452 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Many of the county and city superintendents have outlined and conducted 

 some work alon^ this line, always with good results, and much more could 

 be accomplished if the superintendents would emphasize the work more than 

 they do. One county superintendent recently sent out to all the teachers of 

 the rural schools of his county an outline for winter agricultural study with 

 the request that samples of the work prepared be returned to his office. 

 Much interest has been created and good work accomplished. Other super- 

 intendents have organized agricultural clubs for the boys and girls of the 

 county. 



The following and similar suggestions could be taken up and pursued in 

 in every school in Iowa. 



1. Make a map of the school district and lay off the farms. 



2. How many acres of wheat (or corn or whatever other product is most 

 argely grown), were raised on each farm this year, and how many bushels 

 did it yield per acre? The same for any other three principal crops. 



3. Study the pines and spruces. What is the shape of evergreen leaves? 

 Do evergreen trees ever shed their leaves? The pines bear their leaves in 

 clusters. How many leaves in each cluster? Are there the same number of 

 leaves in the clusters of each pine tree you have examined? 



4. Make a collection of several kinds cf cones. Open some of them and 

 find where the seeds are hidden. 



5. Find some man who is feeding a bunch of steers. Make a record of 

 the following: 



a. How many in the bunch? 



b. How many are red? How many roan? How many black? How 

 many spotted red and white? How many spotted black and white? 



c. How much does the whole bunch eat each day? 



d. What ones are fattening best? 



e. How many hogs are feeding with them? 



6. Plot and write a history of one farm in the neighborhood; what is 

 raised the present year; how many acres of each; what the yield; how much 

 was marketed and how much fed or otherwise consumed on the farm; how 

 many acres failed to yield anything (counting fence rows, waste places, etc.); 

 what the family used and what it is worth at market prices. 



7. What does it cost to raise an acre of corn? How much for rent or 

 use of land? How much for labor? How much for seed? 



