60 THE AFFAIRS OF THE FARM 



PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



1. How does the house fly affect the farmer's health ? 2. In what 

 way can health be considered as wealth? 3. What is the pur- 

 pose of the rural school? 4. Why do pupils study agriculture? 

 5. What is meant by cooperation ? 6. Give as many instances of 

 cooperation as you can. 7. Of what value is an agricultural fair? 

 8. Name three ways in which the government helps the farmer. 



HOME EXERCISES 



1. Visit the local cemetery and note the ages of about fifty people 

 buried there. Average these ages and report. Compare the average 

 with that of your near relatives at the time of death. 



2. Make a list of all enterprises in which your parents cooperate 

 with their neighbors, and with home aid estimate the resulting gain. 



SUGGESTIONS 



1. Farmers are missing an excellent opportunity if they do not 

 keep in touch with the work the government is doing for them. It 

 will be well to have a child in eacli family send a postcard either 

 to Washington or to your state agricultural college for a free cir- 

 cular or bulletin that gives full information on some problem of local 

 interest. This circular should become the property of the pupil, and 

 naturally the parents would read parts of it. A course in agriculture, 

 except in colleges, must be brief and deal mostly with a few general 

 principles. Detailed information, such as no school text-book can give, 

 is needed on wheat in Kansas ; potatoes in Maine ; or cotton in Louis- 

 iana. It is the purpose of the " College Extension Service " of every 

 state to give this information in readable and attractive bulletins 

 suitable for recitation work in the schools. This service is free. 

 Teachers should see that these helpful aids are not lacking. 



REFERENCES 

 Rural Hygiene. Brewer. 

 How to Cooperate. Myrick. 

 Outlines of Practical Sanitation. Bashore. 

 Farm Hoys and Farm Girls. McKeever. 

 Country Life and the Country School. Carney. 

 Country Life. The Annals, March, 1912. 

 The New Earth. Harwood. 

 The State and the Fanner. Bailey. 

 Our Farming. Terry. 



