fobison] IXDUSTRIAL EDi'CA 7/O.Y IN RURAL CO. MM I XI TIES 23 



ioad," such a combination of education along the lines of agri- 

 culture, domestic economy, and manual training as I found at 

 the Magnolia township school, Putnam County, Illinois. Here 

 on a fine 24 acre campus stood a new $12,000 school-house that 

 had been built without cutting down more than two of the trees 

 growing on the place. Several acres are devoted to experi- 

 mental plots under the general supervision of Professor Hopkins, 

 of the State University and under the direct management of a 

 local corn breeder of some reputation. The school has its own 

 gas plant, which lights the building and supplies the domestic 

 and physical science laboratories. It is heated with steam and 

 furnished with running water furnished by an air pressure pump. 

 There are accommodations in the basement for 20 in manual 

 training. While there are but four teachers, they are specialists 

 to a degree allowing of more work of departmental nature than 

 often found in schools of small cities. When the high school has 

 been running four years instead of two. more teachers will be 

 needed to keep up this arrangement. Agriculture will be taught 

 in each of the four years. 



However much some may be inclined to criticize the work of 

 the county agricultural schools of Wisconsin along the lines of 

 traditional culture, they offer excellent opportunities to the 

 youth of their respective counties to obtain an industrial training 

 very well calculated to meet their particular needs. I mention 

 these schools because already in three out of the four counties 

 maintaining sucn schools, the county training school is housed 

 in the second story of the modern and commodious building, 

 and has the full benefit of all the facilities for industrial training 

 for both the young men and young women. Two of these 

 county training schools for teachers report, tor the yea^ 1907-8, 

 an enrollement of 73, of which about -,o ( ", will probably teach in 

 the rural schools of the respective counties. 



The different examples cited above are isolated cases of in- 

 dustrial education in rural communities, and can hardly be said 

 to show current tendencies so much as possibilities and to indi- 

 cate methods of action. 



