The farmer and mechanic., 1911-01-10

w
ern Educational Conference.(
James J. Hill, in his Highways o.
Progress asserts that the country -
approaching the inevitable aoN en-
a nopulation OF one hundred anu ~
to two hundred millions "ithin -
lifetime Of those now grown - ,1nn,v
estate, with a potenuai looo
that falls as the draft upon II
yances" He then peruhehiS a''
.Jow are these people 70 De 80,
A situation so tersely put by MI. iilii
Incomes more intensified Wnen we
call that during the last decaue' "His
tbo ventilation of the United states
;,'c-.aead some fifteen millions, this in
crease was almost entirely lHiileo ~
49, cities Many farming secloiis
actuaI1v lost. The answer to MI Hin
ouestion involves the solution OF ~
problems. viz: First, HOW 70 imp =.
methods Of farming; second no" ~
improve the CONDITIONS uhuei
the farmers live, thereby noiuihg
larger number of our people 10 the
farms.
If as Mr.. Hill indicates, FARMING
is not only the biggest OF all III
dustries, engaging the actlVltleS "
more than SO per cent or our peopie'
but is also the most common ii'ou,
of living-then all people, clty any
country alike, to be roundly educateu'
should know something OF farming.
However this may be, is lmpefatlNe
that those people who live on the
farm and make their living by farm-
ing should know better how TO prose.
cute their daily vocation in order ina.
they NAV increase the annual output
from their farms. that they may
have a greater share Of the comforts
and luxuries and that they may ma
happiness in an enriched rural NE
It is imperative, therefore, that coun-
try children be taught not merely asrl-
culture. but farming, which includes
the science of agriculture ana the
agriculturist's mode Of living.
Agricultural instruction on college
level is now fairly we'll provided Tor
all who have the aspiration, the means
and the opportunity to obtain IT., out'
only a very small percentage Of our
farmer bows ever reach college, and,
when they do, artificial and false
standards Of worth frequently detect
them into the professions. Many or
the city high schools and few OF
the recently erected rural hlgh
schools are now offering specific train
ing to all who succeed in getting that
far in their education; but the col
lege. and even the high school, is
for the most part, far removed from
the masses Of the people, where the
courses of instruction might be in
fuenced by the needs and wants OF
the people, and where the people, out
side of the small group enrolled as
pupils in the school. might be reach
ed and Influenced by the school. The
school, to be Of greatest service, must
stand at q point where these inter
acting forces may have full play. In
education, at least, there has, as yet
been invented no system of wireless
telegraphy whereby the wants Of the
people can be made known to the
school at long distance. to the end
that the school may form its curricu-
lum and shape its policies to supply
these needs
The conviction deapens that the real
problem OF education is SO TO analyze
and understand the processes of liv-
ing that they may be turned to ac-
count and made the means Of educa-
ton.
The elementary school, therefore,
seems 30 be the place where the great
battle with agricultural ignorance
must be fought out. and where the
impetus must be received that will
carry the boys and girls through
the high school and into the college
will enable them to find content1n ent
happiness, health and prosperity in
comfortable rural homes.
1t has often been said that in the
scheme of education there is an ex-
ception to the general rule that life
that here influence goes from the col
1eges and universities downward. Be
this as it may, we are confronted with
the fact that the great majority OF
our people never reach the college, to
say nothing of graduating, or even
entering the high school In Wake
county, which l suppose is about ar
average county in North Carolina
there We're enrolled 5,62S white chill
dren. Of which number only 400 were
in the seventh grade. and only 24e
in the high school grades. The coiored
race made even a poorer showinC g
Here the enrolment in the seventh
grade was 10. Only II We're enrolled
in the eighth grade, and none above
1t would be we'll. therefore, to con.
slider IN our educational policies some
measures whereby the children of al
DaoT,fa NAV he hcncboa oo3 ..,,;o,-