No. 4.] RURAL PROGRESS. 153 



in touch with the schools and l)ring teachers to the uni- 

 versity for summer school ^vork in agriculture and nature 

 study, but they send out a constant procession of leaflets on 

 nature study ; they organize nature clubs with thousands of 

 members all over the State, and send literature to them and 

 keep corresponding with them. They have also developed a 

 system of reading leaflets for farmers and tarmers' wives, 

 and aim to reach farmers and farmers' wives who do not 

 attend farmers' institutes, who do not take the best agricul- 

 tural papers, who do not read the bulletins from the experi- 

 ment station. The better class of farmers is pretty well 

 served to-day ; they have the farmers' institutes and station 

 bulletins and agricultural boards, and perhai)s do not need 

 this sort of thing. But nine out often farmers do not go to 

 farmers' institutes ; I do not know how many out of ten, but 

 more than you imagine, perhaps, do not take farm papers ; 

 and a large majority do not belong to the grange or any 

 other similar organization. I l)elieve it is the mission of the 

 colleoe to do what it can, together with these other aoencies, 

 to reach every last man that tills the soil in every State in 

 this Union. 



Question. What eff*ect upon rural progress would the 

 closing up of the rural schools have ? 



President Butterfield. I suppose you mean centraliza- 

 tion. I have no data from which to speak on that subject. 

 It seems to me that the theory of centralization is a good 

 one, providing the matter of transportation can be solved 

 practically. I think centralization depends for its success 

 quite largely upon the success with which you can transport. 

 As far as the centralized school is concerned, it ought to 

 secure better teachers and give a better chance for nature 

 study and agriculture in the upper grades ; but whether it 

 really is a good thing or not, under existing conditions, I 

 do not know. 



Mr. BowKER. Would you introduce these nature studies 

 into city schools? 



President Butterfield. Certainly ; I think there is a 

 pedagogical reason for nature study as a part of the cur- 

 riculum of every modern school. I do not know as I would 



