Anadarko daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 1908-191?, 1910-11-03

education for the farm. Teach him
the interesting and important things
Of farm life, and he will generally
choose the farm as his home"
In nearly 500 communities. chiefly
in Indiana. Massachusetts. Ohio. Flor.
ida and North Dakota, the new
schools are besieged daily by the
scores OF children tumbllng from the
incoming carryalls. Several thousand
OF the little district schools, unable
~ offer a reasonable excuse for ex.
istence In the face OF the new com
petition, have yielded their preroga.
tives to the united institution. and
have been gathered under It's spa
cious roofs.
II is a powerful force that is
aligned against the little school
house In the lane" Prof Willet NJ.
Hays. assistant secretary OF agricul.
ture and leader in the new educa.
ton movement says:
The desolate rural school, stand.
Ing on the bleak plain. is too un-Amer-
lean to endure the changes OF the
times. II must be transformed into a
part OF our beautiful outdoors. and
II must be made mote efficient in
general studies. in culture. and in
vocational training for country life"
Soil Analysis and Stock Judging.
So education seems TO have taken
on a new meaning for the parents or
the country children. The new sys-
TEN teaches all that the old one did.
all the important studies that the
city school offered: all the phases OF
literature. art. history and science
needed TO round out the American
| citizen
But II does much more Il adds to
these sudies. the vocational training
for the farm" The new schoolhouse.
instead OF standing on a barren lot
at a wind-swept four corners. is sur
rounded by a carefully plated farm
OF ten acres or so. In the more ad-
vanced OF the schools experimental
buildings have been erected. small
fruit and forest tracts laid out. mlnia-
ture dairy and poultry plants con.
structed. and, experimental work of
all kinds launched.
The boys are taught stock Judging.
breeding, crop rotation. scientific
analysis OF the soil. the keeping of
farm accounts. and kindred subjects.
Contests are organized between rival
groups OF students to see what results
can be obtained in the experimental
plats. and also in practical work on
the farm at home. The boy carries
away from the school not a confused
mass OF information that he cannot
apply to his daily affairs. but n spe-
cihc idea that certain things can be
evolved from tho piece OF land he
has been working on for years. He
becomes intensely interested in his
work and studies. and his eyes are
opened not only TO the knowledge"
OF the world In the ordinary sense but
to the great possibilities OF the land
with which he 10 most familiar and In
daily contact.
The new school has 200 pupils. In
stead OF 20. II has lecture hall
where spelling bees. class programs.
and amateur plays are carried out
and where the neighboring farmers
families gather for Community"
meetings, lectures. and entertain
ments.
/ The whole neighborhood. often EN-.
bracing 200 farms. becomes an i'm.
mense laboratory for the school. In
the experimental farm surrounding
the building plats are laid out TO re-
semble the leading farm Of the neigh.
borhood
Great cooperative enterprises. such
as creameries. bakeries. laundries. as
well as the churches and the township
buildings. It is predicted. will In the
near future be located about the
school grounds
In many sections the farmers and
their children furnish the conveyances
TO carry the nelghbors' children to
school; but in the majority OF dis
tricts II has been possible to estab
lish regular carryall service. main
tanned at public expense.
Indiana leads the way at present
in the progress OF the new school
movement. In almost every county
in the state the school wagons are
bringing crowds OF children daily 10
the central buildings. and the "Hoos.
Ter schoolmaster" is OF different
type than a generation ago.
Massachusetts is second, Ohio third
and Florida and North Dakota con
test for fourth place In almost every
state. with the exception OF some OF
the sparsely settled western ones. the
farming districts are either expert
tnenting with the new system. or have
proven It a complete Svecess.