AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 93 



to practical farm experimenting by tliom, cultivated practical judgment, and de- 

 veloped moral principle. Nearby farmers are now imderdraining and liming 

 their land, treating seed potatoes for scab, improving dairy herds, pruning or- 

 chards, building good roads, and caring for farm machinery. " One can not buy 

 a secondhand agricultural book in Andover." They are kept for reference in the 

 home library. 



Public school agriculture, 1909 (Mass. Agr. Col., Dept. Agr. Ed. [Pamphlet], 

 pp. 82). — This course in elementary agriculture, prepared by a committee of five 

 appointed by the Conference on Agi-icultural Science at the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College in 1908, consists of a series of practical exercises, for each 

 of which appropriate materials and directions are suggested. There are 54 of 

 these exercises, covering such topics as types of soil and subsoil, plant roots and 

 root nodules, effect of humus and lime in clay soil, determination of the per- 

 centage of water and air in soils, testing soil solutions for acidity or alkalinity, 

 soil temperatures, capillarity and evapoi*ation, soil drainage, transpiration in 

 plants, study of various seeds, corn germination, variations in plant growth, im- 

 provement by selection, home gardening, grafting, pruning, and budding, plant 

 enemies and diseases, prep;iriiti(in of Bordeaux mixture, milk testing, and milk 

 bacteria. 



Agriculture for common schools, M. L. Fisher and F. A. Cotton (New York, 

 1909, pp. XXIII-\-3Sl, figs. 93).— The contents of this book are arranged under 5 

 main sections — soils, farm crops, horticulture, animal husbandry, and dairying. 

 The last section includes a chapter on bees and 2 chapters on poultry. There 

 are also 3 appendixes, presenting (1) digestion tables, (2) reference books, and 

 (3) education and agriculture. The last named is a short chapter suggesting 

 how the teacher can best use neighborhood material for adding interest and ef- 

 fectiveness to the teaching of reading, si)elling, arithmetic, and geography. 



Practical agriculture, .J. W. Wilkinson (New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago, 

 1909, pp. 383, figs. 165, dgms. 2, maps 5). — This is a new text on agriculture for 

 the common schools. In addition to the usual topics and illustrations, it has 

 chapters on the history of agriculture, special herb and leaf crops, nut crops, 

 civic improvement, roads and road improvement, fuel and light, and country 

 life conveniences. An appendix contains tables of feeding standards, weights 

 and measures, dates for crop planting, score cards for corn and cotton, and a 

 list of apparatus and supplies for simple experiments and laboratory work. A 

 glossary of the more unusual terms follows the appendix. 



The school garden book, C. M. Weed and P. Emekson (New York, 1909, 

 pp. IX+320, pi. 1, figs. 107). — This is intended as a general guide for teachers 

 in directing school garden work and in utilizing its educational, economic, and 

 social values in the training of children. The botanical structure of flowers is 

 clearly illustrated. The home-gardening habit is the objective point in all the 

 instruction given. Part 1 consists of 12 chapters under the general title. The 

 Garden Month by Month, beginning with September, and contains cultural 

 directions and descriptive matter concerning the principal flowers and garden 

 vegetables. Part 2, entitled Garden Exercises for Pupils, is devoted to sug- 

 gestions for carrying on the various gardening operations. 



Suggestions for garden work in California schools, E. B. Babcock (Cali- 

 fornia Sta. Circ. 46, pp. 5-.'t6, figs. 13). — The author reviews briefly the progress 

 of the children's garden movement, gives illustrations of successful school 

 garden work in California, outlines a scheme successfully carried out at Chico, 

 Cal., for the business management of school gardens through the organization 

 of a school b;ink, and gives general suggestions to teachers who are beginning 

 school-garden work as to the creation of public sentiment for the work and as to 

 details of the work in small rural or ungraded schools and in large rural or 

 city schools. 



