Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-07-16

dry. TIllage saves water and increases
plant growth. Some little hint was given
Of the philosophy of tillage. and the
killing of weeds relegated to It's proper
subordinate place.
The only point made under soil man
agement was rs to the fertilization of the
soil. 1t was pointed out that while Yer
mont farmers pay half million OF dol
lars per year for commercial fertilizer.
they waste ten times that amount
through inadequate care Of farm
manures. The three sacks in which
fertility Is brought to the farm the
clover sack. the feed sack and the COM
mercial fertilizer sack were referred to;
the one enriching the surface soil from
the suh-soil and air; the other increas-
ing the plant food content of the manure
owing to its Inherent richness and the
third bringing a direct plant food mere
ment to the soil. The advisability of max
Ing wiser purchases of commercial
fertilizers of buying either crude stock
or high grade goods was emphasized. and
stress laid on the folly Of purchasing low
priced, low grade brands containing from
500 TO 1000 pounds of extraneous dirt.
The safeguards thrown about the trade
by the Vermont law were indicated and
ready means shown whereby one could,
with very fair degree of certainty, dis
eliminate between grades. The simple
one two, three rule works well. A
fertilizer guaranteed to contain per
cent. or Whereabouts of nitrogen may
be safely considered low grade goods,
those containing ? per cent medium
grade. and those containing per cent.
are sure to be high grade goods
Dr. j. l.. Prince agent of the Mass
achusetts board Of education, discuss
ed the subject of rural school super
vision. Under this topic he consider
ed: First. non professionals second,
semi -profcssional: third, professional
duties.
Under the non professional duties
of the superintendent he classified re-
pairs of school buildings and furnish
ing supplies. Under furnishing sup
plies was discussed buying and dis
trihuting Or. Prince did not consider
these part of the professional equip
ment of the Superintendent, but rec
| ognized that many school boards make
their superintendent hired men for the
district and require of them duties
which do not properly belong to SUI
|
pervision.
! Under the semi profess ional topic
he classified attendance with reference
| TO enforcement of law ana induce
ments to re gularity. Hygienic con-
| ditions were also considered with ref
crcnce to lighting. heating, ventilat-
ing. desks. seats and sanitary appoint
mcnts. Under records and reports ne
| NO Ssit n
that data might be kept but referred
| to the cumbersomness of too much de-
tail.
| Under the professional duties ref
ercnce was made to the construction
and course of study for the guidance
| of teacher and pupils. to the selection
of proper text books, to the employ
ment of suitable teachers and to the
general duties of the superintendent
such as inspection. examination, teach
ing, classification and promotion.
DR.. Prince recommended that the SUI
| perintendent keep note book and also
| encourage the teacher to do likewise
| In examination OF the school 1t was sug
gested that the superintendent observe
whether the aim of the recitation was
| clear to the teacher. whether the ar
| rangement OF the subject was good
| whether II related to previous lessons
| whether correlated with other subjects
whether questions We're clear. whether
the recitation was conducive to compre
| hensive cearness. In connection Will
the inspection OF school he advised 'ht
| superintendent to consider the industry
Of the pupils, attention to school OF th'
| teacher. method and manner OF teacher
| DR.. Prince also urged the development
| Of attention and interest on the part OF
the pupils. To this end It was necessar,
| to have a teacher who was active ano
interested and trained for the work. One