30 



would, it is believed, make such departments vocationally effec- 

 tive as preparatory courses for productive farming in this Com- 

 monwealth. 



(2) Definition and Present Attempts. Vocational agricul- 

 tural education as a separate department in a high school should 

 be as distinctive in its object and atmosphere as is the separate 

 agricultural school. Such a department would best be estab- 

 lished in a secondary school which had a farming environment 

 and an abundance of readily accessible illustrative material, in 

 varieties of farm land, equipment, operations and products. 



There are fourteen departments somewhat of this type in the 

 Province of Ontario : six established in 1906, two in 1908, three 

 in 1909 and three in 1910. It is intended to develop this 

 work until every county in that province has been covered. 



Work of like nature is now being given its first year of trial 

 by the Friends' Bloomingdale Academy, Bloomingdale, Parke 

 County, Indiana. The practical courses in farm management 

 established by the Agricultural Guild of the University of 

 Chicago, in 1908, utilize for practical experience farm equip- 

 ment privately owned and land operated for economic purposes, 

 as distinguished from land and equipment provided and main- 

 taine.d by endowment or public funds. 



(3) Minimum Standards. The agricultural department 

 must maintain minimum standards of similar character to 

 those fixed for the separate agricultural school. An outline is 

 here given of vital factors for the success of such a depart- 

 ment : 



A. Instructor. There should be at least one specialist for 

 instruction in agriculture. This teacher should be a man, 

 should preferably have been brought up on a farm, and should, 

 where practicable, be a graduate of an agricultural college. In 

 short, he should be, first of all, practical, a man interested in 

 farming and capable in farm work and management. 



His time and attention should be devoted exclusively to farm- 

 ing subjects. His service should be rendered throughout the 

 growing and harvesting seasons, in part as supervisor of school 

 projects at the homes of the students, in part as teacher of 

 agriculture at the school. He might also, if requested to do so. 

 act as advisor among farmers in the vicinity of the school. 



