

 7 



PREFACE 



FARMING is a business our chief business. But the study 

 of agriculture should be not only economic ; it should be edu- 

 cational and social as well. Good homes, good schools, good 

 roads, must wait on good business. 



Elementary Agriculture is an attempt to utilize the social 

 values of farm life as educative material ; it aims to make 

 country boys and girls love farm life, not only because this 

 life is worthy and wholesome, but because farming, if directed 

 by a trained mind, is a most interesting and profitable calling. 

 This book places the emphasis on doing something as a home 

 exercise or project, both for its educational and for its material 

 value ; it aims to correlate with farm life, when possible, such 

 related subjects as arithmetic, history, literature, geography 

 and the sciences generally ; and it gives pointed suggestions at 

 the end of each chapter for practical and productive work. 



The social and the economic treatment, which has been gen- 

 erally ignored, takes up the first six chapters. But the first 

 lesson may start with corn and the seasonal sequence of subjects 

 may follow in order. Most teachers prefer to select their own 

 order of chapters to suit local conditions, and to this plan 

 Elementary Agriculture is particularly well adapted. 



The study of agriculture is wider than the study of any text- 

 book. Books on agriculture are mere guides or instruments 

 imperfect at best ; they must be judged by what they lead to 

 rather than by what they contain. They should not be compila- 

 tions of agricultural bulletins written by experts. These bulle- 

 tins are readily available, and no textbook can take their place. 



The time has come when we must mobilize our instructional 

 resources in agriculture. They have not been doing effective 



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