PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION 



THE growing complexity of the world of occupations, the conse- 

 quent need for definite information for use in vocational guidance, 

 and the increasing demand for trustworthy data for the class in 

 occupations have led to the preparation of this Bulletin. It is 

 offered to young people in the hope that they will find efficient 

 service and personal satisfaction in the work of their chosen occu- 

 pation. Every one should know about the farmer and the workers 

 associated with him, for their occupations are fundamental. While 

 liberal Federal and state provision have been made for agricultural 

 education, printed information suitable for use in the vocational 

 counseling of young people in this great field has been lacking. 

 This study presents the important facts of the field as a basis for 

 criticism, further investigation, and choosing a life career. 



This bulletin is primarily an expansion of Section I of the author's 

 A Guide to the Study of Occupations, into brief but comprehensive 

 analyses of the occupations there presented. A few occupations of 

 secondary importance are added, to make the treatment of the 

 great field reasonably exhaustive. The plan of treatment here 

 followed is that laid down in "How to Use This Book," in the in- 

 troductory part of the Guide. Thus the use of the Bulletin may be 

 supplemented by the use of the Guide, both for method and for a 

 critical treatment of the references here given and for additional 

 references. 



The occupational material presented in these pages has been 

 prepared with great care, whether drawn from abundant or scanty 

 sources and experience, country-wide in nature. It has been the 

 purpose of the Bulletin to include only fundamental information, 

 on which constructive teaching may build and to which it may add 

 according to the age and needs of the pupil, or the advancement of 

 a class. This material has been submitted for critical treatment 

 and suggestion to experts on the staff of the Massachusetts State 

 Board of Education and to the faculty of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, as well as to other authorities in the occupa- 

 tions presented, and it bears the results of such aid in its present 



