The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-15


 Tbis could be one study at least part of inc days of the week in the country school. in the agricultural high scnool ana in the agricultural course In the . agrtr,,lfural and mechanical college.
 "A course of this kind articulated throuehout all three grades of school has been worked out for Minnesota, and is nearly all in operation. Moaineo ts suit Alabama this course could pc gradually put into operation m any
 Aiabamn's Aavsptases.
 ,srut Alabama has one advantage over every other State in adopting such a unified scheme of country lire educa- tion, because she has already author, fixed and begun q system oi asrieu,ru,a, ,,an ] at onee--onc in each Congressional dis triet---has made their development more slow than had only few been started until those first begun had been devel- oped so as to be strong both in general nigh school studies and In agriculture and home economies. But having the full complement of such schools event. ually needed will interest the whole State in the plan and should work out we'll.
 .srhe need of these schools is funds with which to employ more teachers and secure more equipment. Agricul- ture has been divided up into numerous technical specialties, and teachers can be employed for such lines as poultry dairying, swine raising, peach growi1 B, cotton seed breeding, seed corn breed- ing and stock breeding.
 Home economies also is being spe- cialized. Women trained in. teaching cooking, sewing, laundering, equipment of homes household management, etc, are rapidly being trained in agricul- In ha frfG n the agricultural high. schools a world of good.
 jects already employed are doing 8 good work, and with endorsements, even for short courses in each school. from other specialists the agricultural high schools would prepare many boys to run model farms, and many girls to conduct model farm homes. Best of all, numerous graduates of these schools would stop for some years in the rural schools. and there make this practical instruction part of the-ru- ral school course. Where the rural schools can be consolidated these grad uates would have a splendid field. The principal could give some instruction in agriculture and one of the lady teachers could be chosen for her abil- ity to teach home making.
 Industrial Education.
 hC lhSOfy ntlu twenty years dBO by those in authority among educa- ton. that only leaders were to be edu- cated, is being rapidly broken down by the wonderful success industrial edu- cation Is making wherever 1t Is given g Whole-souied and adequate trial. The movement to make universal edu- cation in reasonable part education for. and not as now away from. industry gives promise of being irresistible. Leading educators believe they discern a. handwriting on the wall, and are seeking to make the necessary difficult changes in educational policy.
 If the proposition can be put up to the State that, by putting agricul-- ral schools, with agricultural high schools and colleges to prepare effec- tive teachers, texts and methods, ten per cent can be added to the total pro- duct of the farms, and the comfort of the rural homes be increased ten per cents, and that the cost will be but two per cent of the added ten per cent. the wisdom to use industrial education as an instrument for civilization.
 Assuming that the body of thought Is available, or will rapidly be made available, the questions are. preparing 1t in pedagogical form; reorganizing the country life school; preparing teachers and collecting of the increased revenue from improved farming suffi- cient funds to pay the bill. No State will be able to make the change at once, though like carrying out great engineering projects, the world some times moves with surprising rapidity.
 south Was Surprised.
 Before actually seeing the cotton farmer I was not confident that much could be done along this line in the South. But 1t may not prove more tnfFndlIan chanic arts education and home econo- mics teaching in many cities in the North, or to consolidate rural schools