The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-06-03
ASSISTANT SECRETARY HAYS
ADDRESSES NORTHERN MIN
NESoTA DEVELOPMENT ASSN,
COULD PRODUCE BETTER YIELD
Hays Says the Typical Rural School
Should Have a Ten-Acre School
Farm, Where Pupils May Study
Agriculture.

CrOOkStOn, Mimi, Jun 0.-NlIe
NJ. Hays, assistant secretary of the
United States department OF agri-
culture, told the Northern Mime
sofa Development association in ses-
sion here today that the world is
looking on while we farmers plod
along in our unorganized, unsystem-
attic, half hearted way and the world
believes that were our people broad
er and better trained We could pro
duce much better yields than we
90; and we are forced to admit,
ne ad3ed. that the world is right"
Whether our activity be religious,
social, political or economic, he
continued, I'VE are on a 15-bushel
basis with a 25-bushel opportunity.
The blood of our people, the hered-
itary potencies of our wheats and
and the productive potentiality OF
our soil and climate warrant a rapid
increase of wheat yields up to 20
bushels per acre and of other farm
products in proportion; and even
more rapid should be the growth
of intelligence. home living and So
cial advancement generally"
The cure for these larger troubles
in agricultural life is in the school
system, according to Mr.. Hays. He
proceeded to describe in detail the
system which. in his opinion would
bring order out of the present cha
os in the organization of country
life He declared that, except in iso-
lated cases where the broader meth
cd was not practicable, the Old
one-room school house
should give way to the consolidated
school The latter would provide
accommodations for students within
the surrounding five or six square
miles 1t would contain three or
-four rooms for an elementary
school, ore for the high school
classes and a large room for labora-
tory and practice work and for vo
cational studies.
The typical consolidated rural
school," continued Mr.. Hays, will
have a ten acre school farm. In this
northwest country half of the farm
will be developed for a combined
and farmstead. In a timber
belt on part of the farm experiments
will be conducted with forest trees
in plot mixtures, which help to
solve the tree problem for groves
to protect our farm homes.
Within this protected area will
he Fairgrounds for the students;
and it will contain ornamental trees
shrubs and flowers, fruits and veg
etables and beautiful grass lawns.
There will be a cottage for the prin
cipal of The school. The other five
acres will be devoted to field crops.
Crop rotations will be demonstrated
here. Methods of cultivation will be
New varieties OF grains,
grasses an5 other varieties of plants
will be treated, as also small fruit,
shrubs and fruit trees
The speaker advocated that farm
boys and girls during their teens
spend six months in school and six
at home On the farm each year:
Under this plan" he said, the
rural school will have
full attendance during thes tx win
ter months. The children in the
first six or eight grades would
start earlier in the autumn and
remain in school later in the spring.
Under this plan the pupils would as
sist in solving the labor problem
but during theis' years of youth
when they can learn rapidly. would
gain the knowledge and the habits
of the farmer and the home-maker.
They would require one, two or
possibly three years longer to finish
their high school course.
The last two or three winters
they could spend in an agricultural