THE AGRICULTURAL PHASE 79 



consequence : the first merit of a teacher is to be 

 able to teach, whatever his sympathies or technical 

 knowledge. Many good persons seem to think 

 that the only thing to do to reform any school 

 problem is to get a teacher, forgetting that, in 

 the long run, teachers arise in response to a 

 general demand, or at least must be supported by 

 a public sentiment. It is really beginning with 

 the wrong end of the problem merely to ask for 

 teachers having knowledge of agriculture. We 

 should first awaken a general desire on the part 

 of patrons for the new type of instruction : when 

 this desire is aroused, the teachers will be found. 

 Usually more can be done by beginning with the 

 children rather than with the teacher. The 

 children can be aroused by some outside agency. 

 This is the meaning of the Junior Naturalist 

 movement in New York State. Probably the 

 true way to bring the rural school into intimate 

 touch with rural affairs is to begin both with 

 patrons and teachers, placing far the greater 

 dependence on the work with patrons — and with 

 the patrons the best results are to be expected 

 from work with the children. By interesting 

 the parents we shall bring pressure to bear on 

 local school boards, school commissioners and 

 superintendents, and school teachers to provide 

 more usable and direct instruction. 



Children are always ready to " do something.** 

 The success of kindergarten and school-garden 

 work rests on this common trait. The school- 

 garden idea can be variously modified. A recent 



