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subjects that are taught within the school building. They will be 
better taught if superintendents, teachers and pupils are inter- 
ested in practical subjects like school gardens, 
7. Lastly I desire to speak of the value and need of work of 
this kind to interest pupils in and teach them about practical 
agriculture. When we consider that the population is gradually 
drifting from the farms to the villages and from the villages to 
the cities the situation becomes somewhat alarming. It is im- 
portant indeed that our schools teach something of the practical 
things of life. A boy and a girl knows better the value of a 
bushel of potatoes or a peck of carrots after he has raised a 
garden. _ As I said a few moments ago I do not consider this of 
first importance in school garden work, but it is important never- 
theless. One of the great problems of life is that of food pro- 
duction in sufficient quantity and our schools must help to solve 
life’s problems if they are to be solved. I have always believed 
that there are many boy and girls of the cities and villages who 
would be happier, more contented and much greater successes in 
life if they could find their way to the country where they would 
have an opportunity to engage in the business of agriculture. 
We know that a great many country born and country bred boys 
and girls meet success in the vocations of city life. There are. 
many in the cities who would be happy in work in agriculture. 
The work of the schools, even in the rural districts, too often 
has been such as to educate boys and girls away from the farms. 
Our normal schools have been engaged largely in training 
teachers for work. in cities and villages. Very little attention has 
been given to the training of teachers for the rural schools. This 
is not the fault of the normal schools. They have merely 
answered the immutable law of supply and demand and the de- 
mand for trained teachers has not come from rural folk. We 
do not need teachers for the country of ideals different than 
those of city teachers. We do need, however, teachers who are 
familiar somewhat with rural conditions and who feel that the 
open country is a pretty good place in which to live, and who can 
make their pupils feel the same way. 
‘Ve read of consumers’ milk strikes. I do not own a dairy 
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