QTA REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
a definite adoption of practical work on the land wherever possible, for the urban school 
equally with the rural school. 
The Director of Education for Ontario in his annual report for 1920 says :— 
‘Experimental work is not only far more attractive, but also just as surely 
educational. The boy who examines by the use of a spade the surface soil and sub- 
soil with a view towards understanding the water relations will acquire educational 
experience no less fundamental than the boy who analyses a complex sentence for 
grammatical relationships. 
‘The boy who grows beans on his plot, and, after harvesting the crop, by means of 
scale and measures calculates the weight per bushel of the seed, will have completed 
a lesson hardly less important educationally than if he had memorised the chief 
facts involved in a chapter or two of the Norman Conquest.’ 
Under the heading of ‘ The Essential Characteristics of the British Columbia System 
of Agricultural Education ’ (see page 17), the Director expresses the same opinion 
and points out the fundamental importance of practical work. 
Ill. DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF A GENERAL ADOPTION OF 
AGRICULTURAL STUDIES IN SCHOOLS. 
(1) It will perhaps be wise to state here that the adoption of agriculture for school 
purposes does not mean the addition of a new subject to an already overcrowded 
curriculum. It must either take the place of another subject, or else be adopted 
merely as a method of teaching those larger science subjects which are already part 
of the school work. In larger schools there is no reason why it should not be taken 
up as a process of gradual development by a section of the school; just as some boys 
specialise in pure science, so others will be led to develop a bent towards agricultural 
science in particular as the natural outcome of the agricultural bias given to science 
work in the earlier stages of training. 
(2) In common with all new educational developments, the difficulty of introduc- 
tion lies in the comparative fewness of masters who possess the requisite qualifications. 
The slowness of adoption in the case of agricultural studies is due to the considerable 
number of headmasters who do not really understand what science is, nor possess 
sufficient freedom and independence to break away from the shackles of the traditional 
curriculum. A change in the attitude of the headmasters is a gradual process that 
requires time, though sympathy will accomplish much. Buta suitable staff is the crux 
of the whole matter; acceleration or retardation is dependent upon the degree to 
which this kind of work is made real and valuable educationally. A suitable teacher 
must have knowledge of agricultural conditions, he must be an enthusiast and a man 
of vision who can stir up the imagination and enthusiasm of boys and girls under his 
charge. To increase the supply of such men, Cambridge and other schools of agri- 
culture should be approached, and a scheme devised to turn out a larger number of 
school-teachers trained and qualified for this particular work. 
(3) The existing conditions of public examinations are a great stumbling-block, 
but, if a good case is made out, the First School Certificate Examination might be so 
modified as to fall in with any reasonable suggestions made. Much might be urged 
in the interest of the type of boy under consideration. Usually his great stumbling- 
block is Latin or the more advanced mathematics required for the certificate. School- 
masters are often well aware that he could never pass the standard required, and 
yet he is not allowed to substitute a practical subject in which he would excel, simply 
because there is no machinery for measuring the quality of such work. Yet as far 
as the boy’s future is concerned it would be of incalculable value to him to have 
every opportunity of developing his natural gift. 
(4) The maintenance of efficiency in these agricultural studies may seem a diffi- 
culty. Work of such a practical type is not easily tested by examination. A fixed 
syllabus on which such an examination would be based limits the value of the work 
possible, limits elasticity and exercises a cramping effect. If, however, the school 
has an elastic syllabus of its own, certificates might be awarded by the school on 
the results of an annual examination of high standard. In order to satisfy the Local 
Education Authorities and other grant-awarding bodies, there can be inspection at 
any time during the year by a County Organiser in agriculture and by an Inspector 
of the Board of Education or of the Local Education Authority. 
(5) The financial difficulty is a serious consideration, and with many it might be 
a serious problem. For instruction in agricultural science within the school the cost 
is not prohibitive, yet establishment and running of a farm means a large drain on 
