Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-07-04
AGRICULTURAL
'0zgGduCation
~ AID SUCCESSFUL EARRING
S=:=sa ~ ANDRMMOoULE
Teaching Boys and Girls About Cotton

think along new lines, a process which
is always essential to progress along
any line. Moreover. the beginning of
studies of the character delineated would
simply constitute a foundation on which
10 build a more elaborate system of ele-
mentary instruction in agriculture. Ev-
ery day boys and girls would make new
discoveries about the cotton plant and
the influence which certain soil types
and situations exert on it's development
Then. there is much important informa-
ton TO be gathered from a study of the
size and shape of the leaf as affecting
the rate and time of maturing of the
bolls- The bolls themselves are quite
different in form. Some of them open
more readily than others; therefore a
study of the bracts which enclose them
will be found interesting. Then, there
is a comparison of the seed of the differ
ent types to be made In some Instances
there will be found green and black seed
showing that there is an admixture of
strains. that a true hybrid has not been
developed. II will be very interesting
and simple matter for the boys and girls
TO comb out the fiber of a number of
seeds of the different varieties These
might then be mounted on a sheet of
cardboard. All that is necessary for
this work is a small bottle of glue, and a
little comb which will not cost over
cents. The boys and girls will be as
tonished to find how the length and uni
formity Of the staple varies with different
seeds. They should be encouraged to
compare the Characteristic growth and
development of plants of the short and
the longstaple varieties. There are also
big-bolled and small-bolled sorts; and
large and small-fruiting types; cluster
and non-cluster varieties, and early and
late-maturing strains to be examined
and compared.
In the cotton field We find beautiful
illustrations of life. There is the in
dustrious, fruitful, highly profitable
plant, small and compact in form, and
using all its energy tor the production
OF fruit, and there is the large, spread
ing type OF plant which mas put most uf
its energy into the production of leaves
and limbs, thereby constituting itself
the drone Of the cotton field. There is
the upright growing plant and the
strain that fruits near the ground
Could not a consideration of these
plants provide the basis of the written
reports and observations made in the
field by the boys and girls and consti-
tute thereby language lessons of the
most desirable character. Excellent
work can also be done In the matter Of
drawing and mounting specimens, as al
ready pointed out Delineation intensi-
fies observation most effectively. One
can not reproduce on paper something
which he has not correctly seen and APP
Dreciated. Moreover the drawings need
not be confined 10 the list of topics al
ready enumerated, but should be extend
ed 20 include insects and weeds which
infest cotton. The blackboard may be
used for these drawings, or sheets Of
ordinary paper, such as the average
school tablet provides can be used TO
good advantage. CrayOns may be used
10 color the work and thus heighten the
interest in the task
Much valuable history can be taught
through a study Of the origin and devel-
opment of the cotton plant. 1t will not
be difficult for the teacher to obtain
bulletins giving information along this
line. Cotton has been a valued plant
for many centuries, and is intimately
associated with the. history of India.
Egypt Persia, the West Indies and Bra
zil The influence of cotton on the
commerce of tire world will furnish the
basis for instruction in commercial
geography in a most interesting man
ner. Maps can be prepared on the
routes taken by cotton ships and the
ports they visit. The cotton manu-
featuring centers OF the world will thus
be made familiar to the boys and girls,
and the characteristics of the people
who manufacture and distribute cotton
and wear the cloth produced from it's
fiber can he portrayed to them I'm an in
tensely interesting manner.
The study OF arithmetic can also be
simplifed and promoted to advantage by
studying cotton. A hundred problems
can eosily be formulated. For instance.
how many plants at a certain distance
can be grown on an acre of land? How
much cotton will be obstained there
from if il takes sixty bolls to make a
pound Of seed cotton and the crop
yields 81 per cent of lint? These are
but illustrations of how arithmetic NAV
he taught successfully in association
with the study of the most important
crop growing in the south. Let us hope
that our teachers will take this matter
under Amusement and make cotton the