896 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOED. 



the importance of physics and forestry in agriculture, and the commercial and 

 economic aspect of agriculture. It is his belief that the education of agricul- 

 tural students should not be wholly concerned with the material side of life 

 If the agricultural community is to develop great leaders to represent it in the 

 councils of the Commonwealth and to support it in a policy of development, and 

 that with cooperation the farming community becomes a vital force. Hence, 

 the university, if it is to carry out its mission, should insist that the men who 

 are to become leaders of agricultural thought should have a knowledge of life 

 as well as be practical, scientific agriculturists. 



Memorandum on the curricula of ruralized secondary schools, W. N. Bbuce 

 {Bd. Ed. iLondon^ Circ. 883 (1914), pp. 2i).— The nature, organization, and 

 content of a ruralized curriculum, together with the place of agriculture 

 therein and outdoor work and the use of land are discussed. 



It is held that the curriculum should be given a rural bias without attempt- 

 ing to make it purely agricultural or of emphasizing the vocational trend too 

 strongly, and thus provide for the needs not only of those who intend to pursue 

 rural industries, but also of the majority of those who do not. Agricultural and 

 horticultural application of scientific principles should receive attention and 

 be freely introduced, not with the object of teaching agriculture but of illus- 

 trating biological, chemical, and physical principles. Such technical subjects 

 as farm implements and buildings, cultivation of various farm crops, breeds 

 and management of live stock, etc., should be excluded as the time does not 

 permit of their treatment concurrently with the necessary study of the funda- 

 mental sciences, their introduction will generally indicate a wrong attitude on 

 the part of the teacher toward the course as a whole, and these subjects will 

 not be so treated as to be of any great educational value. 



The provision of a small plat of land is found highly desirable and should 

 be used for the practical teaching of biology, chemistry, and physics through 

 the cultivation of the soil and the growth of farm and garden plants. It 

 should be divided into nature study plats to provide material for nature study 

 lessons in the lower grades, a demonstration and experiment plat^ a fruit plat, 

 and separate plats of about 30 square yards for each boy of at least one of 

 the forms, the boys doing all of the required work under the supervision of 

 the teacher. 



The training of teachers should include some practical acquaintance with the 

 ordinary operations of a garden and a farm but need not include formal 

 instruction in the theory and practice of agriculture as taught in the agricul- 

 tural colleges. 



Elementary school education as affecting the rural life problem, Mabel 

 Carney {Ann. Rpt. Conn. Bd. Agr., ^ (1918), pp. 130-U2).— In telling about 

 her own work in the rural schools of Illinois the author indicates that the rural 

 school Is the best agency in building up community life. 



Educational development in agriculture, L. S. Hawkins (Science Con- 

 spectus, 5 (1915), No. 2, pp. 37-41, pi. 1, figs. 4). — ^This is a brief survey of what 

 is being done by the agricultural colleges and experiment stations, extension 

 agencies, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the public schools to educate 

 the farmer. 



Present requirements in the United States in instruction in nature study 

 and elementary agriculture, E. R. Downing (Nature-Study Rev., 11 (1915), 

 No. 6, pp. 291-299). — This is a tabulation of requirements in nature study and 

 elementary agriculture in the graded schools of the several States and Terri- 

 tories. 



Agriculture in the schools of Mansfield and Lebanon, A. J. Brundaqe 

 (Ann. Rpt. Conn. Bd. Agr., 46 (1913), pp. 77-SO).— This is a brief report on an 



