No. 4.] BOARDS OF AGRICULTURE. 41 



common-school course upon subjects pertaining to agricult- 

 ure. I think it would be of great advantage to the children 

 in our schools if there were text books in use which treated 

 upon the growth of fruit and fruit trees, plants of all kinds 

 and the crops we raise. These books would be interesting 

 as well as useful, and would serve to stimulate a habit of 

 observation in the pupils as they are brought into contact 

 with the works of nature. If the young people had such a 

 course of training in school, I think more of them would 

 choose to live in the country. 



Hon. T. S. Gold (secretary of the Connecticut State 

 Board of Agriculture). The remarks of Mr. Appleton in 

 regard to those little books that he saw in England re- 

 minded me of Johnston's " Catechism of Agriculture," a 

 book that was published some fifty years ago in England, 

 edited by Professor Norton of Yale College. This little 

 book contained these questions: "What is agriculture? 

 Agriculture is the art of cultivating soil. What is it 

 necessary for the farmer to know? He should know the 

 nature of the soil he has to deal with, the nature of his 

 crops and the character of the animals." That little hand- 

 book of a hundred pages was one that I used in teaching 

 for nearly twenty-live years, and found it a mine of wealth 

 to develop the character of boys in the school. Day by 

 day I could bring some object lesson before them from the 

 farm or garden in connection with that book, and the 

 dullest boys would find something there that they would 

 catch hold of, and become quite average scholars. Now, 

 that is only a small point to make here, but it is certainly a 

 very important one. Haven't we gone back a little in our 

 school books and the early instructions that Ave got in our 

 schools? Are we not now suffering from the fact that our 

 books are almost all from the city and village stand-point, 

 and not from the stand-point of the farmers, as we remem- 

 ber them to be? I always want to say a word for old Web- 

 ster's spelling book whenever I have an opportunity ; and 

 I rejoiced when I was at the Centennial at Philadelphia to 

 see that pyramid of spelling books, weighing tons, in which 

 it was stated that the number, of Webster's spelling books 



