74 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



some educational periodical becomes a sort of official organ 

 for the state department of education. Practically all whose 

 subscribers are teachers in the rural schools give considerable 

 attention to agriculture, mainly in the way of suggestions and 

 helps to teachers. The effect of these periodicals on the actual 

 teaching of agriculture in the public schools has been, up to the 

 present, far greater than of any of the first or second group. 

 One periodical, the School News (Illinois), has been referred to 

 in a previous chapter (58). It was one of the first to 

 take up elementary agriculture in response to the new demand 

 upon the rural teachers. In 1900 it began to publish short 

 articles on various phases of agriculture adapted to the ele- 

 mentary schools. The practical efforts of this magazine to help 

 the rural teachers is further shown in connection with the new 

 course of study for the state of Illinois. This course includes 

 agriculture. The department of the magazine devoted to school 

 work in agriculture expands the course of study in agriculture 

 into descriptive details and gives specific directions to teachers 

 as to how to present the new work (102). 



The Nebraska Teacher, besides publishing special articles on 

 various phases of agriculture, is now publishing a series of 

 articles by Superintendent E. C. Bishop on "Agriculture and 

 Home Economics" (103). These articles are intended to assist 

 teachers in their work with the boys' and girls' clubs of the state. 



Many similar examples might be given but these two are 

 typical of the work that is now being done by many if not most 

 of the periodicals of the third group. They are close to the 

 teachers and seem to know what they need, or at least what they 

 want, and give it to them in a simple and concrete way. 



