The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-09-05

ductive system, by demanding the dis
covery of facts by means of long
process of inductive reasoning and ex-
Fermentation on the pupils part, calls
for an awful expenditure of time. In
ignoring the common worker in its zeal
for the discovery of genius it seems to
presuppose that if properly trained
every Tom. Dick and Harry would be-
come a Bacon or a Harvey, when in
reality they are only very ordinary boys
trying to get hold of essential knowl-
edge that may enable them to earn
their bread and butter honestly.
The other fault of the schoolmen is
their method of teaching science in the
abstract,-that is, apart from any prac-
tical application. The study of pure
science, SO called, is ideally perfect in
theory, but for the average boy time is
too valuable to spend that way. What
science he learns must be in immediate
connection with the specialized labor of
his everyday life.
Conditions seem to indicate that
higher education, admirably adapted in
this country to train leaders of thought
and action both in professional and
technical lines, has ignored almost en-
tirely the technical training of that
larger band whose duty it will be to do
-, n ,,,o rl1 Of no rrCr16
The exact and comprehensive meth
DDS necessary for training experts are
wholly unnecessary for the average
man. For instance: Although desirable
and ministering to his contentment it
is unnecessary that the average farmer
be familiar with the whole field of
Chemistry or Botany or Entomology.
1t is sufficient for his purposes that he
be familiar with the chemistry of soils
and fertilizers; and with the chemistry
of dairy products; with the plants OF
his locality and their insect enemies to
such an extent that he can mix his own
fertilizer to meet the special require
ments of his soil and crop, that his milk
products may be produced and marketed
in sanitary fashion, and that he under
stand the mixing and application of
insecticides and fungicides.
In connection with the study Of sci
ence can do no better than to quote
from the 1901 yearbook of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, pages l4s-15o:
fortunately, in our day science is
no longer thing wholly apart from the
affairs of common life. If we have
grown up with the idea that science
and practice are wholly and forever d.
vorced, let us rid ourselves of this
thought, for it is false. On the contra
ry, they are now joined in indissoluble
wedlock, and their union is especially
productive of good to agriculture in our
times" Knowledge has now
been supplied by the researches of those
scientific men who have gone beyond
the principles and distractions of sci
ence, and have discovered the real rela-
ton of the facts and phenomena of ma
ture to the daily concerns of the indus
trial pursuits of men,"
'1n recent years great strides have
been made in the studies on those
things in nature with which the farmer
has to deal. The secrets of air, soil,
plant, and animal, are now in large
measure, the common property of man.
kind. Science is no longer the mere
classifying and naming of objects and
phenomena. 1t is more and more the
explanation of the activities of the
natural world and of the advantage
which man may take of these activities.
The nature of the soil as related to the
crop which will grow in it, the life OF
the plant as related to the amount OF
grain, or forage, or fruit it will bear,
the body of the animal as related to the
food which it requires for maintenance
or growth, the life history of injurious
insects as related to the means of theil
repression-sucht things as these science
has now to offer to the student who
lives on the farm"
School is the place where we should
learn to connect the practical and other
knowledge we already have with what
other men know who have lived in the
past or in other places or have studied
certain subjects very thoroughly. The
considerable extent when he goes to
oClIOOl. 10y lChlAluS w 1Cdu UlOdu
ems this knowledge and gains the power
of learning what men in all the ages
and in all the world have been thinking
about and have discovered. Some OF
the things he may read will have a
direct relation to his daily life, and the
pity is that practical men are not better
taught how to gather useful knowledge
by reading. In similar way the child
knows something of the natural world
when he goes to school. What he needs
to find there is teacher who can con.
meet his limited knowledge of nature
with what science has unfolded of ma.
lures mysteries and can show how the
discoveries of science may be applied to
improve the life and practice of the
farm"
"Once the mind of youth is awakened
to the innumerable wonders of nature,
and his interest excited in explanations
of the phenomena with which the farm
life makes him familiar, it will be far
easier than ever before to stimulate him
to continuous endeavor to widen his
knowledge through reading, as we'll as
through observation. His view of the
business of, the farm will be radically
changed. Y The country boy often
times has a wonderful familiarity with
nature. The things he has learned
about animals, and birds, and trees; the
lore of the fields and woods, and
streams-all this may be of great prac-
tical use to him. Connect this with