32 
AMERICAN POMOEOGICAE SOCIETY 
if the service proved satisfactory. She admitted that she had some notions 
about the usefulness of a country school to the neighborhood that she would 
like to develop and she hoped that the school management would give her 
an opportunity without hampering her to make the school of larger service 
to the neighborhood and at the same time awaken an interest in the students 
which would make the school center an attraction to them. 
The director was attracted to her independent personality and said he 
would employ her for the year with the understanding that she would 
continue if all parties were favorable; always provided the rate of com- 
pensation would meet the views of the board. She admitted that the com- 
pensation meant something to her because she desired to continue and 
finish her college course but she was perfectly satisfied to leave this to the 
school board making it dependent upon what they esteemed the value of 
her service. 
I will pass lightly over the experience of the first two years, suffice 
to say that this little woman became an intrinsic feature of the neighborhood 
and made herself so necessary that no important undertaking was without 
her leadership. The school house had been modified so as to have a 
manual training department and boys under her tuition had become expert 
with the saw, the plane, and the hammer; the girls had become skilled 
with the needle and her touch was soon felt in the culinary department of 
every farmer’s home through the influence of the girls who had received 
training in simple methods of cooking at the school house. Neighborhood 
meetings of various kinds were held weekly at the school house and every- 
body went because they had a good time. 
The Study of Fruits. 
It was at the beginning of the third year that the teacher asked if they 
would like to make a special study of fruits during the year. She had 
already made a survey of her school district and learned quite accurately 
the facts concerning the orchards and vineyards and gardens connected with 
the farmer’s home. The children from past experience knew that something 
interesting and valuable would come into thier lives at the suggestion 
of their teacher and acquiesced in her plan with zest and alacrity. 
It is but fair to say that Miss Mercer in changing the neighborhood life 
and awakening an interest in many things not found in the ordinary country 
school courses did not neglect in any way those things which had previously 
been received as essentials in the curriculum. Her training at the Agri- 
cultural College and some special work she had done in connection with 
exhibitions at Fairs had equipped her for at least beginning the work 
in pomology as connected with the methods of getting a living by the 
patrons of her school. She asked the children to bring from each farm a 
specimen apple and said to her students that if the lessons were well 
learned and every one helped to make things go off promptly all the 
extra time would be given during the school year to the study of fruits 
and the most approved methods in fruit growing. The display of fruits the 
morning following the teacher’s request was very interesting and attractive. 
Many varieties which the teacher at once identified were mixed with seed- 
lings and evidently other sorts of value which she had never seen. 
