TO THE TEACHER ix 
At the least let the school study variability. This may be 
done advantageously with four classes of cultivated plants, 
namely, flowers, garden vegetables, small fruits, and farm crops. 
Of the first, pansies, petunias, sweet peas, and hollyhocks are 
well adapted to the purposes ; of vegetables, the best are pota- 
toes and squashes; of small fruits, strawberries and raspberries; 
and of farm crops, none is better than corn, though wheat, oats, 
timothy, and clover all exhibit pronounced variations. 
In some of these cases variability may be conveniently in- 
creased by crossing, as with the sweet pea, hollyhock, squash, 
and corn; and in the potato and strawberry an endless supply 
of new strains may be had by planting the seeds. 
If at all possible, this study of variability should be accompanied 
by attempts at improvement, which is especially easy with flowers 
and not at all impossible with such crops as potatoes and corn. 
Large animals are, for the most part, out of reach of the 
operations of the school, except as it can draw upon the farm 
animals of the neighborhood, which everywhere afford material 
practically unlimited, both in numbers and variety. 
There is no more favorable material for study, however, than 
chickens, and a small poultry plant is entirely feasible and in 
every way desirable in connection with the school. 
It is fundamental that some one be definitely charged with 
the responsibility and care of any and all plants and animals 
kept for school purposes. This responsibility and care may 
properly devolve upon the same party who cares for the 
building and the grounds. 
It may seem to some that to do work of this sort, and to study 
matters of this kind, is not the proper function of the school, 
and that its advocacy is a passing fancy. To such, let the author 
say that a new era is upon us, —an era in which at least a por- 
tion of the time and energy of the schools must be devoted to 
useful things, and to none more properly than to the industry 
of agriculture, which directly engages the lives of one third of 
our population and provides food for all the people. 
