A Month of Education Discussion. 511 



Docs the rural school education satisfy your ambitious for the boy and 

 the girl i)i your homcF — Can you make them happy and contented to 

 remain on the farm where their help is so much needed, if there is not 

 offered in this day of progress a larger outlook and a better acquaintance 

 with improved methods in farming? The New York State College of 

 Agriculture oft'ers a winter-course, lasting three months in 



1. General Agriculture 



2. Horticulture 



3. Dairy 



4. Poultry 



5. Home Economics 



These, with the longer courses are free of tuition, and their advantages 

 are extended to the men and women interested in better farming and 

 better farm homes. Any one interested may send for announcements of 

 these courses. 



The rural school should supply the preparation and incentive. — -Not 

 all of the children attending the rural school will remain on the farm. 

 They may be better fitted for other callings. The large number who do 

 remain should have instruction in practical matters related to their every 

 day living. If they are taught to find the cubical contents of a body, it is 

 not good teaching unless the prospective farmer applies the knowledge to 

 his oat-bin and learns how large a bin is required to store fifty bushels of 

 oats ; or instruction in denominate numbers should teach a boy or girl how 

 much material is needed to paper, carpet or plaster a room. It is as im- 

 portant to teach children how the corn grows, of what milk is composed, 

 what the weather signs mean, the structure of the Qgg, or the right condi- 

 tions of the soil for a good crop as to teach much of the unused knowledge 

 which habit, not usefulness, has made a part of the rural school program. 

 It is better that children come from the schools able to keep the farm and 

 household accounts in a businesslike way, which is one means of making 

 the farm profitable ; better that girls learn in their lessons in drawing 

 what colors to choose for the decoration of their walls ; better to have a 

 knowledge of the life history of the fly and mosquito with means of get- 

 ting rid of them or to acquire a knowledge of wayside weeds and their 

 practical value in the household. In short, there is a fund of practical 

 topics which will make the school intensely interesting and alive. 



Young men and women going from the rural school to the college 

 should not be handicapped by scanty preparation in English, practice in 

 taking notes on lectures and the ability to express themselves easily. 

 Experience proves agricultural students to be earnest and capable, win- 

 ning the respect of their fellow students. Let the rural schools prepare 

 them for standing shoulder to shoulder with those educated in larger 



