SpTSS^^rr-: 



THE ILLII^^OIS FARMER. 



355 



ions the perceptive faculties are awaken- 

 ed, and much knowledge is gained. 

 Many of the birds may be studied in 

 this way — their seasons of migration, 

 their haunts, their notes, their food, 

 their nests, their seasons of incubation 

 and the number and character of their 

 young. The American propensity to 

 destroy the feathered tribes for the mere 

 love of killing, must be curbed, or ag- 

 riculture must pay an exorbitant price 

 for the sport. Nor is this destruction 

 confined to those who furnish our tables. 

 Anything having life is a suitable and 

 desirable "mark" for the murderous 

 aim. Already, in some sections, the 

 cruel, useless and wholesale destruction 

 of insectivorous birds is beirinnincj to be 

 severely felt by the agriculturist, and 

 unless the evil is restrained by the culti- 

 vation of better feelings, the equilibri- 

 um established by the Creator will be 

 disturbed, and the increase of fpMS'stifer- 

 ou3 insects and noxious vejietcrtion, in- 

 definitely multiplied, n^ay teach a severe 

 but salutary lesson. Besides the birds 

 there are many animals which, without 

 reason or reflection, are unhesitatingly 

 destroyed. Though occasionally laying 

 a tribute upon the field or the stack 

 yard, they are man's best friends, and 

 should be treated with the consideration 

 their merits demand. 



But can children acquire this taste and 

 affection for trees and flowers, beasts 

 and birds at school? Surely they can. 

 We have seen five hundred children and 

 youth pass, several times a day, within 

 reach of a number of bird's nests, built 

 in the shrubbery of the school house 

 yard. Though the subjects of every 

 day's admiration, the birds built, brood- 

 ed and went their way, "with no one to 

 molest them or make them afraid." 

 Would such have been the case unless 

 each of the five hundred had been im- 

 bued with the sentiment of affection to- 

 wards the confiding little songsters? 

 Again, we have seen a half domesticated 

 gray squirrel live, during a whole win- 

 ter, in the same school building as 

 above, and the frequent visits paid to 

 the various? recitation rooms was evi- 

 dence of the mutual esteem and confi- 

 dence established between him and those 

 who generally might be reckoned his 

 most unrelenting foes. Was not that 

 school rendered better by such associa- 

 tions? and would not the formation of 

 Buch habits of thought and action be in- 

 valuable to any one, and particularly 

 the agriculturist? 



If, then, the cultivation of the taste 

 for the beautiful, the development of a 

 love of nature's works and the forma- 

 tion of habits of close, accurate obser- 

 vation, of practical neatness and order, 

 of punctuality and regularity, of gentle- 

 ness and humanity are essential to the 

 agriculturist, and can be acquired as we 



have suggested, then we may claim that 

 there mav be a connection between afjri- 

 culture and the schools. 



But, can agricultural knowledge be 

 acquired in the schools without the 

 formalities of the text book and the reci- 

 tation? Can we crowd on another 

 branch of book knowledge to the already 

 overburdened, teeminir catalojiues of our 

 schools? We think not. If fine tastes 

 and correct useful habits of thought and 

 aetion can be acquired in the schools, 

 with the knowledge incidentally obtain- 

 ed by the observations derived from such 

 acquisition, the schools will have laid a 

 permanent foundation for future studies, 

 and this is all the most sanguine should 

 expect. Our schools are not specifically 

 {Agricultural, and, therefore, not calcu- 

 lated for the prosecution of agricultural 

 science, further than we have designated. 



One or two agricultural papers, intro- 

 duced into a school, under the circum- 

 stances of training we have indicated, 

 would do more towards improving the 

 taste and stimulating the desire for 

 practical knowledge than the most in- 

 genious or elaborate textbook. The 

 papers would be read for the love of the 

 subjects they treat of, and children thus 

 taught to prize such current information 

 would not likely be without such com- 

 panionship when grown to manhood. 



