The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-29
EDUCATION IN THE WISCONSIN SCHOOL How Boys and Girls Are Aided
 in Ambition MAKE WORK LESS ONEROUS Work Being Done for Farmers by University of Wisconsin Is One of Marvels of That Sec
 ton of Country.
MAKE WORK LESS ONEROUS
BY HERVEY w. LAIRD.

vi LuuSatloi, hdulSon, W lS., OctODer 26.--
 Special Correspondence)- 1.-Two days at the University of Wisconsin has con
 vineed the southern school men that these
 people have something in the nature Of sympathetic education that is found in few other places. The idea of teaching the boys and girls who have to work for a living how to make that work less onerous and more productive without in- crease of labor is at present one of the
 many guiding stars the forces of the state are following. Under the present organization there is not a boy or a girl in the state, no matter what their sta tion, who cannot get help or a practical and immediate kind from the University of Wisconsin.
 Aside from the university work. as such, well known as among the very best. this school is reaching out it's arms to those who need help for the right now Of life Here is what it does: Gives farmer boys short courses in agriculture and farm work which fits them for the life they are forced to keep on living. Gives farmer girls short courses also in agriculture. and such lines of domestic science as they need to keep up the home. Gives both boys and girls in the manu- featuring districts lessons by a semi correspondence course, in the work they are doing, taking away none of their time. and allows men and women who are rather hard run for money to get an education that will fit them for all prae- tical purposes of life.
 For the Farmers.
 The work for t,a the main features of this great school. In a large building Dean Russell has his forces well organized short course for the boys and the girls and a farm CTS course for men who operate the farms. the first of 14 weeks and the lat ter of 10 days, are supplemental to the regular four years college course of the agricultural college. Practically all who take the first two go back to the farm and work there. Most of those who take the college course never get back to the farm, save as they go as managers and superintendents.
 Hardby are the dairies, where the mak- ing of cream and butter and cheese is carried on, the students having part in the manufacture from the milking to the output of the products in merchantable | form. There are also cattle and sheep | and hogs in the barns where the stu dents learn to test them and know their good points and to handle this kind of business from the time it begins until 1t ends in the trade profitably closed. The students also have the advantage of the very best instruction in the col lege and other courses taken.
 Go Out to the People.
 Dean Russell tells many interesting stories of how the work of the school is taken to the people. Not long ago wa 1,l foI,t the potato crop and the college sent out men and wagons to spray the plants and 1 show the farmers how to do it. As a | result many thousands of dollars worth of this product was saved. In addition the farmers were taught to spray their own crops and to locate the trouble in time to stop it. In the same way they were taught to kill out their diseased cattle. A farmer before this would not know his COW was diseased, but when shown by the test they agreed to them being killed for their own sakes as well as the rest of the community. As a result the herds of the state are ranking high now in point of health
 The farm end of the agricultural col- | lege is just as strong. With every fla ciity for soil investigation. crop grow ing and observation and seed selection | the school is making good. Here are two things that go to prove this: The output | of corn has been increased ten bushels | to the acre in five years, or 2O,O00 GOO bushels during that time. At low estimate of the average price. it is seen | that corn alone has paid the cost of the work of the schools. At the same time | and as a result of the same services 1 the output of barley has been increased five to six bushels acre, which is also !! a great source of revenue. These grains, | at the same time are so good that they l  as a result are more profitable.
 Extension Work.
 In the university extension work | Louis F. Reber is reaching out to the | people in the mechanical lines. Classes running to more than 600 persons are maintained in Milwaukee, where not l only correspondence course is carried l to them. but teachers pay regular visits to reinforce this class of work Tn every case the employers are not only willing to give the employees time fo take the lessons, but encourag ge them to do so. Reports are sent to tie heads of the establishments where classes are carried on and quite often tn ey get in after their employees if they are falling behind. Not far from 1000 men and women are being reached in this way.
 Another feature of the extension work IS preparing subjects for de- batting clubs, or other organizations which need to prepare papers and ad- dresses Thus boy or a girl of a high school may get facts that are up to date on any subject of debate, the same being so of community debating clubs, which are encouraged. This in- formation is not only taken from the text books but from the large number of press clippings which come in. 1At the same time a municipal reference bureau is maintained, so that any town in the state may know what any other town in the country is doing In any particular line.