406 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:9— Dec, 1918 



acquaintance with common things; he advises combining it with home geo- 

 graphy in the third and fourth grades ; and in the fifth and sixth grades making 

 it a kind of general science training. Beginning with the seventh grade 

 agriculture should be taught as a vocational subject, as intensively and 

 extensively as the capabilities of the pupil and the training of the teacher 

 render possible. Methods and topics are suggested. 



Passing on to high school agriculture, the principal aims should be voca- 

 tional, to contribute to the practical education of the future farmer. One 

 fourth of the students' time in school should be given to this topic and the 

 author thinks it would be desirable that agricultural work be included in a 

 unified science course. For junior and senior high schools are suggested (1) 

 Agronomy, (2) Animal Husbandry, (3) The Farm Physical Plant, (4) Horti- 

 culture, (5) Improvement of Plants and Animals, (6) Rural Life and Affairs. 

 A list of special study topics follows, with reference text books on general 

 agriculture and an anthology of agriculture. 



The different methods and principles used in teaching agriculture are men- 

 tioned and discussed: Such as the use of text-books, the lecture method, 

 recitation and reports by students, laboratory methods experiments and the 

 use of illustrations. Especial attention is given to the question of teaching 

 Farm Craft and the manner in which the state of Illinois is handling the 

 subject. 



Another topic The Home Project Plan is treated very completely. The 

 author suggests supervision of the regular farm work as an integral part of 

 the school course as a solution of the problem and gives a list of suggestions 

 for home enterprises along different lines of farming. The pages devoted 

 to the objects of agricultural extension work in the high school and four 

 different methods of approach to this work are full of suggestions. Then 

 follows a pithy chapter on the most important factor in education, The 

 Teacher of Agriculture. 



Nearly 100 pages of this book are devoted to an appendix which contains 

 suggestions for a farm, home, and community survey: For a suggested course 

 in nature-study for each grade, with subjects adapted to the seasons of the 

 year and sample lesson plans, for from first to sixth grade. For a suggested 

 course in agriculture (the elements) for the seventh and eighth grades com- 

 bined using the text-book method. 



It contains a list of study topics adapted to the seasons, and a list of practi- 

 cal tasks of home work on the farm, that could be used for school credit in 

 agriculture, also an outline of the Home Project Plan, There are also sug- 

 gestions for laboratory equipment, and suggestions for a high school agricul- 

 tural laboratory. Finally, a complete bibliography is given. 



L. S. T. 



