VII 



THE AGRICULTURAL PHASE OF NATURE-STUDY 



The nature-study idea is fundamental to the 

 evolution of popular education. Therefore it 

 may be applied — in fact, must be applied — to all 

 branches of education. It is bound to have a 

 tremendous influence in carrying a vital edu- 

 cational impulse to farmers. The accustomed 

 methods of education are less applicable to 

 farmers than to any other people, and yet the 

 farmers are nearly half our population. The 

 greatest of the unsolved problems of education 

 is how to reach the farmer. He must be reached 

 on his own ground. The methods and the results 

 must suit his needs. The ultimate test of good 

 extension work will be its ability to reach into 

 the remotest districts. 



We have failed to reach the farmer effectively 

 because we still persist in employing old-time and 

 academic methods. Historically, the elementary 

 public school is a product of the university and 

 college. "The greatest achievement of modern 

 education," writes W. H. Payne, "is the grada- 

 tion and correlation of schools, whereby the 

 ladder of learning is let down from the university 

 to secondary schools, and from these to the schools 

 of the people." This origin of " the schools of 



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