SUGGESTIONS 75 



3. Ask your father for the size of the home farm. Who has the 

 largest farm in the neighborhood? 



4. Keep a record for one week of the prices of farm produce as 

 given in a city paper. 



SUGGESTIONS 



1. It would be interesting to count up all the occupations of the 

 school district. Write the names on the board and the number of 

 people following each. Use the classification of the Census Bureau, 

 given at the beginning of this chapter. Is the number of different 

 occupations increasing? Would it not pay the farmer to do his own 

 carpentering and blacksmithing in order to reduce the number of 

 separate occupations? 



2. If any facts are available, it would be instructive to find out 

 whether a farm boy who has left home has, in a given time, actually 

 saved more than a young man that has stayed on the farm. While 

 farmers seldom become millionaires, yet there are not a few opportu- 

 nities for large incomes in almost every rural community. Do the 

 farm patrons of the school study the bodily needs and wants of city 

 people? Every farmer can spend a little time "just browsing" in 

 the city market, studying the whims of buyers. He can then better 

 understand why some sellers get more for their produce than others. 

 A little knowledge of human nature brings better returns than much 

 information on soil analysis. 



3. A list of " Farmers' Bulletins " is appended at the end of nearly 

 every chapter. These bulletins, unless otherwise stated, can be se- 

 cured, in most cases, free of charge from the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. A complete list of all bulletins available is not 

 given. It is suggested that whenever pupils need fuller information 

 on certain points they be encouraged to hunt for it, first, at their own 

 state institutions, and then, failing to find it there, they should send 

 to Washington. State publications are not often cited in the refer- 

 ences, for the reason that such publications are not intended primarily 

 for use beyond the state line. Each school should have a complete set 

 of the publications of its own state and of those of Washington, at 

 least a complete set of those publications which treat on subjects of 

 local interest. Ordinarily, bulletins of a technical nature are not well 

 adapted to school purposes, and should not be requested. In a gen- 

 eral way local aids are to be preferred to those more distant. 



