Education. 



318 



4. Energetic teaching in the agricultural colleges. 



He does not hesitate to caution his countrymen against permitting political 

 influence to interfere with the management of the colleges and stations. Experience 

 in this direction has been of a most objectionable character in the past. 



Mr. Wilson, the U. S. Secretary for Agriculture, thus sums up the work of 

 his Department : — 



"The Department, through its bureau, divisions, and offices, is get- 

 ting into more immediate contact with all classes of producers through- 

 out the country .... Especial attention is being given to the reclam- 

 ation of soils that have been reduced in fertility by injudicious 

 management. Production from the soil in all parts of the United States is being 

 diversified by importations from foreign countries. The scientist and the culti- 

 vator are working together for greater national prosperity through more economic 



production The especial attention of the Department in the future will be 



given to the production, under United States jurisdiction, of products of the soil 

 that now come from foreign countries, keeping steadily in view the object for 

 which the Department was organised— the help of the producer who is struggling 

 with Nature." 



The fundamental basis of national education in the primary education of 

 America is Nature study. A leading writer states:— "It designates the movement 

 originating in the common schools to open the pupil's mind by direct observation 

 to a knowledge and love of the common things in the child's environment." In the 

 successful adoption of this method the personality of the teacher is pre-eminent ; 

 there must be enthusiasm. The aim is the development of mental, reasoning, and 

 observant powers of the child. It enlivens the means of teaching to both tutor and 

 pupil. The study of plants and animals can be associated with the earliest lessons 

 in the common school. The readiness with which children improved under this 

 method has resulted in its universal adoption in the States. 



Recently an organised movement has been made to introduce the elements 

 of agriculture into the rural schools, preceded by the establishment of school 

 gardens. These were the outcome of the nature study education, and developed a 

 trend towards agricultural training. The American League of Industrial Education, 

 the National Educational Association, and the American Civic Association have 

 all included in their propaganda the promotion of school gardens and farms, 

 and the teaching of agriculture in the common schools. 



The Dean of the College of Agriculture in Illinois gives the following 

 reasons for teaching agriculture in these schools :— 



1. To cultivate an interest in and instil a love and respect for land and 



the occupation of agriculture. 



2. To create a regard for industry in general and an appreciation of the 



material side of the affairs of a highly civilised people. 



3. To cultivate the active and creative instincts as distinct from the 



reflective and respective that are otherwise almost exclusively 

 exercised in our schools. 



4. To give practice in failure and success, thus putting to the test early 



in life the ability to do a definite thing. 



5. To train the student in ways and methods of acquiring information 



for himself and incidentally to acquaint him with the manner 

 in which information is originally acquired and the world's stock 

 of knowledge has been accumulated. 



6. To connect the school with real life and make the value and need of 



schooling the more apparent. 



