1918] AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 193 



$69.01. Twenty-seven per cent of the children worked diiring out-of-school 

 hours throughout the year, with average weekly earnings of $1.51 ; of these 7 

 per cent averaged $2.67 per week.. Of the total number of workers, nearly 33 

 per cent of the boys and 26 per cent of the girls performed farm work for pay, 

 including the picking of fruit, weeding, hoeing and cultivating crops, and caring 

 for poultry, hor.ses, and other live stock. 



From the standpoint of educational opportunities farm work is considered to 

 rank high. Children gain skill from working with the hands, and such varied 

 experiences as are offered on the farm furnish abundant opportunity for an all- 

 round development of the senses. They also have an opportunity to observe 

 some of the workings of nature, which should make them broader and more con- 

 tented. From the vocational standpoint, also, children engaged in farm work 

 are able to learn many things that prove of use to them in later life. Ability to 

 grow plants is valuable from both vocational and avocational standpoints. 



It was found that 8.5 per cent of the children desired to leave school. Of 

 these 34 per cent frankly stated they do not like school, and 60 per cent would 

 rather go to work. As a remedy for this school-leaving problem the author rec- 

 ommends (1) remunerative employment for children while attending school, 

 such as home gardening projects, the educational value of which is greatly en- 

 hanced by conducting them on a real money-earning basis; (2) a change in 

 educational methods aiming to vitalize school work and thus make school- more 

 interesting and retardation less common; and (3) the establishment of contin- 

 uation courses for children who must leave school. 



Statistical data show that 27 per cent of the children conducted independent 

 garden exercises. These gardens averaged 1,101 sq. ft, and gave an average 

 return of $3. .59. There were 361 children who raised produce valued" at $10 or 

 over, 81 valued at $25 or over. 30 valued at $40 or over, and 22 valued at $50 

 or over. There was available for all pupils an average of 961 sq. ft of land for 

 gardening, which with intelligent handling should produce, at 10 cents per 

 square foot, returns of $96.10 to each operator. To provide for gardening 

 and other practical arts instruction would necessitate the reorganization of 

 school work, including the rearrangement of the school year so that the sum- 

 mer vacation may come in the middle of the year instead of at the end. 



Farm work and schools in Kentucky, E. N. Cloppeb (Child Jjahor Bui., 5 

 (1911), No. 4. pp. 178-206, figs. 22).— This report is concerned with the inter- 

 ference of farm work with the attendance of children at rural schools in Ken- 

 tucky and is based on a study made in seven selected counties. The author 

 calls attention to the fact that the 1910 Federal census of occupations credits 

 Kentucky with 64,692 child workers from 10 to 15 years of age, of whom 8^ 

 per cent are reported as agi'icultural laborers, most ^f them on the home farm, 

 as compared with slightly less than 72 per cent for the entire country. 



The study indicates that farm work, including all processes of tobacco cul- 

 ture, except firing ; plowing, cultivating, and cutting corn ; filling silos ; thrash- 

 ing grain; picking berries; making hay; and drying apples interferes more 

 than any other factor with the education of rural children in Kentucky. 



The economic situation of the small farmer in Kentucky is discussed some- 

 what in detail, inasmuch as the demands of his work and his inability to hire 

 labor may be responsible for his being unable to keep his children in school 

 throughout the term. It is stated that " the child labor laws of the States do 

 not apply specifically to agriculture, although an act of Nebraska forbids 

 children under 16 years of age to work in beet fields at night or more than 8 

 hours a day, and one of New York provides that boys over 12 years of*age 

 must not work more than 6 hours a day in gathering produce, whatever that 



