PEOGRESS IN AGRrClILTURAL EDUCATION". 



281 



included in such a course of study, the character of instruction, and the 

 sources from which information can be secured concerning the details 

 of the work. 



For convenience the eight grades preceding the high school may be 

 divided into three groups, as suggested by Prof. B. M. Davis in his 

 bulletin on School Gardens for California Schools. Grouj) I includes 

 grades 1 to 3, children 6 to 8 years old; Group IT, grades 4 to 6, chil- 

 dren 9 to 11 years old; and Group III, grades 7 and 8, children 12 to 

 14 years old. The work of the first two groups should consist largely 

 of nature study, supplemented by school garden work; that of the 

 third group, elementary agriculture, with illustrative practicums or 

 experiments. In general the work may be divided as shown in the 



following table: 



Nature study and agriculture, by groups. 



Group. 



1. Nature study. Chil- 

 dren 6 to 8 years old. 



II. Nature study. Chil- 

 dren 9 to 11 years old. 



Hi. Agriculture. Chil- 

 dren 12 to 14 vears old. 



Character of instruction. 



Observation: Observe wild and cul- 

 tivated plants, trees, insects, and 

 wild and domestic animals in en- 

 vironment at liome and near 

 school. 



Observation and comparison: Ob- 

 serve weather, soils, wild and culti- 

 vated plants, trees, insects, and 

 wild and domestic animals in en- 

 vironment of school district and 

 vicinity; compare habits of plants 

 and animals in order to become 

 familiar with their ditferent modes 

 of living, their struggles for exist- 

 ence, and their uses to man. 



C^B.SERVATION, COMPARISON, and 



judgment: Study objects as above, 

 within and beyond horizon of chil- 

 dren's observation; introduce text- 

 books and reference books on ele- 

 mentary agriculture as sources of 

 information concerning objects be- 

 yond the limits of personal obser- 

 vation; illustrate processes by sim- 

 ple experiments; study different 

 types of plants and animals; visit 

 tyfiical farms; teach sources and 

 uses of agricultural literature — 

 books, bulletins, and farm journals. 



Garden. 



School garden: Plant and grow 

 some of the common hardy vege- 

 tables, such as radi.shes, lettuce, 

 beets, and carrots; and one or two 

 quick-growing flowers, such as 

 dwarf nasturtiums. 



School and home gardens: Plant 

 and grow typical economic plants 

 of the region, giving some atten- 

 tion to different varieties, and to 

 the relation of crops to different 

 conditions of soil, weather, treat- 

 ment, etc. 



School and homo gardens: Plant 

 and grow different varieties of 

 crops— e. g., wheat, barley, sugar 

 beets, potatoes: introduce exer- 

 cises in pruning, grafting, making 

 cuttings. Encourage pupils to 

 grow crops, poultry, and farm 

 animals at home, keeping account 

 of labor, fertilizers, feed, gross and 

 net returns, and have them exper- 

 iment on different methods of 

 planting, cultivating, harvesting, 

 and preparing for market. 



NATURE STUDY. 



GROUP I. 



As indicated in the above outline, the nature study work of the 

 first three years should largely consist of observations, directed to a 

 certain extent by the teacher, the object of which is to extend the 

 children's acquaintance with the birds, insects, flowers, trees, and 

 other animal and plant life in their immediate environment — in the 

 school yard, at home, and along the roadside. This very pleasant 

 and profitable way of gaining knowledge has been their principal 

 occupation during the two or three years that they have been running 



