AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 10*23 



work is mentioned as one of the means whereby school work may be freed "from 

 its mechanical grind — it- repetition of words and sentences without the thought 

 coiii cut." ( reneral suggestions concerning the nature of laboratory work arc given. 



The advisability of agricultural education in elementary schools, L. II. 

 Bailey I Agr. of Mass., 1904, />/>■ 9S-120).— This includes an address by L. II. Bailey, 

 with discussion. 



The first Bpeaker, in gi\ ing reasons why young men Leave tin- farm, suggested lack of 

 business opportunity on the farm, ambition for large thin'_ r >. opportunity to work for 

 others without financial risk, the attraction of more money, shorter hours, and social 

 and intellectual entertainment in tin- city, and the influence of hi- early teaching. 

 This last includes parental influence, that of the preacher, and that of the teacher. 

 The farmer often deplores his own business, tin- preacher until quite recently has 



confined himself largely to the sphere of morals ami religi and the teacher, a- a 



rule, has very little touch with rural affairs. She has been trained from the town and 

 city point of view . and the hooks sin- uses employ not the problems of the farm, hut 

 the problems of the city. Suggestions for remedying some of the faults of teaching 

 arc pointed out ami reasons given for teaching agriculture. 



Hints and helps for young- gardeners, II. D. Hemenway I Hartford, < '<>,,n.. 1906, 

 l<l>. 59, figs. 17, dgm. I).— A guide for school and home gardeners intended for those 

 who arc young cither in years or in experience. 



hollowing an introductory chapter in which the value and influence of gardening 

 are discussed, chapters on the following subjects are given: How to plan the garden, 

 soil tillage, how to test seeds, how to plant, how to dig and set tree-, how to make a 

 hotbed and care for the same, strawberry culture, asparagus culture, and window 

 gardening. The chapter on how to plant contains planting tables for vegetables and 

 flowers in which is condensed much valuable information concerning the time, place, 

 and manner of planting; how long it takes each plant to produce flowers and mature 

 seed «»r to produce edible portions, ami in the case of vegetables what pari i- eaten, 

 how it is prepared for eating, and what the cultivation of each plant teaches. 



A course in nature study, F. L. Stevens and Mrs. F. L. Stevens A. ( . State 

 Supt. Pub. Instr., Teachers* Bui. 5, pp. 32). — An outline is given for nature-study 

 work by months, extending through 7 grades of elementary school work. This is 

 followed by suggestions for elaborating the nature-study outline, in which one lesson 

 is treated in considerable detail. 



It is recommended that during each month at least one lesson be conducted 

 upon each of the following subjects: Plants, animals, soil, and sky. The object of 

 the work, as stated in the introduction, is not primarily to give information «.r knowl- 

 edge, hut "to arouse an interest in nature; to put the pupil in a sympathetic attitude 

 toward nature for the purpose of increasing the joy of living." 



How to teach the nature-study course, J. Dearness I Toronto: ''"/'/>. Chirk Co., 

 Lid. [1905], pp. 206, pis. 5, figs. 41, dgm. i). —This is a text-book prepared to aid 

 teachers in presenting that part of the prescribed Bchool courses of Nova Scotia, 

 I >ntario, and Manitoba relating to nature -tudy and school gardening. Nature study 

 is first treated in a general way and then taken up with reference to the prescribed 

 courses which are outlined by grades and subject-matter. A lis! of publications 

 useful for study and reference is given. 



Nature study with common thing-s, M. II. Cartes [New York, Cincinnati, 

 Chicago: American Book Co., 1904, pp. 150, pis. 18). — This is a laboratory guide <>f 

 nature study treated from the viewpoint of elementary science. It is intended for 

 pupils in fourth, fifth, or sixth years of city schools. 



studies of 17 common fruits ami vegetables are presented, each to be examined 

 in its entirety, in cross section, and in vertical section. There is a Bameness of 

 treatment throughout, and, in the author's own words, "many of the observations 

 the pupil is called upon to make in these lessons bear upon no conclusion. They 

 make no attempt to explain anything hut are for the sole purpose of being made." 



