24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



great weight and validity when stated generally, is 

 but of little force or weight when sought to be 

 made applicable to a specific case, actual or quite 

 likely to occur. 



The objections which have been advanced with 

 80 much confidence and complacency by a gentle- 

 man who has had thirty years of "pedagogical 

 drill,'' will be found to vanish into thin air, and to 

 be void and of no force whatever in such a case as 

 we have just sketched. For example, take his 

 first objection, and it is obvious that the attention 

 of the boys composing the class in agriculture 

 would not be diverted from any studies more use- 

 ful, for thoy would probably have finished at their 

 ages, fourteen to eighteen, all the studies named 

 by the objector as the only proper school studies ; 

 and if not, eleven-twelfths of each school-day 

 might be devoted to Avhatever other studies might 

 be desirable, as their recitation in agriculture need 

 not occu])y more than half an hour, and seldom as 

 much, any day of the term. Then again, his next 

 objection as to the incompetency of teachers is, in 

 this case, as it would be in a majority of cases, 

 utterly invalid and inapplicable. And his last ob- 

 jection as to want of intelligence and want of time 

 does not apply at all to the case supposed, as the 

 boys have already mastered all the usual school 

 studies, and are devoting their last winter's attend- 

 ance at school, perhaps, to the study, with their 

 mates, of the facts and principles of chemistry and 

 other natural sciences which serve to explain or 

 elucidate the operations to which they intend to 

 devote their lives. 



Should this article come under the eye of any 

 teacher who may be requested to take charge of a 

 class in agriculture, we would suggest to him that 

 in addition to recitations from a text-book, he 

 would give interest to his instructions if he would 

 go over all the principal operations of a farm in 

 regular order, and explain the reasons for the 

 more common pi'actices or methods adopted. 



Moke Anon. 



P. S. — The time at my command has compelled 

 me to write with less fullness than seemed desira- 

 ble, not only on the present occasion, but on sev- 

 eral others, as, for example, in my first notice of 

 Mr. White's article on Mental Culture. On 

 looking over what I have written above, I have felt 

 that my eff'ort to make future discussion as to 

 school studies and agriculture as a school study 

 more pointed, practical and profitable, might be 

 more sure to accomplish the object, if the ques- 

 tions or points at issue were more plainly stated 

 than they are in the case which we have sketched 

 as one quite likely to happen. Let it be observed, 

 then, that the questions of the greatest importance 

 in such a case would be these two : 



1. Would it be wise, proper, expedient or other- 

 wise, if certain of the parents in any school district 

 should desire and request that their sons, after 

 completing the usual course of school studies, 

 should unite as a class and recite in agriculture ? 

 Would not such a study be more useful than that 

 of algebra or astronomy, or geometry or rhetoric, 

 or some others attended to by the more advanced 

 pupils ? Is there any good reason Avhy such a de- 

 sire should not be entertained, or such a request 

 be made ? 



The above questions are for the parents them- 

 selves to determine. Having determined that a 



class in agriculture might be proper and profitable, 

 and having found a qualified teacher, the proposed 

 innovation would bring up this question, for the 

 school officers or the whole of the patrons to de- 

 termine, viz. : 



2. Is there any good reason why the proposal of 

 a class in agriculture should be objected to or op- 

 posed by any portion of that school district? 

 Why should not half an hour be occupied with 

 agriculture as well as with algebra ? 



THE EYE OP THE CRAB. 



A creature that depends upon its own exertions 

 to capture the active prey upon which it feeds, 

 must necessarily be furnished with powerful eyes, 

 which are capable of extending the faculty of vis- 

 ion over a very large field. These eyes are seen 

 on the front margin of the crab, placed on foot- 

 stalks, and having a peculiar nacreous lustre on 

 their grey-brown surfaces. On examination with 

 a good pocket lens, the eyes are seen to be com- 

 pound, i. e., formed of a great number of facets, 

 each possessing the power of vision, and all com- 

 municating with their common optic nerve. The 

 delicate raised lines caused by the serried ranks 

 of these compound eyes are the origin of the pe- 

 culiar lustre just mentioned. It will be seen, too, 

 that the visual portion of these organs passes par- 

 tially round the footstalks, so that when the crea- 

 ture pi'otrudes its eyes, it can see objects on all 

 sides with equal ease. Now, replace the crab in 

 the water, and watch it as it exhibits the instinct 

 which has been implanted in its being by its Mak- 

 er. Advancing with the flowing tide, and ever 

 remaining within a foot or two of the edge, the 

 crab keeps its eager watch for food, and suffers 

 few living things to pass without capturing them. 

 The whole nature of the animal seems to be 

 changed while it is seeking its prey. The timid, 

 fearful demeanor which it assumes when taken at 

 a disadvantage wholly vanishes, and the appar- 

 ently ungainly crab become^ full of life and spirit, 

 active and fierce as the hungry leopard, and no 

 less destructive among the smaller beings that 

 frequent the same locality. — Once a Week. 



Little Hungry Minds. — If there is one les- 

 son we would impress upon parents, it is this : 

 Don't stifle your children's desire at proper times 

 to ask questions. This involuntary self-educating 

 process of the child's is of more importance to its 

 future than many parents are aware of. It some- 

 times, nay, often, costs an eff'ort to break up a 

 train of thoughts in which you may be interestedly 

 occupied, but it will pay. Like the sticks and 

 straws which the winged "bird bears long distances 

 in its bill to construct its nest, these tender twigs 

 of information may be worked into a structure 

 which will afford comfort and protection from 

 many a life-storm, a safe retreat for quiet reflection 

 when the spirit of evil is prowling about for care- 

 less sti-agglers, who are beating the air because 

 there is nothing else left for them to do. Don't 

 turn your child away with a lazy, fibbing, ab- 

 stracted "I don't know." Rouse yourself, and 

 give him food for thought in your answer, or that 

 spirit of evil may take posses^ii"", of the r.uvtment 

 which you are ti^ ' 



