 

 common things." and a course in elementary agriculture. The subjects sug- 

 gested for consideration in the nature course are largely the plant and animal 

 Tife of the farm and the garden. The course in agriculture is simply an outline 

 intended to guide the teacher, taking up for first consideration plant and animal 

 products; then the soil, its formation, nature, tillage, and enrichment; and, 

 finally, plant life. References are given to a number of bulletins and elementary 

 text-books of agriculture. 



The department of agriculture of the University of Minnesota has been 

 fictivelv engaged in promoting the teaching of agriculture in the rural schools, 

 and its olHcers have prepared a bulletin on Rural School Agriculture for the use 

 of the teachers iu that State. In Wisconsin the State superintendent of the 

 public schools and the officers of the College of Agriculture of the University 

 of Wisconsin have done much for the introduction of agricultural teaching in 

 the country. One of the results of their efforts has been the enactment of a law 

 requiring teachers to pass e.xaniinations in agriculture. Similar laws have also 

 been enacted in Maine. Nebraska, North Carolina. South Carolina, and 

 Tennessee. 



The training of teachers along agricultural lines is receiving considerable 

 attention not only in Missouri, as mentioned above, but also in other States. 

 The College of Agriculture of Cornell University now jirovides a two-year nor- 

 mal course in nature study and gardening. In Michigan ten county normal 

 training schools have recently been opened for the i)urpose of training teachers 

 lor the rural schools. The course of study recommended for these normal 

 schools by the State superintendent of public instruction includes agriculture. 

 The agricultural colleges in Connecticut. Nebraska, and North Carolina have for 

 a number of years conducted summer schools for teachers, at which more or less 

 iittention has been given to nature study and agriculture. At the Nebraska 

 summer school in 10<»4 there were 23 students in nature study and 30 in agricul- 

 ture. At the North Carolina summer school for teachers in 1904 there were 

 enrolled 977 teachers, of whom 477 took work in agriculture. The summer 

 school of the South, conducted at the University of Tennessee with an annual 

 attendance of from l.OoO to 1.300 teachers from all parts of the South, gives 

 considerable attention to nature study and gardening. 



One thing that has given a great impetus to the movement for the introduc- 

 tion of agriculture into the i)ublic schools has been the improvement of text- 

 books and works of reference. Within the last year or two a number of ele- 

 mentary text-books in agriculture have been pulilished, and some of these seem 

 ■sery well suited to use in the rural schools. One of the indirect results of the 

 appearance" of these text-books has been legislation in a number of States 

 requiring the teaching of agriculture in all the rural schools, and adopting text- 

 books for that purpose. State adoption of text-books in agriculture has been 

 made in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Every 

 city and county in Virginia, a majority of the counties in Maryland, about 15 

 counties in California, and a number of counties in Florida have also adopted 

 textbooks in agriculture for regular use in the public schools. It is estimated 

 from teachers' reports that at least 12.0(!0 children received instruction in agri- 

 culture in North Carolina last year. Thus it will be seen that there is quite a 

 strong movement for the introduction of agriculture into the rural schools and 

 that this movement is rapidly gaining momentum. 



OBSTACLES TO THE GENERAL INTRODUCTIOX OF AGRICULTURE INTO THE 



RURAL SCHOOLS. 



There are many things which have a tendency to hinder the rapitl progress 

 of this movement.' One of these is the conservatism or apathy of school officers. 

 This ajiplies not only to local officers iuit also to State superintendents of i»ublie 

 instruction, county "superintendents of schools, and the officers of agricultural 



23880— No. 153— O.J m ± 



