128 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



of the text, and test the memory rather than ability to interpret. 

 Sometimes experiments are introduced, either in the text or 

 at the end of chapters. But conclusions to be drawn from these 

 experiments are either so implied in the text or are so obvious 

 that the suggested experiments become merely concrete examples 

 or illustrations of discussion in the text. Books of this kind 

 are easily adapted to the prevailing recitation method and con- 

 sequently are in extensive use (172). Several books have ap- 

 peared in which the experiment predominates. Here problems 

 and some suggestions as to procedure are given. The pupil 

 is expected to find answers by means of his own investigations. 

 He is supposed to learn to find out things for himself. How- 

 ever, even in otherwise admirable books, induction is often 

 "ready-made for the pupil" (173). This method of teaching 

 by means of experiment does not fit in very well with prevailing 

 methods of teaching. Many of the teachers themselves have 

 not had the benefit of laboratory training, and hence know 

 very little of any other than the textbook method of learning 

 or teaching. 



Another kind is the one in which agriculture is correlated 

 with arithmetic. Problems for demonstration of the various 

 arithmetical principles relate to agricultural affairs. In the 

 preface of one book occurs the statement, "The pupil will un- 

 consciously absorb and retain many valuable facts and prin- 

 ciples relating to agricultural practice"; in the preface of 

 another, the statement, "We trust that this little book, by com- 

 bining the subjects of arithmetic and agriculture, will be of 

 material assistance to teachers in their efforts to do effective 

 work in both branches" (177, 193). 



Perhaps one reason for the number of elementary agri- 

 cultural textbooks- lies in the nature of the subject itself. 



Considered as an industry, agriculture is manufacturing, buying, and sell- 

 ing. It is business. But unlike most other businesses, the operator is pro- 

 ducer of the raw material as well as dealer in the products. In order to 

 produce his wares to the best advantage he must know much of the princi- 

 ples in accordance with which the most successful production must proceed. 