Cannot the academies and colleges do 

 something more definite and direct than 

 simply giving their students a love for 

 natural beauty, and stimulating them to 

 gratify the passion thus bestowed? If 

 they do this they do much, and we fear 

 they can do no more. Already the 

 "curriculum'' of many of our higher 

 schools contains more subjects of study 

 than can be accomplished properly by 

 even the best af the intellectual racers 

 in their training. Rivalry and false 

 ideas of advancement have led many to 

 supp&se that in these latter days of 

 lightning speed and railroad locomotion, 

 there must be a corresponding rapidity 

 in the acquisition of sciences and their 

 applications. No wonder that such 

 ideas should be the subject of satire: 



"Sep ProerfBS flv o'er Kdusaf inn's conrso! 



Not far famed Derby owns a fleeter horse; 



On rarelir.prvvemeut's '-Bhort and easy" road, 



IIow swift her flight to r/>»rnin;;'8 West abodel 



In other times — 'twas many years as50 — 



The scholar's Ciiurse was toilsome, ro'igh and alow— 



The fair humanities were fought in t9«rs. 



And came, the trophy of 1hI>oi ions ynrs- 



Now, I.«»rnin)f's shrinn each ii11»> yonfh miy seelt, 



And speniiing tli-re a rhiliiiig and ft wee''', 



(Atlightest c at of Rtiidy, cash and lUDtTM.) 



Come D'.ck, like Rum-^r, with ahundrtd tengnes!" 



'Tis true, in the application of some 

 of the principles of chemistry, some- 

 thing may be done, in the higher schools, 

 to entertain and instruct students con- 

 corning the vegetative forces in nature, 

 the constituents ot growth, both animal 

 and vegetable, the qualities of soils and 

 perhaps their analysis, the rotation of 

 crops and kindred topics. This may 

 be done, to some extent, and, as far as 

 it goes, may be for the advantage of 



agricultural interests; but, where there 

 is little or no love for nature and no 

 taste for such pursuits, the abstract facts 

 will be of little value. So, also, with 

 botany. If it be studied to gratify a 

 taste for flowers and to acquire a prac- 

 tical knowledge of the varieties and 

 values of vegetable life, it will be of 

 essential service; if, however, it be con- 

 ned over as part of the collegiate course, 

 to secure the diploma, but little save a 

 smattering of the terms will be the re- 

 sult. 



It must not be expected that good 

 taste, quick perception, accurate obser- 

 vation, neatness, punctuality, regular- 

 ity, gentleness and humanity are in- 

 digenous qualities, found in every school 

 room. They are exotics, and it is not 

 every school master that possesses that 

 tact and skill, as a nursery man, to 

 transplant and develop them in situa- 

 tions where they were never grown be- 

 fore. 'Tis trite as it is true, that 



"Jnst as the twigia bent the tree's inclined." 



Who, then, shall bend the "twigs" 

 that will indicate the connection of ag- 

 riculture with the schools. 



The teacher, for such a work, must 

 not be a mere school keeper: he must 

 possess these qualities if he would im- 

 part them, and, in addition, be intelli- 

 gent, energetic, enthusia-stic and perse- 

 vering. In short, he must be a pro- 

 fessional teacher — one who labors to 

 make his work live in the minds and 

 hearts of his pupils long after he has 

 left the stage of action. Nor is it es- 

 sential that he should possess a high 

 degree of agricultural education, al- 

 though the more varied his attainments 

 the more useful he would be. Sympa- 

 thizing with his pupils and directing 

 their investigations, he would be a learn- 

 er as well as a teacher. Versatility 

 and tact would accomplish much without 

 text books- A mere school keeper 

 could do nothing with them. 



The State Normal University can do 

 much for agriculture, through the in- 

 strumentality of her graduating teach- 

 ers. If they have their attention turn- 

 ed to this mode of governing and dis- 

 ciplining their schools, as we have no 

 doubt they will, they will find it not 

 only immeasurably to their own ad- 

 vantage, but also directly profitable to 

 their schools and the communities in 

 which they are engaged. The recent 

 establishment of the society for advanc- 

 ing the study of natural history and the 

 cabinet, commenced in this institution, 

 are an earnest of the value of the sub- 

 ject in the minds of those who direct its 

 operations, and lead us to hope that 

 much will be done "agriculture, as con-^ 

 nected with schools and colleges.'' 



But the great want, for the dissem- 

 ination of the principles of agricultural 

 science in all its branches and in all its 



