ways that the country schools do not adequately prepare for country life; 

 that they are simply city schools on a small scale and with poorer equip- 

 ment, removed out of the environment to which they are best adapted. 

 Suggestions which found many supporters had to do with the intro- 

 duction of classes in agriculture and nature study, in domestic science 

 and manual training and in the principles of business procedure. Such 

 courses have already been introduced into a number of the schools 

 in the county with success and the outlying districts where they are 

 more needed wish to share in their advantages. As one instance of this 

 feeling we may cite a meeting of the Goshen Farmers' Club at which 

 this question was discussed for nearly five hours. The hypothetical 

 proposition about which the discussion revolved was this: A certain 

 large sum of money is now raised by taxation in Montgomery County 

 for the support of the Maryland State Agriculture College. Is Mont- 

 gomery County getting the largest possible return for money spent in 

 this fashion or might the amount be more profitable used for the pur- 

 pose of teaching the principles of agriculture in the public schools? 

 The thirty representative farmers present finally put themselves on 

 record as in favor of certain propositions, namely, that the principles 

 of scientific agriculture by all means ought to be taught to country 

 children; that the proper medium for this is the public school system; 

 that, therefor, such courses ought to be established in every school 

 and finally that the money now raised for the support of the Agricul- 

 tural College would produce better results if used in that fashion. At 

 a meeting of the Montgomery Farmers' Club of Sandy Spring a similar 

 proposition received the general support of those present. This seems 

 to be the attitude of the progressive and thinking element among the 

 farmers throughout the county. They are ready to have the ordinary 

 branches of study supplemented by these special branches. As we 

 have already seen, the smaller schools are doing very little and in the 

 nature of the case can not do more to meet this demand. 



These defects in the schools, which we have mentioned (for they un- 

 doubtedly are defects and serious ones), we are ready to assert are 

 inherent in a system of isolated one room schools. While the one-room 

 school remains it will always be open to such criticisms. This is a con- 

 dition which the school administration is helpless to cope with unless 

 public sentiment is ready to support them in a sweeping policy of re- 

 construction and reform. They recognize more clearly than most 

 that these things are true and that because of these things the schools 

 are not doing anywhere near all that they might be doing. One thing is 

 very obvious; in the present state of public enlightenment on the school 

 question which, being interpreted, . means in the present condition of 

 the school finances, it is quite impossible to completely remedy these 



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