1917] AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 193 



and that the higher level of efficiency is reached in the science and art of local 

 agriculture when families know one another well and meet frequently. A 

 strong circulation of ideas and impulses is deemed necessary to counteract 

 discontent and the temptation to sell out and move away from rural districts. 



The authors state that about one-fifth of the farmers in Wisconsin are mem- 

 bers of or attend the meetings of various rural clubs. They have divided the 

 rural clubs into four typical groups and describe typical instances to illustrate 

 the types. The four types mentioned are the farmers' family club, the farm 

 men's club, the farm women's club, and the young folks' club. 



Monthly crop report {U. S. Dept. Agr., Mo. Crop Rpt., 2 (1916), No. 10, pp. 

 97-108, figs. 3). — Among the data included in this report are the usual data 

 relative to the condition of the principal crops, their estimated farm values, and 

 the range of prices of agricultural products at important markets. Special 

 reports are included concerning the commercial production of cabbage, cucum- 

 bers, the monthly disposition of cotton by producers, the quantity of commercial 

 fertilizer applied per acre of cotton, the trend of prices paid producers, wheat 

 statistics for the world and the United States, and the estimated production of 

 apples by States from 1890 to 191.5. A special map is also included showing the 

 location of the township crop reporters. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



Agricultural education, H. J. Waters (Addresses and Proc. Nat. Ed. Assoc, 

 53 (1915), pp. 193-199). — The author discusses the prmcipal purpose of agricul- 

 tural education, the tax of wastes upon the cost of living, high acre yields 

 and low man yields, what city people and country children should be taught, 

 and where agriculture should be taught. 



In his opinion city children should not be required to study the details of 

 plant and animal production, but should be so taught that they will have an 

 Interest In, and a general understanding of, these basic industries, so that they 

 will realize that they are dependent upon those who till the soil, not only for 

 their food and clothing, but also for the materials which form the basis of 

 most of the city's industries. On the other hand, counti'y children should be 

 taught how to produce high-acre yields without bringing upon themselves the 

 evils of the intensive methods of other countries and of other times. 



The failure of early attempts to teach agi'iculture is attributed principally 

 to the fact that the farmer himself knew more about farm practice than did 

 the teacher. This led to the establishment of agricultural experiment stations, 

 a deliberate attempt, for the first time in he history of education, to create, 

 through a well coordinated system of scientific research, a body of knowledge 

 in relation to a subject which it was deemed important to teach but abottt 

 which so little of a definite nature was known that it could not be taught 

 successfully. Attention is also called to another important departure from 

 educational traditions, viz, an organized system of extension or continuation 

 teaching through which parents as well as pupils are reached with new-found 

 knowledge. 



The author concludes that " income and idealism are the principal elements 

 out of which a stable and satisfactory rural civilization will be built. To 

 build such a civilization is the only possible excuse we can offer for devising 

 and maintaining a system of agricultural education." 



Progress of elementary agricultural education in Nova Scotia, L. A. 

 De Wolfe (Addresses and Proc. Nat. Ed. Assoc, 53 (1915), pp. 520-522) .—Aq- 

 cording to this article school gardening and nature study are making about the 



