1904] Nature Study — No. 11. 221 



NATURE STUDV— No. XI. 



Nature Study and Rural Education. 

 J. W. HoTSON, iM.A., Principal, Macdonald Con.solidated School, 



Guelph, Out. 



Few things are of more vital importance in mouldinj^f the 

 destiny of a nation than the system of education in its rural dis- 

 tricts. The most progressive nations of to-day have recogni;?ed 

 this fact, and are making strenuous efforts to raise the standard 

 of efficiency in rural education. Canadians, perhaps, more than 

 any others, should not be slow in recognizing the importance of 

 this phase of education, or in availing themselves of improvement 

 in it. The geographical position, the climate, the vast prairies 

 of the West, make Canada's greatest industry essentially agricul- 

 tural. Nearly seventy-five per cent, of her population live in the 

 country and are educated in rural schools The greatness, the 

 stability, the very backbone of this nation is its rural population. 

 More than ever before, the future of this country depends upon its 

 public schools. Since this is true, how important it is that the 

 education of the rising generation of this great nation should be 

 carefully and jealously guarded ! I have great faith in the rural 

 school, in its power to mould and build up a national character ; 

 but new educational methods must be employed before we can 

 hope for the best results. 



The public school system of to-day is a product of the uni- 

 versity. " The greatest achievement of modern education," says 

 Payne, " is the gradation and correlation of schools whereby the 

 ladder of learning is let down from the university to the secondary 

 schools and from there to the schools of the people.'' If this be 

 true, it is no wonder that the present system of education has 

 failed to produce the best results in the lives of the boys and girls 

 of the country. Our educational system tends to lead to profes- 

 sions rather than to the farm. Citv things have been taugfht 

 rather than country things, and, by ignoring the farm and the farm 

 home, our greatest industry, farming, and our best institution, 

 the farm home, have been discredited. Our modest farm homes 

 stand as our greatest bulwark. Guard them ! 



If -education is a preparation for real life, and I believe it 



