24 AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS IN UNITED STATES. 



The instruction in agriculture must be of less than college grade and 

 be designed to meet the needs of persons over 14 years of age who have 

 entered or are preparing to enter upon farm work. Each student in 

 agriculture must pursue supervised practice in agriculture on a farm for 

 at least six months per year. Under this act it has been possible to 

 establish more definite standards for secondary instruction hi agri- 

 culture and to enforce a larger requirement of practical work definitely 

 connected with the instruction in the school. The "home projects" of 

 the students usually consist of the growing of some crop on at least an 

 acre of land or the feeding and care of one or more animals for a period 

 of at least six months. The student must keep a record of his farm 

 operations and their cost and make a written report on his project at 

 its completion. The teacher visits the farm to observe and comment 

 on the work. Care is also taken to connect the school instruction with 

 the practical work on the farm. A considerable number of the special 

 agricultural schools have received these funds and they have also gone 

 to a large number of public high schools. In 1921, 50 special schools 

 and 1,700 ordinary high schools received the Smith-Hughes funds. 



ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 



Twenty-two States have special laws dealing with the teaching of 

 agriculture in the public elementary schools, at least in rural com- 

 munities. It has, however, been difficult to secure satisfactory teaching 

 of this subject in these schools generally. Most of the teachers in the 

 rural elementary schools are young women without training in agri- 

 culture. If they have attempted to teach agriculture they have simply 

 used a textbook in a perfunctory way. A few teachers in the one-room 

 schools have, however, been able to interest the pupils and to give them 

 some worth-while and practical instruction in this subject. More has 

 been accomplished in the larger schools formed by the consolidation of 

 a number of small school districts within a township. In these "con- 

 solidated" schools a teacher trained in agriculture is often employed. 



As a rule the formal teaching of agriculture has been confined to the 

 seventh and eighth, grades, in which the pupils are usually over 12 years 

 old. In the lower grades there is often some nature study, which in- 

 volves observation of common plants, domestic animals, birds, insects, 

 etc., and thus is introductory to instruction in agriculture. 



A considerable number of textbooks in elementary agriculture have 

 been published and widely circulated. Many of the States have pre- 

 pared outline courses in agriculture for the elementary schools. In 

 this work the State departments of education, agricultural colleges, and 

 United States Department of Agriculture have often cooperated. Charts, 

 lantern slides, and other illustrative material have also been provided 

 by public and private agencies. The extension agents of the agri- 

 cultural colleges and United States Department of Agriculture have also 



