New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1915-09-18
NECESSITY OF AGRICULTU II
AL INSTRUCTION IN PUB
Lie SCHOOLS.
Bv Morris NJ. Rathbun.


For a good many years the
children OF our nation have been
educated away from the farm
which they have been taught to
regard as a place Of unceaslng
toll, barren Of opportunities and
the last resort for those who have
failed to secure places in the po-
litical field or in our metropoll-
tan cities. The banker, the mer-
chant, the professional man and
even the county official all have
been held up as worthy examples
for the youth who would make a
success in life, but at no time have
the school teachers pointed with
any degree of pride to the man
who followed the pillow. Happily
this sentiment is undergoing a
radical change and the time IS not
far distant when the teaching OF
agriculture in all the schools OF
the land will be compulsory, the
youth will be taught that the soil
is the source Of all wealth, that
farming is the most dignified and
ernobline occupation and that it
offers greater opportunities to ac-
quire wealth and position than
any other vocation.
In many rural districts a few
acres of ground adjoining the
school have been acquired by the
district either through bequest on
the part of the generous and en-
terprising patron or through pur-
chase outright. This tract Of
ground has received intensive Gull
tivation by the pupils under the
supervision Of a competent and
energetic teacher who has no,
trouble in enlisting the assistance
Of practical farmers in the CON-
munity. The pupils have been
taught the science Of breeding
grains, grasses, ETC.. and Of secur-
ing the greatest yield per acre
(which has often been double and
even treble that grown by any
farmers in the district. Books
on scientific agriculture were pur-
chased and all but devoured by
the anxious pupils whose minds
for the first time were awakened
to the beauties and wonderful pos
sibilities in agriculture. -.
Throughout the entire opera
lion the principles Of economics
were impressed strongly on the
minds Of the pupils who were
2ade to realize the value Of time,
The cost Of production, and the
best methods in marketing. At
harvest time the girls were given
special instruction in canning and
preserving while the boys were
thoroughly grounded in the art
Of seed selection. The proceeds
from the crop were used in diff
ferent ways but in nearly all eases
the first consideration was
large, well selected library after
which the many devices so badly
needed in most schools were pur-
chased, and anv needed improve
ments to the building made.
Los Angeles, California. is be-
lieved to be the first city to inaug-
nrate the "back to the land move
ment" on a large scale.
This year there are nearly ten
thousand pupils of varying ages
in the city who have gardens at
home that are the direct result of
their school work. Probably an
equal number in the smaller
towns of the county also are en-
listed in growing vegetables and
flowers in plots cared for by
themselves during their recrea-
lion hour. 50 that some ~ per cent
Of the total enrolment at the
bile educational institutions gre
Arning the rudiments of soil cul-
Cnre.
While the agricultural dero~t-