CHAPTER VI. 



AGEICULTURE IN THE COMMON SCHOOLS. 



WITHIN a few years there has been some effort to 

 introduce the study of what is termed "agriculture" 

 in the common schools of rural districts. As dis- 

 cussion has progressed, there has been a tendency to substitute 

 the term "nature study" for "agriculture," as more definitely 

 descriptive of what is proposed to be taught. This term also 

 has the advantage of being commonly employed by teachers. 

 As understood by them, however, it includes subjects not 

 directly pertaining to agriculture, and has the disadvantage of 

 not conveying to the majority of farmers the distinct idea 

 of the connection between the proposed work and the art of 

 husbandry. In default of any single English word expressing 

 precisely what we mean, I prefer for the present to retain the 

 term "agriculture," meaning thereby the study of such natu- 

 ral phenomena, directly bearing upon farm work, as can be 

 profitably presented to pupils of school age. 



In this work, so far as I know, the authorities of the state 

 of Connecticut first took official action, but the first real prog- 

 ress was made when, in 1894, the New York Legislature, at 

 the request of the farmers of certain counties in the western 

 part of the state, appropriated $8,000 to be expended by the 

 Agricultural Department of Cornell University in promoting 

 improvements in the practice of horticulture within those 

 counties. The terms of the act permitted the promotion of 

 studies in aid of agriculture in the common schools, and the 

 authorities of the University devoted part of the appropriation 

 to that work. This work was entirely experimental, but it 

 could not have been placed in better hands, and the success 

 was such that the appropriations for the purpose were largely 

 increased, and the work extended to cover the entire state. 

 The New York work attracted the attention of the entire 



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