FOREWORD 



3 



\\ ith the growth of vocational agriculture in the secondary 

 schools there has developed, especially within the last few years, a 

 widespread interest in the problem of the farm shop. State super- 

 visors of agriculture, and men in charge of teacher training work 

 in agricultural education are zealous in giving impetus to the move- 

 ment. It is recognized, in the first place, that there are a multipli- 

 city of aims or purposes in the minds of teachers giving this work. 

 What teachers of farm shop work need most to do at this time is to 

 analyze the subject matter used into its significant elements. This 

 analysis should be made on the basis of relevance to the promotion 

 I better and more productive agriculture. \Ye ought to know 

 in terms of the region we serve, what kinds of work are most fre- 

 quently performed, and distinction needs to be made between con- 

 struction work on the one hand as distinguished from repair work 

 on the other. 



The following study was made by Professor F. Theodore 

 Struck, and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for 

 the Ph.D. degree at Columbia University. It represents results 

 obtained in large part through a survey made through the pupils 

 pursuing vocational agriculture in every community of the State of 

 Pennsylvania in which vocational agricultural education was given. 

 The object of these local surveys was to find out the exact nature 

 and extent of the kinds of agriculture carried on, and to see what 

 specific kinds of repair and construction work are performed by the 

 successful farmers of these regions. This was desired in order that 

 there might be- available a fact basis for determining essential and 

 significant elements that need to be covered in teaching farm shop 

 work. 



It is felt that this study is of considerable value to teachers and 

 supervisor- of farm shop work in Pennsylvania. The Department 

 of Rural Life of The Pennsylvania State College is publishing it 

 with the hope that it may prove of interest and value to teachers of 

 farm shop work, to those concerned with the training of agricul- 

 tural teachers, and to supervisors and administrators of agricultural 

 education in the several states. 



W. S. TAYLOR 



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