TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. tas 
place, however, for serious work is in the high school. A course in 
agriculture at that point would form a much needed connecting-link 
between the rural school and the agricultural college. 
Agricultural high schools have been recently established in a few of 
the States and in certain provinces. Some of these are independent 
high schools, and some are in the form of courses running parallel with 
existing courses. Georgia has made more generous provision than any 
other State, having established an agricultural high school in every one 
of the fifteen Congressional districts, and set aside for their support the 
proceeds of a tax on fertilisers. Short courses have been established in six 
colleges in Ontario. 
The author considers that agricultural courses should be established in 
the provincial high schools. The chief difficulty will be that of securing 
teachers. The regular science course conducted by the regular high school 
teacher will not serve the needs of the student of agriculture. Unless 
very happily constituted, specialists in pure science are apt to lose touch 
with the working-day world. A study of insects simply as evolutionary 
forms is one thing; a study of insects in relation to food plants is 
another. The teacher of agriculture cannot afford for a moment to forget 
the principle which must govern the management of these studies, namely, 
the social aspect of human activities. The principle suggests that it is 
far better to study the food plants in relation to food supply and their 
structure and growth with a view to their improvement, than to discuss 
their relationships abstractly and describe the facts of reproduction and 
growth with no practical end in view. 
A course could easily be arranged quite as strong and solid, quite as 
educationally useful, and quite as satisfactory on the side of general 
culture as any of the courses now established. It must be strong on the 
practical side, but it need not be costly. The teacher can readily 
make arrangements for stock-judging and the study of machinery. For 
the purpose of experimentation with plant growth a quarter of an acre 
should serve as well as a quarter section. 'The teacher must be a man of 
insight, courage, and inventiveness; must create his own methods; and, 
above all, be alive to the needs of the community. Left entirely to itself, 
and out of touch with the community, an apostolic succession of school- 
masters would presently develop a ritual and routine of Egyptian 
formalism. The course and the teacher must command the confidence of 
the farmers, and the course should lead the student directly into the 
university. 
(ii) Household Science Teaching in Canada, with particular reference to 
Advanced Work in Ontario. By Miss C. C. Benson. 
The work on household science leads directly to preparation for family 
life, and strives to remedy the defects of its disintegration, and is therefore 
of importance for all countries. 
The classes in elementary schools are taken in connection with other 
classes. 
The Guelph Home-makers’ courses are offered to farmers’ daughters, 
helping to train them to make the best of and to improve home conditions, 
and in both Guelph and Toronto courses are offered as preparation for teachers 
of household science. These and similar courses serve as preparation for 
the work of matrons and housekeepers in hospitals, schools, and public 
institutions. 
The University of Toronto offers a four years’ course, leading to the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, which is quite similar to the other science 
courses there given, allowing, however, special study of household problems, 
as a chemistry course would allow a special study of some branch of that 
subject. 
