PEEFACE TO FOURTH EDITION 



It is true that, ''Civilization begins and ends with the 

 plow/' as we were told by Alexander the Great. It is also 

 true that, the progress of nations (heretofore and here- 

 after) may be measured by the degree of intelligence that 

 directs the use of their plows. It is no new doctrine that 

 intelligence aids industry. It is, however, a comparative- 

 ly new application for the schools to aid Agriculture, 

 which is the fundamental support of all civilization. 

 Agriculture is the most backward element in American 

 life to-day, and our schools are meeting a plain duty in 

 correcting the mistakes of the past. 



Agriculture is now established as a grammar grade 

 subject, not only as a vocational study for communities 

 that are essentially agricultural, but also as a cultural 

 study for all children who live in a nation whose industries 

 and traditions are so closely related to Agriculture as our 

 own. We study language for its utility in exchanging 

 ideas with our fellows; we study history and civics for 

 guidance in the discharge of our social relations, and 

 likewise other subjects for their usefulness. The new, 

 re-directed spirit of education recognizes that the greatest 

 culture is that knowledge which makes us master of the 

 materials of our environment. We may be scholarly 

 about many things, but uncultured if ignorant of the 

 ideas that belong to our country's greatest industry. 



The last twenty years have brought forth many sug- 

 gestions concerning the scope, the materials, and the spirit 

 that shall enter into the elementary study of Agriculture. 

 The fundamental theory in this text has been to supply 



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3G1290 



