Evening star., 1901-07-12
HIGHER EDUCATION
CONTINUED from Second page.)

CONTINUED from Second page)
number of persons in each million of in
habitants In the United States studying
secondary studies increased from 4, 757 in
1890 to S275 in 1900.
This shows that the people of the coun-
try are bent on giving their children
higher education. and increasing rap
Idly in their ability to do
Demand for Higher Education.
with this growth of secondary schools
there has gone on increased number
who resort to colleges and universities.
While IN 1890 each group OF million show
ed $50 students In colleges and universities.
ten years later each group showed 1,2S4
students In the professional schools and
technical schools of the United States the
increase has been even more surprising.
Counting these in with the colleges and
universities as to get a grand total of
students in higher education. the entire en-
rolIment in the United States in higher
education. which for practical purposes
may be said to include the fourth period
of four years In the course of study, name
Iy. the work from the thirteenth year to
the sixteenth year inclusive. students be-
ing from nineteen to twenty-five years OF
age-cOuntins these together there were
i35 242 students in the United States in
1880, but 23S,5I5 in 1900.
Discussion of the Papers.
The papers were discussed by VIM. II.
Parsons, jr., of Albany N. Y.
The committee appointed to consider the
details and organization of an educational
exhibit at the st. Louis exposition this
morning decided to recommend to the board
Of manag gers the construction of a separate
building for the educational exhibit. This
building should have % per cent more floor
space than the educational building at the
Columbian exposition, the committee will
recommend.
III. ]. Rogers of Albany, N. Y. was in
dOrsed by the committee for director Oh
the educational exhibit at the exposition
The last sessions of the national council
of education and the departments OF ele-
mentary education. higher education. nor
NAL schools. business education, science IN
struction. library and deaf, dumb and
feeble-minded instruction were held this
afternoon.
Education In Agriculture.
MIR. Joseph Carter. superintendent Of
schools. Champaign, Ill. spoke on "Agri-
culture as a Science in Elementary
Schools saying in part:
Science does not seem likely to take
permanent place in the elementary schools
under the name Of nature study. as the
term Is now understood. Yet nature study
is so very valuable and it's results of such
high educational ard economic worth that
IT should be continued. How this be
done? Any science can best be taken up on
the side nearest the experience Of the pupil.
No other subject is so near the experience
of so many children as agriculture. Agri-
culture has at it's foundations many of the
sciences. 1t deals with nature-livng
ture. 1t is a subject about which all lines
of nature study are easily correlated.
THE teacher might begin with a window
garden and teach the termination of seeds,
the development of plants. the effect of the
sunlight upon them and many other things.
Probably SO per cent of our pupils are in
schools where 1t Is possible to have a gar
den out of doors. where not only vegetables,
but the larger fruits-apples. plunS, pears
and the like-could be raised. Here could
be studied many things that pertain to the
growth of plants-the insects that visit
them. and what insects are beneficial and
what injurious, and also how to destroy the
injurious ones. The life history OF these
insects can be studied This garden can
be made a laboratory in which most de-
lightful experiments can be made, and
where knowledge can be gained at first
hand Here the soil can be studied Its
origin and nature can be dscovered-its
evolution from fiery rock to the fertile
food for plants. The birds will visit this
garden and they, too. can be studied
Agriculture is Il science whose study
takes people out of doors. There is
growing tendency In our schools to adopt
the sedentary life of the literary man. Too
much we are leading the children to think
that wisdom Is found only at the desk OF
the literary fellow. Too many children
there whose school training Is mainly an
effort to give them the ability to apprehend
what was In the mind Of the author Of
the so-calied literary masterpiece. We
work laboriOusly to teach them to say: /
think my thoughts after thee. DE
Quincy instead OF leading them where
they joyously can say: Il think Thy
thoughts after Thee. o Cod
"The average child comes to school all
saturated with nature-an alive to its every
change. and eager for its wonderful and de-
Hghtful story. Instead Of teaching him
along the lines of his experience turn
him In the direction of literature and myth
and fairy mysticism. thereby multiplying all
the apperceptive capital he has previously
accumulated. We do not object to this
literary matter In toto. but We do object
10 its being the total of his training. and
we think the teaching Of agriculture offers
satisfactory supplement to it,
How Shall Children Be Led to Love
Good Books" was the topic of a paper read
by Miss Isabel Lawrence of st. Cloud.
Mimi. before the library department. She
spoke in part as follows:
Good Books and Children.
The child Is greater than the book, and
the book must walt upon his needs. The
instructive interests which predominate at
any given period Of child life determine
largely what he appropriate from liter
ature
The child before eight Is interested in
vivid images. but not In relations. He
cares for action, for color and sense, for
the marvellous and the impossible: hence he
revels in myth and fairy tale. This child
knows only the family, loves stories OF
children. delights in the India. but has
more comprehension of his own country
than a Zulu savage. Rhythm attracts him
to song and poem Even his prose stories
should run in the ears like the noise of
breakers
From eight to fourteen the boy reads
invention and travel greedily to find out
how things done. He loves the NOV
ing tale Favored with bloodshed and won
der Give him this sort of incident In good
literature where IL embodies truth and
thought and he will soon reject worthless
stuff Of his own accord The girls book of
this period is largely pernicious. Let the
girl read her brothers book until her de-
mand for the love story cannot be ignored ;
then give her the best class Of novels.
From fourteen to eighteen in early ado
lescence there Is craze for reading. It
matters not how many books are read. so
they wholesome. Let the young mind
catch fire at many points, so the spark be
divine. A foundation of wide reading must