4 PREFACE 



and our young people in the cities must be made to realize this 

 fact. The solid and substantial wealth of our nation comes from 

 the country and not from the city, but this hard-earned wealth pro- 

 duced on the farms is being nearly all diverted to the improvement 

 of cities and city institutions, instead of being used for the improve- 

 ment of the country and its institutions. The time is now at hand 

 when there must be an organized and determined effort to correct 

 this condition, for we need strong and brainy people in the country, 

 and they are entitled to the same comforts and conveniences as are 

 enjoyed by those living in the city. 



Further, aside from its practical value, we should not lose sight 

 of the fact that agriculture may be made an aid to other school 

 work in many ways. Mathematics will be applied in the use of 

 weights and measures, while the principles of percentage and pro- 

 portion will enter into the solution of nearly every problem in soils. 

 Composition will lose some of its bad flavor, and spelling will no 

 longer be distasteful when applied to the description of experiments 

 in which the pupils are interested. Manual training will find ex- 

 pression in the making of boxes, labels, farm levels, and many other 

 appliances used in various experiments. Some of the principles 

 of botany, physics, chemistry, and zoology will be learned and 

 applied in their study with soils, plants, and animals. When 

 handled in this way, all of the work will leave a more lasting im- 

 pression, because it is concrete, and at the same time it will be 

 more interesting because it is connected with the life and occupation 

 of the pupils. 



In the preparation of this work, the author has tried to keep con- 

 stantly in mind the needs of the student as well as the facilities 

 at the disposal of the teacher for making the instruction practical 

 and available. No attempt has been made to exhaust the various 

 topics treated, and in every instance abundant latitude is given the 

 instructor to show his own individuality in developing and carrying 



out the ideas suggested by the text. 



JOHN W. WILKINSON, 



Assistant ^Superintendent. 

 STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 

 GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA. 



