ii> STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ECONOMY IN THE WAY OF SAVING 



— the instilling of the old doctrine that ''a penny saved is a penny earned." 

 The greatest obstacle is undoubtedly the heavy burden of responsibility 

 i,t imposes on the Superintendent, and the necessity for depositing in 

 local banks which are not always reliable. In European countries these 

 difficulties are obviated hj the government guaranteeing the safety of 

 deposits through a system of Postal Savings banks, which system has tl^e 

 advantage of reaching both parents and children, sending its missionaries 

 to school, home and factory, to explain the principle of the savings bank. 

 One very puzzling problem pressing for solution in our high-schools and 

 colleges is connected with 



ATHLETIC GAMES. 



It is the opinion of most educated Englishmen that the playing of foot- 

 ball in the public schools of that country has much to do with the courage, 

 address, and energy with which the graduates of Rugby, Eton, and Har- 

 row have made their way through dangers and over difficulties in all 

 quarters of the globe. Still, in this country, the principles of competi- 

 tion and championship are carried too far. I am glad to know that our 

 leading educators are giving much thought to this problem, trying to 

 find the best method of eliminating the evils of the game, and of building 

 up that regard for fair play, that deference to the decisions of the umpire 

 which is so conspicuous in English games. 



THE HYGIENIC CONDITIONS OF THE SCHOOL, 



the health of pupils and their home surroundings, children's maladies and 

 the limitations of mentally deficient children — all these are among the 

 problems that are being considered by the practical pedagogy of the day. 

 In consequence, the varying degree of ability possessed by different pupils 

 is coming to be recognized more and more, and the pernicious practice of 

 making some children "mark time"' while those of slower intellect catch 

 up to them is almost done away with, though the time is not so far dis- 

 tant when it was considered almost a crime to permit any breaking down 

 of grade lines, and every child was squared by exactly the same measure, 

 and made to comply with exactly the same requirements. 



Progress in any line is best counted by decades. Since the days of 

 Father Pierce a great advance can be noted, and so many educational 

 problems have been wisely solved that vre have full faith in the ultimate 

 realization of all that our school system is meant to accomplish. We be- 

 lieve that our schools can inculcate such views of life among the great 

 working class as shall help them to appreciate 



THE TRUE DIGNITY OF LABOR, 



and inspire them to become skilled and proficient laborers. But the 

 school of the future must give increasing emphasis to the thought that 

 the only true nobility comes through toil of brain or heart or hand; that 

 "science and industry are God's hand-maids" by whose aid we gain the 

 consummation of life. Thus shall universal education fit for the special 



