BULLETIN OF THE 



USSPMIMIOFAffldTll 



No. 213 



Contribution from the Office of Experiment Stations, A. C. True, Director. 

 April 15, 1915. 



THE USE OF LAND IN TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

 IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 



By Eugene Merritt, Assistant in Agricultural Education, Office of Experiment 



Stations. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Schools reporting school farms and farm ani- 

 mals 2 



Size and tenure of the farms 2 



Use made of the farms 2 



Is a school farm necessary? 2 



Advantages and disadvantages 3 



Management of the school farm * 4 



Kinds of work pupils engage in 4 



Use of land to teach general principles 5 



Home projects 5 



Extension work of agricultural instructor 7 



Source and distance from school of pupils 

 studying agriculture 8 



Relative proportion of boys and girls study- 

 ing agriculture in high schools 9 



The period between graduation and starting 

 farming on own account 9 



Agricultural" school and the shifting-tenant 

 problem 10 



Efficiency in agricultural production 10 



The place of personal efficiency in agricultural 

 instruction 11 



Summary 11 



INTRODUCTION. 



This bulletin is the result of an attempt to determine how land 

 is being used in the teaching of agriculture in secondary schools in 

 the United States. In gathering the material upon which the bulletin 

 is based two questionnaires were sent out, one in April, 1914, to all 

 high schools receiving State aid for agriculture, to special agricultural 

 schools, and to normal schools known to have courses in agriculture. 

 To this 400 replies were received. In September another ques- 

 tionnaire was sent to the same high schools and special agricultural 

 schools, but not to the normal schools, which were omitted because 

 a great part of their instruction relates to school gardens and not to 

 work tending toward farm practice. Out of the 385 schools replying 

 to the first questionnaire, 257 reported that some land was used in 

 connection with their agricultural instruction. The schools so 

 reporting were distributed as follows: Ten in the New England States, 



Note. — This bulletin describes how land is being used in the teaching of agriculture in secondary schools 

 and discusses some of the problems involved. It is written to aid all persons who are engaged or interested 

 in the teaching of agriculture. 

 85753°— Bull. 213—15 



