166 Rural Education in our \Hla(je Schools. 



not so in practice. Our own experience tells us that most 

 farmers say that the reverse is the case. 



Mr. Latham's very trenchant remark, the general perusal 

 of the letters around which this article is written, and one's 

 own experience as a teacher, though in another sjihere, compel 

 one to believe that farmers and others belonging to the land 

 have more to do than is suggested by the veteran agriculturist, 

 Mr. Rose. The early part of this paper tries to show that 

 the farmer pays full share for this schooling so that it is his 

 privilege and duty to " call the tune." Mr. Latham's complaint 

 is of a state of affairs that might be expected : townspeople are 

 not likely to have as good an influence on rural educaticm as 

 those, assuming that they are equally competent, who live l)y 

 the land. Rural public opinion might operate to such effect 

 that it would be impossible to find any country children 

 receiving an education which would be chiefly useful to them 

 in the course of a life spent in a town. The world's history 

 shows that puV)lic opinion cannot l)e brought to bear upon any 

 subject without trouble — the leading men in a community have 

 to work to arouse it. It almost seems that more of the energy, 

 intelligence, and determination which has made our good 

 farmers and stockbreeders the best in the world should be 

 turned to the matter of education. For it is now realised that 

 every rival we have, friendly or otherwise, has for some years 

 past spared no effort to ensure that the agriculturists who com- 

 pete with us should have the best education, elementary or 

 technical, that brains and money can provide. 



The practice of training the memory, while straining such 

 intellect as the child possessed, by driving — with a cane or 

 otherwise — innumera])le dates, facts, and figures into an 

 unhappy pupil's mind, is more or less a thing of the past. 

 It is now sought to replace such practice by education, and 

 the only education worthy of the name consists in training 

 the intellect as a whole, the memory being relegated to its 

 proper place as one of the mental faculties demanding certainly 

 not greater intellectual cultivation than do observation, perse- 

 verance, the power of looking ahead, &c. Wrangles over the 

 advantages and disadvantages of classics, modern languages, 

 science, or mathematics, for the purpose of educating the town 

 boy are constantly arising, but in a rural district it must seem 

 best and most natuf^al to make use of rural subjects for the 

 purpose. Thus a course of lessons on the soil, on animal life 

 as represented by farm stock, or by insects important in 

 husbandry, on plant life, on tillage, &c., properly given, would 

 train the boys' intelligence as well as would lessons on any 

 other set of subjects. They would further have the advantage 

 of providing him with information both useful and interesting 



