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of agriculture luto the public schools throughout the State. This is done by 
addressing teachers' institutes, far rs' institutes, and other public meetings; 
by conducting summer schools for teachers ;it the College of Agriculture, In 
which special attention is given to courses which will prepare them for teaching 
agriculture, and by conducting regular courses in agriculture at the three State 
normal schools. 
The state superintendent of public instruction of Indiana, in his State Manual 
and Uniform Course of study for the Elementary Schools of Indiana, 1904-5, 
Includes a nature-study course intended "to acquaint the pupil with his environ- 
ment and to train him to see and understand the relationship and meaning of 
common things," and a course in elementary agriculture. The subjects BUg- 
gested for consideration in the nature course are largely the plant and animal 
life of the farm and the garden. The course in agriculture is simply an outline 
intended to guide the teacher, taking up for tirst consideration plant and animal 
products; then the soil, its formation, nature, tillage, and enrichment; and, 
finally, plant life. References are given to a number of bulletins and elementary 
text-books of agriculture. 
The department of agriculture of the University of Minnesota has been 
actively engaged in promoting the teaching of agriculture in the rural schools, 
and its officers have prepared a bulletin on Rural School Agriculture for the use 
of the teachers in that State. In Wisconsin the State superintendent of the 
public schools and the officers of the College of Agriculture of the Uni versify 
of Wisconsin have done much for the introduction of agricultural teaching in 
the country. One of the results of their efforts has been the enactment of a law- 
requiring teachers to pass examinations in agriculture. Similar laws have also 
been enacted in Maine, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Tennessee. 
The training of teachers along agricultural lines is receiving considerable 
attention not only in Missouri, as mentioned above, but also in other States. 
The College of Agriculture of Cornell University now provides a two-year nor- 
mal course in nature study and gardening. In Michigan ten county normal 
training schools have recently been opened for the purpose of training teachers 
for the rural schools. The course of study recommended for these normal 
schools by the State superintendent of public instruction includes agriculture. 
The agricultural colleges in Connecticut, Nebraska, and North Carolina have for 
a number of years conducted summer schools for teachers, at which more or less 
attention has been given to nature study and agriculture. At the Nebraska 
summer school in 1901 there were 23 students in nature study and 30 in agricul- 
ture. At the North Carolina summer school for teachers in 1904 there were 
enrolled 977 teachers, of whom 477 took work in agriculture. The summer 
school of the South, conducted at the University of Tennessee with an annual 
attendance of from 1,000 to 1,300 teachers from all parts of the South, gives 
considerable attention to nature study and gardening. 
One thing that has given a great impetus to the movement for the introduc- 
tion of agriculture into the public schools has been the improvement of text- 
books and works of reference. Within the last year or two a number of ele- 
mentary text-hooks in agriculture have been published, and some of these seem 
^^ery well suited to use in the rural schools. One of the indirect results of the 
appearance of these text-hooks has been legislation in a number of States 
requiring the teaching of agriculture in all the rural schools, and adopting text- 
books for that purpose. State adoption of text-hooks in agriculture has been 
made in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Every 
city and county in Virginia, a majority of the counties in Maryland, about 15 
counties in California, and a number of counties in Florida have also adopted 
text-books in agriculture for regular use in the public schools. It is estimated 
from teachers' reports that at least 12,000 children received instruction in agri- 
culture in North Carolina last year. Thus it will he seen that there is quite a 
strong movement for the introduction of agriculture into the rural schools and 
that this movement is rapidly gaining momentum. 
OBSTACLES TO THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURE INTO THE 
RURAL SCHOOLS. 
There are many things which have a tendency to hinder the rapid progress 
of this movement. One of these is the conservatism or apathy of school officers. 
This applies not only to local officers hut also to State superintendents of public 
instruction, county superintendents of schools, and the officers of agricultural 
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