Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-02-17
AGRICULTURE IN
THE SCHOOLS.
COUNTY SCHOOLS SHOULD
Teach children 60 see Al That IL 60
be seen In life On the
Farm.

In the fourth annual farmers ins,l-
tutc Of Macon county, Illinois, held al
Decatur last week. David Felmy save
a very interesting address on "Thc
Problem OF the coutry school" BEING
a practical farmer for twenty years
and n school teacher. he Is well quail
fed 10 speak intclligcntiy upon the
needs OF the country school,
THE KIND OF SCHOOL WANTED.
The speaker referred to the many Inn
provcmcnts made In the city schools
rs compared with the rural school In
many ways the country schools have
Loaf greatly. n In 10 all over the coun-
try. Tho National Educational ASSOC
citation has taken notice Of u. In
eastern states they are trying TO cstab-
iish big schools In central locations
taking the children 10 the schools at
public expense. This We cannot do In
the west. Even n this could be done
the school would be too much like the
town school and that In not the Kind
Of lchool wanted for the farmers chill
drcn. The school should take color
from the character Of the people In
which II IT, In Moline. Illinois. n
Ercat manufacturing town. the schools
are planned To NJ the people fof work
ing In factories. so country SCHOOLS
should NJ the fnrmcrn' children for be-
Ing farmers. The school too. should
NJ the children 10 appreciate all the
life IN the world. II should nli out anu
develop the children. NJ them for their
occupation In life ana 10 see what u
going on NIL over the world,
Some educators say that children
must have training for their minds. 20
they set children To work ON mnthcmn-
tica and Latin. Education should NJ
the pupil 60 SEQ the most In his own
life. TO make Use OF what comes Into
his life. That II the training he needs.
not a mental gymnastics that great
thinkers have tried for centuries 10 dis
lodge.
LEARN TO DO ny DOING.
Those who plead for the old time
idea In tho development OF right char
acicr forget that the pursuit OF study
or an occupation In better training than
reading or hearing about the great
achievements u some one else. 70 n
course In a laboratory IL better than
reading about what some one else has
done IN that line. The training should
give the pupil a purpose In
life. The farmers children should
know about art and literature.
but their education should teach
them To see tho beautiful and
the good In their own lives. an well
NJ In that known more particularly ~
art and literature.
WHAT N OBSERVATION.
Education should NO MI US with an
app aciation Of things around " that
We are Interested and Inspired by all
that we see That N what culture IN.
TO be- open 60 impressions 40 that We
see what comes before ~. They talk
about observation. What II ~? only
education. After man has learned
all about n hOrn. he secs all there "
IN q horse. suppose three men walk
down the street. The horse jockey secs
the turnoutn. the spawned bones, the
good and bad horses. The architect
recs new ideas In buildings, ana gets
ideas To use. The dry goods man secs
tn fabrics In windows. the styles. even
n he sees pretty Girl he secs only an
animated figure for the display OF dry
goods.
n child II rightly educated he IL
taught 90 see nll things that come be-.
fore him. Ho that when he goes abroad
he VIII zee many things Ia Interest and
instruct. The well educated man IL the
man ~ broad ana We'll developed In
tercrtn. va that every thing about him
n Interesting.
TEACH SURROUNDINGS.
The country school nould teach chill.
dFen 10 see all that II 10 be seen IN
their nycn ON the farms. They should
b. taught civil government. mcthcma-
ties. English literature, history, but
the coloring should be- different. no that
the boy would look at them with a view
10 their relations 10 the farm. Nature
should be- taught. all about plants.
what plants grow In different places.
what VIII spring W In spite OF the
farmers war on them, the relations of
tn plants To each other the relations
Of the plants TO the insect world. and
all the wonders like these that come
before them. A child can be- taught To
zee dozen things Of Interest about the
common ana deHpiAed dandelion. This
Information Will In time he useful In
developing the mind. traing II 10 oh.
serve. and In acquiring that culture
that makes the broad, Intelligent. well
Informed man. That IN what We want
be- taught To study the soil, Every boy
probably knows that the best POTATOES
grow where the hedge brush was
burned but he has not learned that
II " because OF the potash added to the
soil. Have these things taught no,
only by observation. hut by the use
OF books nud talks, and experiments
Have the boy 80 trained that when
they notice the smell Of ammonia On IN,
manure pile he win know that money
" going on into the atmosphere. Ilay'
him taught the texture OF soils, No that
he viii know why some soil holds water
and some holds more air than others
and what the relation OF water IL /,
soil.
IhiH win not lessen his interest II
farming, II VIII Increase II, and vii
tell him how to make farming NOR
profitable, and make his toll more
plraHurablc.
We often say that the farmer lead
lonely life. IL he dosen't see any
thing ON the farm but clods and corr
fields. II Is lonely. But II he secs th'
millions OF things working with hin
10 make the plants grow and realizol
that he IN marshallng these hosts %
workers, he viii be- Interested an,
never win be lonely.
HOW TO GET THEM
How can these things be got int
the schools? They must hrft be want
ed, II the farmer learns that theH
thlngs viii make farming more prof.
able hc VIII want them. How man.
students, even In our agricultural col
leges, are studying ngrlcultureP No
many, aH compared with the numbe
attending them. Some natural science
that could be made TO help In the farm
work have been introduced into IN
schools but they have not been laugh
~ they. should be, II the farmer jus