49C 
have ii explained to them. Yet in many schools they 
are forced instead to dull tasks which give them 
neither culture nor knowledge. Every farmer should 
know enough chemistry to figure out his own spray 
mixtures and fertilizers. He should understand 
enough mechanics and the use of carpentry and 
machine tools so that he will not have to go to a 
simp to have his wliiffle-trees made or minor repairs 
on hi< tractor, truck and automobile. 
PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE.—The girls during 
this time should he studying domestic science. It is 
their part in the plan of life to feed the family. By 
studying chemistry and the value of foods they will 
learn to do this work so that there will be less 
rheumatism and dyspepsia and diabetes in the com¬ 
munity. They may learn to safeguard the health of 
the children and the men. There should also he a 
course in bookkeeping and general clerical work. 
President-emeritus Eliot, of Harvard, in a recent 
at tide, writes of the schools we ought to have for 
all children. And he is speaking of all children 
when he says: "Make sure by adequate provisions 
in the program that every pupil has a fair chance 
at the proper time to learn, in the laboratory method, 
th« elements of agriculture, dietetics, cooking and 
hygi ■ o. every girl also to acquire the other domestic 
arts, and every boy the elements of some manual 
trade—by preference one in the school’s locality.” 
A SCHOOL FARM.—And at the end of the six 
years these junior high school graduates will ho 
ready for college, or can go to work in an intelligent 
way with their mothers and fathers. Of course an 
agricultural high school as described must necessarily 
be located on a school farm of 25 acres or more. It 
has been suggested that the teacher of the agricul¬ 
tural subjects live on the farm with his wife. Also 
if this junior high school should be built to serve a 
township it would be built by the entire township. 
All the school taxpayers of the township would 
share in the building and maintenance. There would 
be no tuition fees. As it would 1» paid for by the entire 
township it would be placed as near the center as 
possible, so as to equalize the dist:'.'- e for the pupils. 
In most cases this locati* n would he outside of a 
village, which to my mind would be a very great 
advantage, as the boys and girls would be away from 
the distractions of the village streets. In this con¬ 
nection comes tin* suggestion of having one session, 
with a lunch furnished at cost by the domestic 
science department. 
FONTIXUING EDUCATION.—Another point: A 
great many of our boys and girls do not enter high 
school at all. On completing the rural school or 
reaching the age limit they drop out of school en¬ 
tirely. In 11n* cities where the junior high schools 
have been established it has been found that as the 
eighth grade and the high school work are all in the 
same building there is no break between, and the 
pupils go right on. a very large percentage of them 
entering high school. It has also be< 1 found that 
their interest in shop work and hand work holds 
them in school.' Whereas now we often have an 
entering class of 30 or 40,. and after four years a 
graduating class of one or two or not any. we may 
hope for a much large number to finish the course. 
1 believe such a school when perfected by trained 
educators would not only fulfil its mission of edu¬ 
cating our children, but would also have a tendency 
to keep them home in the country with us. We do 
not want them going to the cities. We want them 
here. 
IMPROVING GRADE SCHOOLS.—A junior high 
school by tak'ng in all the seventh and eighth grades 
of the township would leave the rural schools and 
the village schools, which are now in use. for the 
little children of the first six grades. They are 
small, too small to go far to school, and they need 
all the attention a teacher can possibly give them 
By relieving the rural teachers of the seventh and 
eighth grades they could give these little ones a 
wonderful start, and I believe could rival tlit* work 
of iiu* grade schools in the cities. I say this because 
1 believe the rural school can more readily adopt 
the new ideas in education which have been develop¬ 
ing for the last 50 years, and which seem destined 
to replace our present methods. Most schools would 
have less than 20 pupils, and this is an ideal condi¬ 
tion for individual work. As Mrs. W. If. S. points 
out in her most timely article, why have from 20 to 
.‘>o classes a day in a rural school? There are better 
ways of teaching than by spending the day hurrying 
through 10-minute recitations. We will learn to do 
without the formal recitation just as we will some¬ 
time in the millenium learn to do without the formal 
school seats. We will teach by means of competitive 
games we will have a more flexible program, and 
wc will do away with much of the routine and the 
phy>i ' weariness and the wasted time. But this 
is a subject by itself. 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 26, 1921 
LOCAL CONTROL.—As to the local control of our 
schools, a most workable plan was discussed at one 
of our Grange meetings. I can explain it best by 
asking you to call to mind the custom followed in 
many churches. The “control” of the church is 
divided between the trustees and the elders or dea¬ 
cons. The trustees look after the worldly property, 
the buildings, maintenance, the lights, the lires and 
the money. The elders or deacons look after the 
spiritual affairs. So in our schools let the trustee 
be responsible for the condition of the buildings, the 
supplies, the fuel, the smoky chimney, the sanitary 
conditions and the money. Let the district superin¬ 
tendent he responsible for the “spiritual” affairs. 
