FERGUSON] PROGKESS OF NA TURE-STUDY IDEA IN TEXAS 75 



The General Educational Committee has become an Indus- 

 trial Education Association. This Association proposes to fol- 

 low the party declarations through the legislature which is now 

 in session, and to see that elementary agriculture becomes a 

 regular subject of the prescribed course of study for the com.- 

 mon schools. 



At its meeting just closed, the State Teachers' Association 

 adopted resolutions strongly favoring the introduction of agri- 

 culture into the common school course of study. 



Other evidences of the increasing popularity of the nature- 

 study idea are at hand. A recent bulletin from the State Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction on course of study for the com- 

 mon schools gives eleven pages of suggestive outline for a 

 course of instruction in elementary agriculture. In former 

 years it was only casually mentioned. Within the last year 

 elementary agriculture has become a regular subject in the 

 course of instruction in two of the State normal schools, and in 

 the third an equivalent amount of instruction is given to nature- 

 studies having more or less an agricultural significance. Each 

 of the three normals contemplate maintaining school-gardens 

 during the current session. 



In view of the liberal popular indorsement that has been 

 given, it is most likely that the current session of the legislature 

 will pass some laws intended to prepare our teachers to give 

 more instruction in the natural and physical sciences. 



Agriculture is already taught in a great many local schools 

 on the initiative of individual teachers or superintendents. In 

 one county every school is reported to have formed classes in 

 agriculture. Even these early and necessarily imperfectly organ- 

 ized courses have been received with favor by both pupils and 

 patrons. 



The progress of the nature-study idea has been most decided 

 during the last two years. During the coming two years we 

 have reason to expect all our schools to give more or less 

 instruction in nature-study work. 



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