85 



precede or accompany domestic science courses and all the bio- 

 logical and physical sciences are necessary to adequate teaching 

 of agriculture. 



But instead of an attempt to establish well graded or cor- 

 related courses of this sort, in which the pure sciences are pre- 

 requisite to or coordinate with the course in applied science 

 we find i that the new courses are usually being added without 

 any reference to existing courses in pure science. Among the 

 40 courses of study I have examined, only two have any specific 

 requirement of a pure science as a prerequisite. In Chicago, 

 a four-year course in domestic science is being planned with 

 no requirements in other sciences. Such extended courses in 

 applied science must of necessity repeat, in a more or less com- 

 plete way, science wt>rk: which is already being done in the 

 pure science or might be done readily if there were concerted 

 action. This is surely a waste of effort. 



But the case with agriculture is much stronger. We may 

 have agriculture of a sort, but not "scientific" agriculture with- 

 out the training and facts yielded by the pure sciences. Yet 

 so-called courses in agriculture are being added as if the science 

 were wholly unrelated to other sciences. Often these courses 

 are placed in the early years of the course of study, where it is 

 not to blame for the way it is being done. The arrangement 

 any preliminary training in science. The result is, of course, 

 a very superficial and unscientific kind of training. 



But, after all, the school officers who are placing these new 

 courses in the curriculum in reponse to the demand for them are 

 not to blame for the way it is being done. The arrangement 

 of the pure , science courses does not offer any chance for the 

 development of well graded courses in the applied sciences. 

 Chemistry, which is needed in both agriculture and domestic 

 science, is given in the fourth year in most schools and physics 

 in the third year. Neither of these studies as now given can be 

 utilized. 



Another testimonial to the inadequate and unscientific organ- 

 zation of science in secondary schools is seen in the establish- 

 ment of separate schools of agriculture and other industrial 