That is, let him hire the teacher and he responsible 
for the way in which she teaches and conducts the 
school. Give him the power not only to hire her, 
but to dismiss her if the work is not satisfactory. 
Lot him be responsible also for the course of study, 
lie is a trained educator, and such a man is needed 
for this part of the school control. Nearly any loyal 
citizen would he willing to act as trustee under this 
plan of divided control and could do it in a satis¬ 
factory manner. But he should not be asked to pass 
upon the qualifications of a teacher or the method 
to he used in teaching geography. That is the work 
of an educator, not a business man. Perhaps I ought 
to say in conclusion that, like Mrs. W. II. S., I used 
to he a teacher. But now I am writing as a tax¬ 
payer and the mother of two children who have to 
he educated in the country. Indeed, it is “no easy 
job.” FLORENCE CORNWALL. 
Wayne Co., N. Y. 
Dusting in Nova Scotia 
Part II. 
‘ The foregoing refers to 00-10 sulphur dust only. 
It is curious to find that the percentage of apple 
scab in the dusted and sprayed is exactly the same, 
while the dust is slightly superior in insect control 
and total number of sound apples. 
“During the past, three years we have been experi¬ 
menting with a copper arsenic dust [devised by Mr. 
Sanders in 1018]. This in proportion of 4 per cent 
metallic copper and \ \\ per cent metallic arsenic has 
proved a superior fungicide in all tests to 10-10 sul¬ 
phur lead arsenic. It will be seen from the fore¬ 
going that we now have dusts that can be confidently 
recommended as equal to liquid spray, both in the 
control of fungus diseases and biting insects. 
2. Doubts as to relative costs. “Last year we ex¬ 
plained that dusting with 00-10 sulphur lead arsenate 
dust cost more than liquid spraying. This still holds 
good. We also explained that dusting with copper 
arsenic dust costs less than liquid spraying. 1 his 
also holds for 1921, and will continue to hold. We 
can now therefore say that dusting is cheaper than 
spraying. Dusting is equal to spraying in the con¬ 
trol of fungus diseases and biting insects. Dusting 
is inferior to liquid spraying in the control of suck¬ 
ing insects, such as psylla and green apple bug.” 
The following is the recommendation of Mr. San¬ 
ders on dusting for 1921: 
0;TS'r CALENDAR FOR NOVA SCOTIA AJ’PLE ORCHARDS 
Before the blossoms.—Apply copper arsenic dust two 
• three times, making the intervals shorter if the 
eathcr is damp and cool. Apply dust at the rate of 
) lbs. per acre per application. Apply when the air is 
ill and the trees damp from either dew or fog or after 
rain This usually means applying the dust between 
a. m. and 8 a. m., although occasionally a foggy day 
m he utilized. . 
The calyx application.—Immediately after the b!os- 
>ms on varieties liable to russetiug use 75 lbs. of 90-10 
ilplnir lead arsenate dust. Ben Davis, Graveustem, 
aldwin and Greening russet easily. On sueh varieties 
, Northern 4 Spv, King, Gano, etc., copper arsenic dust 
av he used as on the pre-blossom applications 
Earlv and midsummer applications.—A week or 10 
ivs after the calyx application, and at equal intervals 
icreafter, make two or three applications of copper 
I'senic dust in the same manner as before the blossoms. 
Apply copner arsenic dust at the rate of ;>() lbs. per 
•re mid 90-10 sulphur lead arsenate dust, at the rate 
: 75 lbs. per. acre to 30-vear-old trees. Vary the amount 
•cm this with the age of the trees. . 
Dusting in the early morning, when the air is still 
nd the trees damp gives the best result in scab control, 
lie dmv r can only give the h'st result <»n about Id 
•••'•« e-reh morning, or around 60 acres each season. 
Uopner arsenic dust is made up of 10 U>s. °t doh'j 
rated copper sidphate, 5 lbs. arsenate of lime and N> 
:s of hydrated lime. ... , nA 
110-10 sulphur haul arsenate dust is made un or ■' 
is. superfine dusting sulphur and 10 lbs. of dry lead 
[■senate. 
Diluents, such as hydrated 
...wLwl In ciilnlnir rill fit* 
lime and talc, are not 
SATISFACTORY RESULTS.—The writer has 
talked with some of the larger fruit growers who 
have been following the dust calendar for the past 
two years as here outlined by Mr. Sanders; in till 
cases the users were enthusiastic over the new dust¬ 
ing method, and will continue to use dust in prefer¬ 
ence to spraying. While dusting was last year some¬ 
what in the experimental stage, the manager of one 
of the local co-operative fruit companies sold 20 tons 
of dust to his patrons, and reports that this year 
over double that amount will be used in his district. 
