THE USE OP LAND IN TEACHING AGRICULTURE. 



types that stand out most prominently are the preparation of the land, 

 the planting of the crops, and the harvesting of the same. In most 

 of the agricultural schools the pupil has little or no part in the culti- 

 vating of the crops. The different kinds of labor in which the pupils 

 engage are shown in the following table: 



Kinds of labor in which students are engaged on the school farm or plat. 



Mulching trees 2 



Spraying trees 6 



Dairying 3 



Caring for stock 2 



Poultry 3 



Bees 1 



Improvement of school ground 2 



Gardening 12 



Harvesting " 1 



Digging potatoes 3 



Corn raising 4 



Selecting seed corn •. . . 8 



Planting grains 2 



Planting potatoes 4 



Harvesting alfalfa 1 



Harvesting grains 4 



Haying 1 



Picking cotton 1 



Picking peas 1 



Renovating orchards 1 



Orchards 5 



Pruning 3 



Berry patch 2 



Planting trees 2 



Greenhouses 2 



Grading land 1 



Drainage. 2 



Running survey lines 2 



Ditching 1 



Terracing , 1 



Applying fertilizers 2 



Preparation of land 10 



Plowing 2 



Harvesting 1 



Fencing 4 



USE OF LAND TO TEACH GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



A question was asked as to whether the agricultural instructor 

 used the land to teach technique or general principles. The invaria- 

 ble answer was general principles. When it is considered that most 

 schools have an average of 30 to 40 pupils to an agricultural instructor 

 and from 5 to 10 acres on which to give them instruction, it can be 

 realized that the student can get but little actual experience in the 

 ordinary farm operations and that the instructor can simply show 

 what has happened under certain conditions. 



HOME PROJECTS. 



In the second questionnaire several questions were asked in regard 

 to home projects. Seventy-four of the 156 schools reported that their 

 students were doing home-project work, 61 reporting corn, 37 garden, 

 26 poultry, 25 potatoes, 14 dairying, 12 orchards, 12 alfalfa, and 10 

 keeping herd records. There was but one report for cotton. That 

 there were few home projects in the South can be readily explained 

 when it is considered that the agricultural schools are of the boarding 

 type and that the districts served are generally congressional dis- 

 tricts or some larger area. There seems to be but little supervision 

 by the agricultural instructor except in the New England and Middle 



