Morris tribune., 1908-10-17
FARM TEACHERS. WANTED
New Education Makes Demand for
100, 900 of Them

100000 of Them
Wanted, 100000 young men trained
in the art of teaching agriculture
says a Washington dispatch.
In no other direction has the Roose-
velt administration made more pro-
found impression upon the people of
the United States than in the scien-
tifc development of agriculture,
under the guidance of Secretary
Wilson. The department of agricul-
ture has shown so clearly by concrete
example in every state of the union
the superiority of scientific agricul-
> ture over hitand miss farming that a
wave of thirst for knowledge is
sweeping over the land and there is
no means at hand to satisfy it. Every
where the people are asking for COM
petent teachers of agriculture, and
nowhere does the supply begin to
equal the demand.
Therefore, wanted, 100000 young
men.
Not Enough Teachers.
The agricultural colleges and larger
agricultural high schools get first pick
from each graduating class of agri-
cultural students, but even these can
not find enough good men to go
around. The state normal schools Sc
cure few of these graduates, but it
is significant fact that fully 20 per
cent of the teachers of agriculture in
the state normal schools were trained
to teach subjects other than agricul-
ture. Hundreds of public high schools
and thousands Of grammar schools in
the states and territories where agri-
culture is beginning to be recognized
-as a valuable subject of study can
never hope to secure teachers who
have graduated from an agricultural
college, and yet they demand teachers
who know agriculture and how to
teach it.
There are now in the United States
upwards of 100 colleges and normal
schools and probably 125 lesser train
ing courses and summer schools where
prospective teachers may find some
instruction in agriculture, and some
guidance in teaching it. The state
agricultural colleges and state nor
mails are leading institutions engaged
in this work, yet only AZ per cent of
the agricultural colleges now offer a
course for teachers of agriculture, and
nearly one third of these have been
compelled thus far to confine their
work to short courses in the summer.
About IS per cent of the normal
schools offer work in agriculture. Two
thirds of these supplement the text.
book with laboratory work. 4
Weak on Teaching Side.
(. The trouble with the agricultural
colleges is that they are strong on the
technical side of agriculture and weak
on that of teaching it. That Of the
normal school is exactly the reverse.
But the fields so immense, and it's
future so without limit, that it must
be taken as assured that eventually
the facilities of the educational in
stitutions of the country will rise to
the situation and make an attempt
to provide an adequate force to
supply this healthy demand for edu-
cation in the fundamental industry of
the world. Certainly it is no indica-
ton of national decay that there is
such demand.
Wisconsin has been one of the first
states to properly appreciate the need
in this direction. She has an agricul-
tural college, seven normal schools
and ten county training schools, all of
which are training teachers of ele-
mentary agriculture. Yet il from this
time on all the graduates from these
institutions should engage as teach
ers of elementary agriculture in the
rural schools it would take seven
years to supply each rural school
with one teacher in that state alone.
This fair average sample gives a
reasonable idea of ehe field, for the
expressed need for these teachers
comes from all sections of the coun-
try.
NiSfr:cf f-ourf
The district court finished it's jnry
cases on Thursday. The only case
tried and determined by the jury was
the appeal of j. 7. Lawler from the
award OF damages and benefits in the
matter of county ditch No. 5. The
viewers placed the benefits at $3.50