The Newark journal., 1909-02-05
SHOULD TEACH AGRICULTURE
Prominent Educator Says Agriculture Should be Taught in Public Schools

Professor s. A Minear of Fort Stockton, Texas, in National Go operator. says:
 School gardening is presented with the clements of permanency inherited in itself, for Europe nas over a hun dred thousand school gardens today, which have become feature of the educational field.
 In Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio, in Philadelphia and Kansas City, it has raised adjoining real estate, and in the city of San Antonio, Texas, it has raised the value of lots where children worked with the soil and growing plants.
 This work is comparatively new to Texas, but it is not, however, in an experimental stage, for in the District of Columbia, Connecticut New York and other states it has been conduct ed with various results.
 On the other hand, there are many educators who look upon this work as a fad, but they are stimulated by DO litical movements, which will event ually fade away.
 Agriculture in a broad sense is the primary basis of wealth in this coun try, and we should do all in our power to bring early to the mind of the child facts which will point out the necessity and importance of such work conducted on a systematic and scientific basis.
 It is well known by all who have the opportunity of being connected with the public schools, that the pub. lie school education causes us to for get our relationship to the soil and points to the farmer as being man without a future To allow such to continue is a sad mistake and will no doubt injure the child.
 The work in a city may be entirely different from what it should be in a rural district. In the city the main ideas should be to combine moral and physical training, to throw off the class room restraints and to give the child an opportunity to stretch it's limbs. To accomplish such, it should be done through some form of manual training, and there is no form better than the school garden.
 In the rural districts the point of view should not be to maintain com mon methods used at home. The mental strain does not exist in these schools as in the city, because the average country boy brings about the equilibrium between the mental and physical functions, therefore it would be wise to teach an elementary prin- ciple of agriculture in such schools, and have a garden where 1t could be conducted in a manner which would eventually effect the industrial devel- opment of this state.
 No attempt heretofore has been made to present the methods for this state in a written form and l hope these chapters will help lead the way to better things. Conditions existing at San Antonio, Texas, have been constantly kept in mind in preparing this work; therefore, what IS said will vary according to the locality.
 The community system Of garden ing is where the children take care of the garden in general. This system does not strongly develop the idea of individual responsibility, and boy has tendency to care little for the plants which others have shared in producing. This brings about lack of interest and many boys will shirk responsibility.
 The individual system is where each boy possesses a small plot or ground for garden. Each boy per forms every operation of preparation planting and general care of the plants grown in his garden. This system furnishes a basis of valuable knowledge and is superior to any system yet tested.