PURPOSE AND PLAN. 



The teaching of agriculture in the high schools is beset with 

 many difficulties, among which are the following: 



1. Scarcity of trained teachers. 



2. But few good high school texts. 



3. A frequent misconception of the purpose and value of the 

 course on the part of teachers and parents. 



4. Confusion of pupils and teachers due to the wide variety of 

 suitable topics that may be studied and the great abundance of 

 illustrative material. 



5. The still too common notion that agriculture is essentially a 

 book study which can be taught independently of laboratory and 

 field. 



f>. Lack of definite form and content of the course. 



This book is an attempt to obviate some of these difficulties by: 



1. Planning a course that any wide awake, progressive teacher 

 who has had any scientific training can teach successfully. 



2. Referring throughout to the best standard authors in order 

 to give the student a broader and clearer view than is possible 

 where only one book is used. 



, 3. Securing the cooperation of parents by bringing them into 

 direct contact with the work of the pupils in the home garden and 

 field. 



4. Making the best possible use of illustrative material in the 

 laboratory, garden, and field, in order to give the students an oppor- 

 tunity to observe and study the fundamental processes at first 

 hand. 



5. Confining the work to a comparatively few essential topics 

 and providing a definite amount of laboratory work on each. 



The bulletin consists of two parts. Part I is for the use of the 

 teacher and contains : 



1. Suggestions concerning equipment. 



2. General suggestions. 



3. Outline course with lists of readings. 

 Part II is a pupils' laboratory manual, 



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