44 



influence of light, heat, moisture, &c., on the plants, soils and 

 tillage, plant physiology, farm crops, grain judging and horti- 

 culture, farm accounts, farm management, methods of cropping, 

 farm machinery and its care, and rural economics with reference 

 to the problems of a business nature to be met with on a farm, 

 animal production and stock judging, and dairying. The 

 course is reported to have become at once a popular one. 



Another high school in which a course of agriculture had been 

 recently introduced is situated at Waterford, Pennsylvania. 

 The township of Waterford has a population of about 1,460, 

 of whom half reside in the borough of the same name. The 

 high school is supported and controlled jointly by the borough 

 and the county. 



This high school, with three teachers, and three courses 

 (language, scientific and agricultural), has an enrolment of 

 80 pupils, of whom 35 are in the agricultural course. This 

 course gives five hours a week to agriculture for four years. 

 The work of the first year is devoted to the study of plant life, 

 the second year to the stud} T of field, orchard and garden crops, 

 the third year to domestic animals, dairying and soil physics, and 

 the fourth year to the chemistry of soils and of plant and animal 

 life. Text books are used in the class room and there is a small 

 library of agricultural reference books, reports of the Agricul- 

 tural Department, &c, which is constantly used. Lectures on 

 agriculture are given by the instructor, who is an agricultural col- 

 lege graduate. The principal feature is the prominence given 

 to laboratory and outdoor work. There is no land attached 

 to the school, but scholars visit farms in the neighbourhood 

 and so obtain practical instruction. Farmers and owners of 

 live stock sometimes bring their animals to the school to be 

 judged by the students, or else allow the latter to come and 

 examine them. 



Dr. True gives accounts of various other high schools in 

 different States where agricultural instruction was either being 

 introduced for the first time, or towards which new appropria- 

 tions were being voted by the State Legislature for the purpose 

 of increasing their efficiency. 



In Alabama the Boards of Control of the nine district agri- 

 cultural schools require each boy to work at least two hours a 

 week on the school farm, and each girl to do practical work in 

 floriculture and kindred subjects. 



