I2 52 Rural School Leaflet 



this person has tact and persistence he should be able to get something 

 started. Here is an opportunity for the young farmer to exert influence 

 and to develop leadership. He should not be impatient if results seem 

 to come slowly. The work is new; it is best that it grow slowly and 

 quietly and prove itself as it goes. Through the grange, reading-club, 

 fruit-growers' society, creamery association, or other organization the 

 sentiment may be encouraged and formulated; a teacher may also be 

 found who is in sympathy with making the school a real expression of 

 the affairs of the community; the school premises may be put in order 

 and made effective ; now and then the pupils may be taken to good farms 

 and be given instruction by the farmer himself; good farmers may be 

 called to the schoolhouse on occasion, to explain how they raise potatoes 

 or produce good milk. A very small start will grow by accretion if the 

 persons who are interested in it do not lose heart, and in five years every 

 one will be astonished at the progress that has been made. 



MANUAL TRAINING BY MEANS OF AGRICULTURE* 



L. H. Bailey 



Now that the interest in agricultural education is so widespread, it 

 is essential that we consider some of the underlying or background prob- 

 lems. 



The education of the young should be founded in personal experience 

 and not alone in formal school work. In years gone by, the child and 

 youth acquired personal experience in the domestic duties of the home, 

 in working on farms and in shops, and in many other ways. The social, 

 economic, and domestic relations have now so much changed that the 

 child is not likely to be a real cooperator and partaker in the responsi- 

 bilities of home and work. This change is not marked on the farm, 

 however, and for this reason the farm youth has the advantage of a start 

 in life that is worth more than any exclusive book training. In the old 

 days the " book-learning " of the schools was a supplement and comple- 

 ment to the active handwork of the home. This handwork having now 

 been eliminated to a large extent, the school work does not have the proper 

 foundation, with the result that it often remains exotic. 



The schools are now making an effort, with more or less success, to 

 meet the home deficiencies. Various plans of manual work and training 

 are established. In the so-called manual arts and mechanics this develop- 

 ment has taken place most effectively. It has not yet developed to any 

 extent in the utilization of agricultural labor and occupation. 



*From an address given at a meeting of the New York State Teachers' Association held in Buffalo, 

 November 28 to 30, 191 2. 



