CHAPTER VI 

 SPECIAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE 



It is the opinion of the commission that there is a demand in various 

 agricultural sections for schools which shall be devoted to specialized 

 work, object lessons, and such practical courses as have a direct bearing 

 on farm life for both boys and girls. — Massachusetts Commission on 

 Industrial Education. 



No attempt is here made to give a complete account of the 

 technical secondary schools of agriculture, but to draw such a 

 sketch of the schools of this class as will make clear the dis- 

 tinction between their organization and work and that of the 

 general public high school, and show the variety existing among 

 the special schools themselves. 



Sample courses of study and something of the equipment of 

 the schools are here given, also some facts about the educational 

 preparation of the principals, the size of the faculties, and the 

 salaries of the agriculturists. Some interesting data are included 

 regarding the students, the extent of their preparation on enter- 

 ing, the number who live at home and travel back and forth 

 every day, and the number of those who live away from home, 

 either boarding in the school dormitories or in homes in the 

 town where the school is located. 



Types of Special Schools and State Aid 



The special agricultural schools have arisen under a variety 

 of legislative enactments. The size of the district in which they 

 have been or may be established also shows a wide variation. 

 Alabama and Georgia have adopted the congressional district as 

 the unit, giving them respectively nine and eleven such schools. 

 Oklahoma has adopted the supreme court judicial district as the 

 unit, and has established a school in each of the five districts, 

 and an additional one in the " Panhandle." The judicial districts 

 average about fifteen counties each. 



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