EDUCATION 141 



made great strides already and keep steadily undergoing 

 further perfecting processes. To the farmer in the country 

 the article may be worth much and it may save him much 

 labour, which is a consideration of daily increasing impor- 

 tance. But how is he to know about and learn how to 

 employ it ? In Italy the cattedre amhulanti serve, as far 

 as is possible, the purpose of familiarising him with such 

 new things. The teacher shows them and explains their 

 use. And, by a curious arrangement — which of course is 

 not suitable for our country — the society providing the 

 cattedra leaves an officer in some central locality, to exhibit 

 permanently, teach, and at the same time to take orders 

 for the implements exhibited and supply parts requiring 

 renewal. In Belgium more is shown and more is taught. 

 And, rightly, the use of the institution is made free to any 

 one who can show a fair title to study there. 



If demonstration suggests " special " studies, " special 

 studies " in their turn suggest what every one who knows 

 our country life will admit to be a matter of the very first 

 importance, namely, teaching for girls and women. The 

 war has made us appreciate women's labour, the value of 

 which, but for the Studley and the Swanley Colleges, and 

 one or two more similar establishments, we had wellnigh 

 been brought to forget. We have nothing as yet to compare 

 with the hundred or so Ldndliche Haushaliungsschtilen of 

 Germany, the host of Cercles de Fermieres and Ecoles mena- 

 geres amhulantes of Belgium, and the 600 or so Women's 

 Institutes of Ontario with their thousands of members, and 

 the numerous and active " Associations of Domestic 

 Science " of the United States, with their host of institu- 

 tions and courses of lectures and demonstrations. And yet 

 there is no question connected with rural life of greater 

 importance, either economically or socially. 



" We have evidence," so writes Mr, Geo. A. Putnam, Super- 

 intendent of Toronto, " from the husband, the son, the daughter 

 and the neighbour, that the (Ontario) Institute has been an up- 

 lifting force in the life of the home and the community. The 

 husband notices that the mother performs her work in a more 

 systematic manner, with less labour, while the family is better 

 nourished with plain, wholesome food, placed before them in an 



