7o8 Rural School Leaflet. 



Problem /. — About how much hay at the present price in your neigh- 

 borhood would be worth this much ? 



In order to be profitable, this fertilizer would have to give enough 

 increase in crop of hay to pay for its cost, interest on the cost, labor of 

 applying and for the extra labor of harvesting the larger crop. 



A number of farmers in this state are conducting co-operative tests 

 under the direction of the College of Agriculture in order to determine 

 whether it will pay to fertilize timothy meadows on their farms. Perhaps 

 your school can arrange to have such a trial carried out on a farm ad- 

 jacent to the school grounds. If such an experiment can be carried out, 

 write for further information about it. 



Problem 8. — If some member of the class can bring a copy of the 

 analysis found on the bag of a fertilizer used in the neighborhood, and 

 its cost per ton, the following problem will be most interesting and in- 

 structive. How much nitrate of soda, acid phosphate, and muriate of 

 potash would be required to make a fertilizer of this composition? How 

 much would it cost? 



Lesson XJ^I. 



PRACTICAL EXERCISE ON FEATHERS. 



By James E. Rice. 



Object. — To help the children to discover (i) the utility of feathers to 

 birds; (2) that different parts of the fowl bear different kinds of feathers. 



Materials. — A fowl of any kind, brought in a coop. While it is kept 

 at school it should be supplied with food and water. Any of the larger 

 boys will be willing to bring a chicken, turkey, duck or goose for study. 

 If more than one kind of poultry could be secured, the lesson would be 

 more interesting and attractive. 



If possible, have the fowl in the schoolroom a few hours before the 

 lesson is given. Encourage the children to find out as many facts as they 

 can for themselves at recess or before the opening of school. The suc- 

 cessful naturalist or farmer must acquire a spirit of patient inquiry. 

 Direct the observations of the pupils by a few questions, as : the kind of 

 feathers; the location of the different kinds; any part of the body not 

 covered with feathers. Suggest a little competition by asking which boy 

 or girl can give the greatest number of facts from his observation of the 

 feathers of a fowl. 



Method. — The teacher should remove a fowl from the coop head first, 

 holding the legs firmly together to prevent fright and injury. (Fig. 42). 



Allow the children to come as near as possible. In a city school I saw 

 a most excellent lesson given on a hen in this way to fifty young children. 

 The lesson lasted a half hour. The hen did not seem disturbed, and the 

 pupils were intensely interested. 



