296 BEPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Do not tolerate carelessness even with the simplest exercise and 

 the most inexpensive material. Not that the exercise wall have any- 

 particular bearing on the progress of science, but it ought to have a 

 very definite bearing on the development of the pupil. It should 

 aid in developing not only skill in manipulating materials and appa- 

 ratus but accurate habits of thinking — critical discernment, careful 

 comparison, and accurate judgment. 



Advantage should be taken of every opportunity to connect the 

 agricultural work in school with the home life of the pupils, not only 

 by means of visits to farms as suggested above, but also hy ha^ang 

 the pupils carry on at home simple experiments with varieties of 

 crops, and with milk, poultry, bees, farm animals — whatever seems 

 to appeal to them most. Secure the active cooperation of the parents 

 so that all the facilities of the district may be made available for the 

 education of their children. 



Keep in mind all the time that the amount of information which 

 the pupil gets from this study is of comparatively little importance. 

 This elementary course in agriculture wall have failed of its main 

 purpose unless it shall have opened the mind of the child to the possi- 

 bilities o profitable and pleasing study of the products and opera- 

 tions of the farm, shown him the practical value of a knowledge of 

 underlying principles, created in him a belief that farm practice and 

 profit may be improved by intelligent utilization of the results of 

 scientific research, stimulated a desire for investigation and invention 

 on his own part, and inspired in him a love for countr}' life and 

 pursuits. 



TEXT-BOOKS AND WORKS OF REFERENCE. 



There are about a dozen elementary text-books which cover the 

 subject of agriculture in a general w^ay, and numerous text-books on 

 special phases of agriculture, manuals, encyclopedias, bulletins, and 

 leaflets w^hich would be valuable to both teachers and pupils if placed 

 in rural school libraries. In this article onl}' a few of these pub- 

 lications can be mentioned. 



The United States Department of Agriculture has issued many pub- 

 lications which are proving valuable to both teacher and pupils en- 

 gaged in school agriculture. The Farmers' Bulletins of the Depart- 

 ment are for free distribution, and several of them were prepared 

 especially for use in schools. Farmers' Bulletin No. 157, The Propa- 

 gation of Plants, deals in a simple and practical way with methods 

 of reproducing plants, such as layering, grafting, budding, and mak- 

 ing cuttings. Much of this matter is reproduced in Farmers' Bul- 

 letin No. 218, The School Garden, which also takes up practical 

 suggestions for garden work, describes a series of laboratory exer- 

 cises with soils and plants, and discusses the decoration of school 



