The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1913-08-29
Every hand YVES raised. The milk

VI SPONTANEOUS lAIOlOSI IhoI ~ A"N
never known before. The work of
the arithmetic classes was centered
on the local milk records, and no ex-
ample in percentage given in the text
book had ever inspired the eager at
tention that was given to the problem
of figuring the percentage Of butter
, fat in the various tests. The teacher
discovered that she had live school
and that the big boys were no longer
difficult to handle.
Some months later the father of
Jim met the man whose words had
inspired this experiment and made a
confession.
when my boy said, Teachers go
; ing to have milk test at school, |
} laughed and said it was poppycock.
s!ut if the rest of the boys were gHihg
into it didn't want him to show the
white feather | wasn't ashamed OF
my dairy. Now Jim's got a temper,
an his worst fault as a mixer had
always been that he'd whale any COW
that didn't stand still for him. The
cow that he was testing was little
nervous, an one night | came into
the barn just in time to see her give
him kick that would have knocked
my disposition into a cooked hat,
milk or no milk! | expected to see
him go at her with the milking stool
and lay it on where she'd feel it
most. You could have pushed me
over when he got up quietly, talked
soft to her, and began milking again
as if nothing had happened.
"Then it had always been his job
to water the COWS. There's stream
in the little pasure, and he was ex-
pected to drive the COWS to it night
and morning. He generally went
through the motions, but it took a
lot of watching to see that he didn't
slight this part of the performance.
He'd rush them through their drinks
as if he was afraid they'd founder
themselves. You know how boys are
when they're just going through the
motions with something thy're not
interested in? But after the teacher
started that milk weighing and test
ing business the rush at the creek was
all over. That cow-and all the 9TH
ers with her-were fairly leased to
drink They were tempted with sal
and given an extra chance at the
water.
THAT wasn't all He began to
!, study into the feed question, and fl
; nally asked me to buy some stuff that
J he thought would make more milk
and increase the butter fat. | bought
| it, just to humor him, but only enough
, for the COW he was testing. When
saw what it did for her you better be-
lieve the rest of 'em had the same ra-
ton too. That teacher certainly got
Jim going, and he wound me up.
wouldn't take lot of money for
what it's done for us. He's interest
ed in his school now and interested
in the work at home And the
fathers OF the other boys tell me about
the same story. That teacher GER
tainly started something. She'd have
a hard time getting away from this
district. Why, she's got every one of
us Interested, old and young, and
we've got the livest school district in
the whole country"
, Countrywide Leaders
, Undoubtedly the closest American
, parallel to the German Wanderlehrer
is the county demonstration or agri-
cultural expert. he pays a personal
visit to all farms where his aid is ask
ed. If the boy of the farm is pres
ent when the demonstration calls he
is free to absorb all the crumbs of in
struction he can catch. But with sew
eral hundred farms to visit in the
course of the cropping season, the
county demonstration can hit only the
hlgh-spots and at that his talk is aim
ed to meet the understanding of the
father, not of the boy. All the direct
instruction that the county expert
can give the boys of his territory is
amply covered by the old phrase, "a
lick and promise" He will, if he is
greatly in earnest in his efforts, do all
the work possible with the school
teachers of his county and inspire
them to individual work with their
pupils. But at best he can only
scratch the surface, so far as reach
ing and arousing the farm boy is con-
cerned.
Here and there throughout the
country, however, the common schools
are showing that the principle of edu-