The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-04-12
EDUCATING FOR FARM LIFE

Little Rock. Ark. April 1.--Dr. J-<
= Jovner. State Superintendent of
public instruction of North Carolina,
rod3v addressed the Association Of
Southern State Superintendents on the
subject. The Adjustment Of the Rural
School 10 the Conditions Of Rural Life,
ls Observed in the Rural Schools OF
Page County, Iowa" The address was
prepared bv DR.. Joyner for the asso~
citation OF Southern State Superin-
tendents OF Public instruction, which
- meeting III conjunction with the
Educa ti0nal Conference.
D? JOINER spoke as follows;
The first visit OF the Southern Su
pcrintendents on their recent itinerary
uf inspection and study Of the schools
"f the Middle Northwest was to the
xural schools Of Page County, iowa.
These schools. under the supervision
and direction Of an able, enthusiastic
and c0nsecrated county superintend~
rnt Miss Jessie Field, have won u
national reputation, and, III the opin-
ION II every Southern superintendent
thaj visited them, they deserve their
reputation. TO me was assigned the
pleasant but difficult task Of making
= special report on these schools
There are no cities and large towns
in Page county. Its population is rural
and their occupations almost exclu-
siValy agricultural The chief agricul-
ruraI products are corn and other
grains and apples: the chief industries
seem 10 be dairying and raising corn.
The people are thrifty and prosper
ouS, courteous and hospitable. The
lands seem fertile, are practically all
Under cultivation, and apparently
kept in the best state of cultivation.
The farm houses, barns and all the
home surroundings indicate thrift,
prosperity. cleanliness and comfort
The stranger feels at once that farm
5ng here is the chief business and the
best business. The sight of the we'll
3i!ed farms and the attractive farm
dive the free life Of the country that
ss hidden somewhere in every heart,
whatever be the occupation Of the
man, and that is perhaps the best
evidence that man was really formed
out OF the dust Of the ground" and
'iS heart naturally yearns for his
mother earth.
l have mentioned in the outset
these facts about the people ana the
country before beginning the discus
sion Of the schools, SO as to give some
Impression OF the life in which the
school has its roots and with which
It should be related. As will be seen,
the natural conditions and environ
ment as we'll as the occupations Of
the people, are not far different from
all these Of our Southern States The
existing conditions are not far differ
ent from they could be made in the
rural South by the adoption of Sim
Star means and the application Of
similar intelligence to agriculture
Ihc main purpose of cur visit to
the schools of this county was to
study the best that had been done in
the correlation of the work Of the
one-teacher rural school with farm
lite and agricultural occupations I
shall. therefore, deal bat briefly with
The other phases of our study of these
schools, discussing these only because
81 their relation to this phase
IAe school houses We're plain, mex
PenSiFe, but neat and comforta bic one
room houses They all tastefully paint
CO on the inside they were neatly
pafrf"d. furnished with comforta bic
patent desks maps, charts, globes and
ot"@r necessary school equipment. The
windows were all furnished with near