THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROGRAMME 189 



complex day, and to grapple with them to a solution.'' 

 The whole social fabric must become a metaphrase of 

 the Christian life. What is needed is a body of 

 opinion within the church which shall understand the 

 school at its best, criticize it constructively, inspire it 

 with the leavening, uplifting, conserving influence of 

 religion ; and shall guide the public to accept from the 

 school, and to ask of it, not only the intellectualizing of 

 the children committed to its care, but that it shall voca- 

 tionalize, socialize, and moralize them as well. When, 

 for instance, we find in a recent report issued by the 

 Ontario Government the statement that " neither the 

 pupils nor the parents seemed to have any desire to 

 have agriculture taught in the school," we are face to 

 face with a condition in which character and motive are 

 the chief factors and the church is the agency to deal 

 with these. 



In order to solve the rural problem there is need of 

 widely diffused education in agriculture. The Pro- 

 vincial agricultural colleges cannot give this to many, 

 though they give it thoroughly; the coming county 

 agricultural high schools will be its finest agency, but 

 cannot give it to all. The public schools must give a 

 training that shall be in some degree vocational. Our 

 Provincial Departments of Education are offering 

 through the public schools elementary teaching in for- 

 estry, agriculture, and horticulture ; but in these efforts 

 meet with a widespread lack of moral support. To 

 secure this is the task of the church. 



But the school must do more than vocationalize the 

 pupil ; it must do its part in socializing and moralizing 

 him as well. Beyond aP other - <nners find it; 



difficult to organize and 10 co-operate for uv.'f.ual good. 