There are some 45 co-operative fruit companies that 
will this year be using dust in their orchard work. 
While not all will use as much as the company cited 
above, yet the reader will be able to gain some idea 
of the great quantity of dust that will be used as a 
result of the change from spraying to dusting. 
Nova Scotia. f. e. peck. 
Sprouting Seed Potatoes 
Part I. 
I have been very much interested in some of your 
articles regarding sun-sprouted potatoes. I always 
have been very much interested in growing potatoes, 
and in securing the best results obtainable. Will you 
advise me fully in every detail as to the method em¬ 
ployed, as I understand you do not want your seed to 
shoot out sprouts until you are ready to place them out 
in some building for sun-sprouting. How do you retard 
this first sprout growth which nature is determined to 
send forth? How long before planting should they be 
placed out in the open, and which is better, merely to 
be out on a barn floor, or where the sun can strike direct 
on them? Also what kinds would you advocate for 
early planting? I would prefer a round white one, if 
the quantity is there, as this seems to suit our home 
trade. F. H. 
Batavia, N. Y. 
T HE FIRST SPROUTS.—The potato is often 
spoken of as a canny vegetable, which, though 
lying in the cellar, knows somehow when Spring is 
approaching and sprouts punctually on a certain 
timely date. With market potatoes these first sprouts 
are prone to be looked upon as a nuisance, for once 
started, the parent tuber seems bent on sacrificing 
size, weight and appearance to the effort of pushing 
this baby sprout up into the light, failing which it 
seems to the harassed grower that the sky is the 
limit. 
TREATMENT OF SEED TUBER.—The first 
sprout of a seed tuber is often more fortunate. Its 
appearance is greeted with respect and a show of 
pleasurable interest. Instead of having to reach 
vainly for the light, it is removed to a light, warm 
room, where on the sprouting rack it settles down 
to a period of watchful waiting. Light is very well 
in its place, hut that place has heretofore not been 
located about that spot where the rootlets start. It 
is too much to ask of them to grow out into the 
bright daylight, and the sprout cannot grow any 
longer unless they do. so it begins to grow broad, for 
no well-bred .early potato will stop growing when it 
i < kept warm. Forehanded by nature, it is impa¬ 
tient at this delay, so that no time may he lost it 
begins to develop in other ways, arranging the 
branching of the haulm and starting the buds slowly 
Meanwhile the roots are at the surface, pricking 
through with the appearance of goosefiesli and just 
waiting for a chance to assert themselves in moist, 
rich soil under the influence of darkness. Some of 
the important structural changes have already been 
accomplished, and the time necessary for this devel- 
opoment will actually he struck off the growing 
schedule. Thus runs the theory regarding the earli¬ 
ness of “sun-sprouted” seed. 
ESSENTIAL CONDITIONS,—There seem to be 
three conditions absolutely essential to the longi¬ 
tudinal development, of the sprout—darkness and a 
temperature above 50 degrees, with little or no cir¬ 
culation of air. Given darkness, temperature at 
45 degrees, and a free circulation of air. no sprouts 
will start, so we come to the logical conclusion that 
we must have warmth to aid development, light and 
air to retard the growth. The required temperature 
lias been found to be from CO to 70 degrees, if the 
period of forcing is of four to six weeks’ duration, 
though if they are to be held longer the same results 
will lie attained with less warmth. For instance, 
there are four tubers on my top cupboard shelf 
which have lain there since the middle of November. 
This is not as warm a place as it perhaps sounds, 
for on some cold nights it comes very near 40 de¬ 
grees, and it is inclined to 1 ><* draft.v. though, of 
course, being situated in the kit: lien. 11 is kept warm 
in daytime. This seed sprouted in the middle of 
December, and has been developing very conserva¬ 
tively ever since. The sprouts are about one-half 
inch long and about as wide, of a brick-red color; 
one of them has 10 leaf buds on a surface of about 
the size of a thimble. The tuber itself is in firm 
condition; there are a few slight wrinkles near the 
stem end, which are scarcely noticeable. I meant 
to say, too, that only one sprout lias “come” on each 
of these tubers, though the rest have been peeping 
out. This, of course, is merely an experiment to 
discover whether there really is any special time 
required in sun-sprouting, so have now come to be¬ 
lieve that it depends most of all upon the tempera¬ 
ture. MBS. F. H. UNGER. 
