222 The Ottawa Naturalist. [M_arch 



should be, and seventy-five per cent, of our population are in the 

 rural districts, depending- directly on the soil and its products, and 

 if we believe in the principle of " the greatest good to the greatest 

 number," then, rural education should be a preparation, at least 

 in some degree, for life on the farm. It should lead the child into 

 a more sympathetic relation to his daily life '' to the end that his 

 life may be stronger and more resourceful." This does not mean 

 that these schools should teach only the art of cultivating the soil. 

 Rural education should be broadened not narrowed. It cannot be 

 broadened by teaching agriculture only; boys and girls must have 

 a knowledge of language, history, mathematics, etc. Language 

 is a mind tool ; the hoe a hand tool. Training in the use of either 

 may be education; but, tor best results, they must go together. 



In order to develop the trained hand and cultivated mind, 

 more emphasis should be laid on the method of acquiring the in- 

 formation than on the information itself. Mere facts, however 

 important, are not all of education — -they are of secondary consid- 

 eration. How the child acquires those facts, is of vastly more 



consequence from a pedagogical point of view. The pupil should, 

 as far as possible, be led to rely upon his own resources. He 

 should be led to investigate problems for himself and thus acquire 

 his knowledge first hand. It is the thinking man, " the reasoning- 

 and the reasonable man," that makes "the good citizen and the 

 honest neighbor " ; so it is the child that is taught to see things 

 as they really are, and to think for himself regarding the things 

 he sees, and is thus led to draw correct conclusions from what he 

 sees, that makes " the reasoning and the reasonable man," " the 

 good citizen and the honest neighbor." In training the eye to 

 see, the ear to hear, and the mind to perceive, we have done 

 much to aid the child in understanding the more complex things 

 in real life. It may not be true " that only those things are use- 

 ful which one finds out for himself," but no one will deny that 

 from the ideal as well as from the economic point of view of edu- 

 cation, those things are of most use which one finds out for him- 

 self. But the world is too wide and life too short to turn a child 

 out by himself and expect him to come, unaided, to even a fair 

 understanding of the mysteries of nature; yet, give him a wise and 

 careful instructor, and he may be led to see how nature solves her 

 problems and thus be better prepared to solve those problems of 

 life which confront everybody, and which each individual must 

 solve for himself 



Is all being done that can be done to improve rural educa- 



