AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 299 



instruction to hundreds of rural centers. The autlior points out the need of 

 the further extension of this worli beyond cookery, laundry worli, and needle 

 work, to include systematic instruction in the laws of health, home nursing, 

 and first aid to the injured, and suggests that training for home duties form 

 a part of the education of every girl, and be closely related to her means. 



Manual processes of agriculture (RiH. Rural Ed. Gonf. [Ot. Brit.], 8 {1913), 

 pp. 21). — As a result of its inquiry into the methods which local education 

 authorities in Great Britain adopt with the object of promoting efhciency in 

 the performance of manual processes, e. g., plowing, hedging, ditching, sheep 

 shearing, milking, and basket making, the Rural Education Conference recom- 

 mends that (1) instruction in certain manual processes should be provided for 

 the older boys and girls attending elementary schools in rural districts, and 

 that (2) local education authorities and managers of rural elementary schools 

 should regulate the holidays so as to leave the boys free to work on the land 

 at a time when their work is most useful. 



For boys and men employed upon the land it is recommended that classes in 

 manual processes should be conducted more in the nature of assistance to 

 rather than formal instruction "of those who attend, and the interest and 

 sympathy of the farmers in this work should be secured. Such instruction 

 should be more generally provided by local education authorities throughout 

 England and Wales, and the courses at present provided in most counties should 

 be made more thorough. Local authorities should offer certificates to be com- 

 peted for by the students at the end of the class, and local societies which 

 organize classes and competitions in manual processes should be encouraged 

 and assisted by local education authorities, although expenditure by local edu- 

 cation authorities on money prizes should be regulated. 



The methods employed by local education authorities for giving instruction 

 in manual processes at farm schools or agricultural colleges, by itinerant in- 

 structors, and through local agricultural societies are outlined, including the 

 duration and subjects of instruction, competitions, and cost of instruction. In 

 half the counties of England and Wales no provision is made by the local 

 education authorities for instructing agricultural laborers in manual processes. 

 Appendixes are added containing summaries of evidence as to the value of 

 instruction in manual processes in the counties in which it is being provided 

 and also as to the need for such instruction in counties in which no provision 

 :<? made for it. 



Manual instruction for adults in rural centers, H. Garkett {Dept. Agr. and 

 Tech. Instr. Ireland Jour., 13 (1913), No. 4, pp. 748-753).— The author describes 

 the methods now generally employed in the teaching of manual work in adult 

 itinerant classes in Ireland, outlines briefly the ground to be covered in the 

 teaching of constructional drawing for farmers which is an advance upon the 

 Itinerant work and forms part of a technical school course adapted to the needs 

 of farmers, shows how the work may be arranged into a definite course, and 

 finally indicates the direction which the teaching of construction should take. 



Technical instruction in plowing", A. Murray {Jour. Bd. Agr. [Lotidon], 

 20 {1913), No. 2, pp. 116-120). — An outline is given of a system of Instruction 

 In plowing which has been fostered for several years by the agricultural com- 

 mittee of the Hants County Council. The director of education of the county 

 appoints the instructor and pays all expenses in connection with the classes. 

 In one district last year there were 5 centers of such instruction with an 

 attendance of about 60 pupils, all of whom received a minimum of 12 hours' 

 Instruction each. At the close of the instruction a plowing competition is held 

 and prizes are awarded by the county council. 



