Rural School Leaflet 12 



73 



Last fall the boys of our school cut the wood and the girls piled it. 

 We earned two dollars, and the year before we earned one dollar by piling 

 it. We intend to buy a large picture for the school. 



I would enjoy a letter from you, but realize that you are busy and 

 cannot answer all letters that are written to you. 



Sincerely yours, 



EDITH M. BORST 



CORN DAY 



(Friday, December 5, 19 13) 

 Edward M. Tuttle 



Corn Day should stand for definite things in the school and in the 

 community. It should stand for a greater interest in the corn crop. 

 It should stand for more intimate relations between school and home. 



We hope that teachers will see in this annual celebration the possi- 

 bilities of something more than a school exercise. The subject of Corn 

 Day should be presented to the children early in the year so that they 

 may have time to think about it and make plans. One or two lessons 

 on the essential features of a desirable ear of corn for seed should be 

 given during the fall. Each child should be stimulated to make effort 

 to obtain the most nearly perfect ear of corn grown on his home farm, 

 and to have the ear properly labeled in readiness for Corn Day. 



The gathering of corn for the school exhibit affords excellent oppor- 

 tunity for children to use the knowledge that they have previously gained 

 regarding points to be considered in the selection of seed corn. Endeavor 

 should be made to have boys and girls realize the practical importance 

 of selection, and the great improvement, both in yield and in uniformity, 

 that will result from carefully choosing for seed those ears that approach 

 most nearly the ideal type. 



A simple program of songs, recitations, and readings may be prepared. 

 The children may send out invitations to their guests. It is desirable 

 to decorate the schoolroom with cornstalks, pumpkins, and the like. 

 A prominent farmer may be asked to judge the corn and award simple 

 prizes to winners. A most valuable exercise might consist in reports 

 on the growing of corn in the district, which have been previously worked 

 out by the children. We would suggest that one child find out the 

 number of acres grown in the district; another, yields obtained from 

 differem fields; another, methods of planting, cultivating, and harvesting 

 employed; another, methods of selection and storage of seed as practiced 

 by growers; another, uses made of the corn crop. These topics may 

 suggest others. The point involved is that Corn Day will be of value 

 in proportion as it is closely related to the community, and in proportion 

 as interest is stimulated to determine seriously how important the corn 

 crop is to farmers of the locality and whether or not there may be ways 



