-ing contemplated educational work, is the one regarding the 

 aim or purpose that such work is to serve. Traditionally much em- 

 phasis is placed by teachers of drawing in secondary schools (par- 

 ticularly in technical high* schools) on technique, on the science of 

 orthographic and isometric projection, and on lettering. From the 

 standpoint of developing draftsmen this procedure is justifiable: 

 from the point of view of preparing for farming it is not. 



In mechanical drawing the vocational agricultural schools of 

 Pennsylvania are laboring under the handicap of tradition the 

 tradition of city schools that have been carried over into the rural 

 schools without much question as to whether or not the aims are 

 truly the same in industrial and technical schools as compared with 

 those whose chief concern is to prepare for happier rural life and 

 more productive agriculture. 



Farmers are occasional readers, not makers, of blue-prints. 

 They ought to know enough about conventional representation so 

 that they can understand working drawings dealing with farm sub- 

 They ought also to be able to make working sketches, for 

 the latter are usefrl in conveying ideas to others, and are essential 

 to practically all mechanical progrer . 



Instead of placing major emphasis on technique, and on the 

 science of drawing the requirements of an agricultural career may 

 be better served by the kind of instruction that aims at developing: 



1. Ability to read working sketches and blue-prints. 



2. Ability to make working sketches. (These need not 

 be* to scale, but must show all necessary views, di- 

 mensions, and notes). 



.\ Ability to write simple specifications to accompany 



sketches. 

 4. Ability to make working drawings to scale. 



In developing ability to make working sketches it may be ad- 

 visable to let pupils take advantage of all mechanical aids (such as 

 T-square, and triangles) at hand. \Yhile it is probably advisable 

 ise mechanical aids, such as instruments, cross-section and iso- 

 metric paper in introducing work in sketching for farm boys, it is 

 ahvay> to be remembered that the objective held in view is the 

 ability to make clear free-hand sketches, and the transition should 

 be made as quickly as possible. 



73 



