134 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Elevate the home. 



Be yourself. 



Cultivate simplicity of living. 



Choose the essentials. 



Strengthen your moral fibre. 



Have one purpose, to which everything else is tributary, — that of lov- 

 ing service — beginning with the immediate and including as much of 

 the associate surroundings as possible. 



SEWING IN THE SCHOOLS. 



BY MRS. MAE M. GINGLES^ AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 



People who are fortunate enough to live in a civilized country and 

 under self-governing laws must not forget that they owe to the succeed- 

 ing generations a vast debt — one whose face should not only be paid, but 

 paid with interest compounded. And this debt — what is it? It is the 

 transmission of its best wisdom to the rising generation. Our success 

 as a nation depends upon the question of education. The field is widen- 

 ing year after year, and we note the constant improvement in methods 

 through the whole educational system — from the rural schools to the 

 colleges and universities. At no point, however, can we cease our labors 

 and say, "it is perfect." Constant improvement must be made to meet 

 changing conditions, otherwise we cannot progress or stand still ; we 

 either advance or recede. All these efforts are not merely to prevent the 

 growth of illiteracy but to make education practical and useful, and 

 enable the individual to develop into a capable worker and good citizen. 



It is our bounden duty to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to 

 aid in the constant improvement of the public school system. The time 

 is not merely coming but now is when we realize that old methods must 

 be improved by the introduction of new ideas, or replaced entirely by 

 those of a different order. One advanced step in the line of practical 

 education, which intensely interests us at the present time, is the manual 

 training feature of our schools and colleges. It is by no means new, 

 but many there are even now who little appreciate what it does for the 

 young mind. It developes to a greater degree than we are willing to be- 

 lieve, unless we have examined into the subject thoroughly and carefully 

 observed results. 



The coming generation demands men and women endowed with a 

 broad and practical education, and it is our business to make just such 

 an education possible to everyone who care to avail himself of it. One 

 of the saddest things we have to face in later life is lost opportunity. 

 If we fail to do all we can for the true education of the boy and girl of 

 today the result to them is lost opportunity even though we are the 

 cause. Let us look to it well that no narrow, petty or careless motives 

 of ours handicap the young people Avho are soon to be developed men 

 and women upon whom the nation will depend. 



The world that was once apparently so small and demanded so little 

 from us has rapidly developed to a remarkable degree, and is it wrong 

 to assert that this development is only just beginning? I think not. 



