62 Agricultural Instruction in the Public High Schools 



June I. They found a ready market at 5 cents apiece. The 

 blossoms were pollenized by a hive of bees, which was placed 

 outside and close to an opening in the greenhouse. The young 

 tomato plants were sorted into three groups according to stocki- 

 ness and apparent hardiness, and notes were made by the class 

 on the difference in their ability to withstand the transplanting, 

 which was very marked. An exhibit of vegetables and flowers 

 raised in the greenhouse was held late in the spring. Some 

 of the boys conducted an experiment in treating for scab the 

 potatoes used for seed by a blacksmith of the village. The 

 effect was so marked that the experiment gained considerable 

 local fame and gave the agricultural work an immediate stand- 

 ing in the community. It was the first thing told the principal 

 on his return the succeeding fall. ]\Iost of the soil experiments 

 have been conducted in the greenhouse. The school has a six- 

 bottle Babcock milk tester of the covered type. 



The elementary physics in the first year is a prerequisite for 

 all other science work. It is purely demonstrational, of the 

 " phenomena " type, and presented with a somewhat limited set 

 of apparatus, w-hich serves, however, to illustrate most of the 

 commonly used principles of physics. The seniors and juniors 

 formed a class in chemistry running through two terms, and 

 followed by botany in the spring term. The instruction in 

 chemistry was of the same nature as in the physics, except the 

 individual work done by two post-graduate students who per- 

 formed individual experiments at the demonstration table. The 

 class in bookkeeping used Masury's text with problems dealing 

 largely with the things that make up the bulk of farm accounts, 

 and not with the merchandise common to most texts in the 

 subject. 



The community is engaged in dairying, raising hay and oats 

 for feed, and to some extent in the cultivation of potatoes and 

 corn " by hand." Probably from three to four acres out of five 

 are in timber or in " sprout lots," that is, young timber coming 

 up on cut-over land. Half of the remainder is under actual 

 cultivation and the other half is in blue grass or " herd grass " 

 (timothy). Gardening under glass is carried on to a large 

 extent a few miles north of Petersham. 



