May, lyiil. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



215 



jccf as agrifultiu-c, suitable to all the students in all tlie 

 vai\\iujj distriets of a largfe province, to tlie exclusion of 

 otlier topics equally valuable and equally suitable to 

 those districts, is no easy task. The difficulty arises 

 out of an attempt to harmonize two principles -which 

 very frequently conflict when put into actual practice. 

 First there is the principle of "local autonomy" where 

 local interests and the availability of materials and 

 occasions for teaching would seem to demand first con- 

 sideration for a very few branches of the subject. This 

 is best illustrated in the case of districts where the in- 

 tensive cultivation of fruit is the chief occupation of 

 the people. The oft quoted principle of "teaching in 

 terms of environment"' would almost seem to demand* 

 such procedure and from a purely educational stand- 

 point such a limitation of the range of subject matter 

 could be justified. But there is another principle to be 

 considered. Diversified farming is in the ascendency 

 and successful farming may, and probably will, come 

 to depend upon the best methods of correlated work. 

 Each ilistrict will, so to speak, have its majors and its 

 minors in agriculture. The fruitgrower may find it 

 advantageous from the standpoint of permanency and 

 of labor supply to have poultry or other live stock, and 

 the dairyman may find it advantageous to have a few 

 special side lines such as vegetables or fruit cash crops. 

 One topic there is. however, that would appear to be 

 fundamental and universal and that is the study of the 

 soil itself. 



Agricultural principles, or in other words, scientific 

 principles alone are universal. Agicultural practice 

 may vary in different districts, but the fundamentals 

 of the science are without bounds or limit. It is for 

 this reason that in British Columbia, a province that 

 might be properly styled a province given to specializa- 

 tion in agriculture, that we have decided to adopt an 

 extensive rather than an intensive course in High 

 School Agriculture. We do not aim at developing 

 through the medium of a high school coui'se a number 

 of skilled fruit gi'owers or poultry raisers, but we do 

 want every boy and every girl who completes the high 

 school course to have a fair understanding and appre- 

 ciation of the scientific basis of agriculture and to 

 know how to apply these principles in a practical way. 

 Without going into a detailed statement of the two 

 year course it will suffice to state that the course em- 

 bodies soil study, vegetable and flower gardening, 

 fruit growing, field crops, poultry and live stock, 

 dairying, agricultural botany, bee keeping and ento- 

 mology. 



Methods Followed. 



Realizing that the chief cause for past failures in the 

 teaching of agriculture in public and high schools has 

 been improper methods adopted in teaching, we have 

 aimed at presenting the subject in the most approved 

 manner consistent with average local conditions and 

 reasonable expenditures. The "direct" method of 

 teaching has been followed in place of the old exposi- 

 tory or "book" method. As a matter of fact no text 

 book is used by either teacher or students although 

 each school is provided with a number of up-to-date 

 reference books as well as numerous bulletins bearing 

 on the various branches of the subject. A single room 

 is set aiiart for the work, t'qui|)])('d as a lal)oratoi-v- 

 class-room having long tables instead of regulation 

 desks and a stationary ledge two feet wide fitted 

 against three of the walls and equipped with taps and 

 sinks in the usual way. In small high schools this room 



is used for teaching all of the science work. Where 

 possible a garden house and storeroom is provided 

 where such work as potting of plants, selecting of 

 grains and vegetables, and the preparation of material 

 for planting is carried on. In one instance a green- 

 house has been provided; in all other cases hot-beds and 

 cold-frames are used. An important addition to the 

 teaching equipment is the garden and experiment 

 grounds which comprise from one-half to one acre. 

 Most of the work involved in conducting experiments 

 in these grounds is performed by the students them- 

 selves, although at certain times hired help is required 

 as well. The "experimental" method is used through- 

 out but not overdone. Occasionally the instructor's 

 demonstration comes in with class discussion. Class 

 instruction in laboratory and garden is supplemented 

 by individual home projects of a more sustained char- 

 acter. Some of these projects run through the entire 

 year, and are accredited in making up the standing of 

 the pupil. 



Main Objecta to be Achieved. 



The enumeration of educational values arising out of 

 the teaching of any subject can easily be overdone and 

 the position of agriculture as a high school subject 

 will not be improved by the making of extravagant 

 claims on its behalf. It will be possible to speak with 

 greater assurance in the course of a few years. It is 

 hoped that out of this study will grow a better under- 

 standing of the fundamental principles underlying the 

 science and practice of agriculture on the part of our 

 young people, and that such training will prove of real 

 value to those entering the university and particularly 

 to those proceeding to more advanced studies in agri- 

 cultiire. It is hoped that the students themselves will 

 come to have a new outlook towards and a participat- 

 ing interest in rural life, that growing out of more 

 exact knowledge of the laws and processes of nature 

 will come added appreciation of the beauties as well as 

 the utilities of an agricultural environment, and that 

 presently we shall have a goodly number of young 

 people who will believe in the country and ^vill demon- 

 strate their ability to improve and develop it. 



For young people who are to become teachers in our 

 rural schools this course is likely to prove a special 

 value, and this is one of the reasons why girls as well 

 as boys are being encouraged to take it. Combined 

 as it always is with botany, chemistry or physics, it 

 affords ample opportunity for the application "of prin- 

 ciples taught and for the most effective correlation of 

 these science subjects. Under our present regulations 

 agriculture may be preceded by a year in general 

 science which comes in the first year in high school, 

 and is followed by agriculture in the second and third 

 years. This arrangement seems to be productive of the 

 best results. 



For some boys who manage to spend two or three 

 years in high school, but who are unable to go further 

 this agricultural course will have a decided vocational 

 value. They will have come into possession of much 

 valuable information and will have acquired sufficient 

 knowledge of scientific principles and of approved 

 methods of work to enable them to carry on more in- 

 telligently and with greater chances for success should 

 they decide to go in for farming, and thi.s in spite of 

 the fact that the course as given in British Columbia 

 makes no special claim in the matter of its vocational 

 value. It does claim to be rationally and soundly edu- 

 cational. 



