The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16

Fer Scientific Farming and Provid-
 ang Academic Education for Yeuths
 sf The State.
 Of the several features of state edu- cation in Alabama during the last twenty years. 1t is probable that none has been watched more closely by larger proportion of the people than the state Agricultural Schools. origi- hated as an experiment. eighteen years ago, with the one trial school at Ap- bevilIe. the movement has increased until today there are nine large inati- tutions, which. during their short lives have already played an important p&xk In the many departments of the States life.
 That these schools have borne with credit the searching scrutiny and crtt- iclsm of people in ali paths of life since the establishment of the system is in itself an evidence of their value. That they have accomplished results beneficial beyond question to agricul- ture. Alabama's pr0-eininent induetrys throughout the entire State, is guarAn- tee that they have come to stay and will be an important factor in the dA~ velopment of the State in the future | While the agricultural school move- uuSuk l1 OntY 8 part oL LnHI lAFKof m0H% toward industrtal training which, dur ing the last score of years, has spread throughout the entire country. in this department, Alabama has been Q pion- ger. And the schools of tl1is State have done for Alabama, in accordance with Alabama's needs. what the schools of the north and west have done for thoa& sections. Where. in the busy mMnufac- turing centers of the north, Industrial training has, to a large extent. taken the form of manual training in the trades and arts. in the agricultural south 1t has been developed along lines of farming and the tilling of the soil. In each section, the schools have turu- ed out men fitted to take part in the activities which have formed their en- vironment-in the north, the industry of manufacturing, in the south the calling of the agriculturist.
 Teaches Agriculture.
 In considering the agricultural schools. the investigator must not make the mistake of regarding them as coi- leges. They are in no sense institutions where higher education" is to be se@ cured. While the currioula Of the dtg4 ferent institutions do include courses which furnish ground work for the classics and mathematics. tt is not fhe object of the State to attempt placing them on par with the mare advanced educational institutions The schools do not confer degrees. They do not ga deeply Into the study or languages. Their function Is different from that or tns college. They make no prefan slon of going beyond the prepara- tory stage of classical education, thefr real object being to supply and teach knowledge. supplemental to that oha tatned at the scholastic institution. En@ stead .of opposing ethe college, they supply It's logical complement and while many college stqdents are grad. uates from the agricultural schoota
 the latter institutions are aimed te make proficient men and women along lines ,wl.ach remain undeveloped or only partially developed in the reeog- mixed college. Briefly. the aims of tina agricultural college are these: l First: To turn out young men well Of scientific and practical agriculture. that they may make successful plant CTS, and advance the farming interoatA of the State.
 l Second: To give such instruction ana training as will fix upon the minds 03 the young high ideals of practical country life as is given In the best agricultural schools under the name of I'Agriculture and Home Economtcs."
 Third. To educate and fully equip young men and women for efficient teaching in tho public schoola of the State
 Fourth: To prepare those who desire to enter the Alabama Polytechnic fn= stitue at Auburn, or any other higheE institution in the State.
 Fifth: To give to. all a practical, thorough education, ana to instin with~ in them a broad and correct idea oG true American citizenship.
 Sixth: To. ht every student for true living. by developing a well rounded Christian character.
 Five Hundred Graduates. With courses of stuoS so arranged as to keep continually in mind these objects, 1t was to have been expected that the agricultural schools would have an appreclable effect for good on the entire commonwealth. It is a fact that from the beginning of their careeR as educational forces they have been conspicuous both for the high class of | 0atronage they have received, and for | the high class of work they have dcna. Most of the institutions have been eH- abolished but a little more than R de- cade, but during that period they have | graduated nearly i've hundred stu- dents. These graduates have for the most part taken honorable stations ia life. enrichlng the State.
 In considering the number of men who have been graduated from the agricultural schools, however. account must be taken of the much larger num- ! Der of students who have gone out from the institutions after taking courses ranging from one to three years. without having remained sufa- ciently long to finish. These form the large majority. and their numbers run well into the thousands The fact that large per centags of the student en- rollment is composed of young peoria who are prevented by lack of meaaa ! from securing the full benefits of tha Advantages offered is explanatery' of ! the truth. Statistics show that, speak l ing in the averages, a school with an enrolment of say 200 pupils, will bA divided h something like she folIo~'i7sSs | proportions: Freshmen, I20; Sopho. other words, only about ten out of tive hundred, or five per cent, of the pupils who enter the State agricultural schools remain throughout the entire course And while this is a matter to be re- 1 gretted. 1t is beyond question that the other l90 pupils, while not securing thg greatest beneflt, do, nevertheless, re celve some advantages and learning which will make for their bettermenf and advancement.
 There Is another feature to the Srses | Agricultural School The nine institu- tions at present maintain an average of approximately l.SO0 students. Each school has it's normal or training classes. On an average the schools fur. nish during the year about 90 teachers the majority of whom secure teaching positions in schools throughout tha State Tn fhia nanueF ina inNuhunn nR