590 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



County schools of agriculture in Michigan (Midi. State Supt. Pub. Insti: 

 Bill. 2.'i. pp. 11). — The Michigan legislature of 1907 passed an act making it 

 possible to establish county schools of agriculture, manual training, and domes- 

 tic economy, and this bulletin contains a reprint of the law establishing these 

 schools, together with general suggestions by the State superintendent of public 

 instruction in regard to the organization of tbe schools, the course of study, 

 and reference books. 



The schools are to be under the direct control of county school boards con- 

 sisting of five members, including the county commissioner of schools and four 

 members appointed by the board of supervisors. The law provides that the 

 course of study shall exteud over two years and shall include instruction in 

 the elements of agriculture (the soil, plaiit life, animal life, and farm accounts), 

 manual training, domestic economy, and other related subjects, and that each 

 school shall have a tract of land suitable for experiment and demonstration of 

 not less than 10 acres. Short winter courses are also provided for. The State 

 superintendent of public instruction, with the advice of the president of the 

 Michigan State Agricultural College, is to have general supervision of all 

 schools established and may ]>rescribe the necessary requirements for the organ- 

 ization and maintenance of them and tbe qualifications of teachers, except that 

 no person shall be eligible to the position of su]ierintendent of any school who 

 is not a graduate of a State agricultural college. 



Agriculture for high schools, G. F. Wakren {Cornell Country man, 5 (1907). 

 No. 1, pp. 5-8). — A discussion on the outlook for the introduction of agriculture 

 into regular high schools aud the establishment of special agricultural high 

 schools, with suggested courses for regular high scliools having three teachers, 

 four teachers, or more than four teachers, and for high schools^wishiug to offer 

 strong agricultural courses. 



The Royal Agricultural High School at Portici — past and present, 1872- 

 1906 (La R. Sciiola Siitifriurc dl Af/ricoltuni in Portici iicl ixissato c ncl prr- 

 sente, 1872-JHOli. Portici, 1906, pp. 3,11. pis. 16, map 1, figs. 55, dgms. .30). — This 

 is a description of the Royal Agricultural High School at Portici, Italy, its 

 equipment and other facilities, and its courses of study, together with a histori- 

 cal sketch of the institution from 1S72 to 1906. 



The rural school problem, B. M. Davis {School Life, 1 {J907), \o. 1, pp. 5, 

 6). — This article contains a brief statement of the rural school problem. The 

 writer thinks that the " most marked improvement in rural schools has been 

 brought about, directly or indirectly, along the lines suggested by leaders in 

 agriculture rather than by leaders in education." He notes experiments in the 

 improvement of rural schools in Illinois, Iowa, and Canada and outlines briefly 

 an experiment now being undertaken in a rural school by the departments of 

 manual training and elementary agriculture of the Ohio State Normal College 

 of Miami University. 



The problem of forestry in the public schools, B. Shimer {Proc. loir a Park 

 and Forestry Assoc.. 6 {1906), pp. 78-8^).— In an introductory way the writer 

 makes some criticisms of the so-called nature study in schools, consisting in 

 reading from the works of nature-study writers who have allowed their 

 imagination too free rein or in making meanhigless measurements, drawings, 

 and observations of leaves and other nature-study material. He then makes 

 a plea for nature study having a more practical application and mentions 

 elementary agriculture and forestry among the subjects which can be taught 

 in this connection, without too much formality but in such a way as to fur- 

 nish material for numerous accurate observations and interesting conchisions. 

 In forestry he would have the children learn how to plant and care for trees. 



