VOL. LXIII
^r i INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 7, 1908
NO. 10
Agriculture in the   Schools.
[Extracts from an address given by D. O.
Barto, University of Illinois, at the
Short Course Meeting, of Farmers, Purdue University, Jan. 16, 1908.]
Should the boy who is going to college
he educated in the public schools in the
same way as the boy who is not going to
college? Ought the country boy to have
the same kind of education that the eity
boy gets? Shall the girls be given the
same sort of education that is given to
their brothers? Yes, these sound like those
same old questions, that have been discussed so many years, but they have not
been settled,—perhaps they never will be
Still this talk has not been all in vain.
If you will notice what the leaders in educational matters all over the world are saying today, you cannot fail to be impressed with the unusual unamity of sentiment
that education and life are the same, that
they flow on together, and whatever deepens and broadens the channel of one increases the current of the other; that living
implies action and that doing and learning
must go hand in hand; that whatever
ts.nches most vitality the experiences of
life is most effective in its power to educate.
A few days ago I heard a new definition for education. A very bright speaker was illustrating the differences, the
chasm, that separates man from the lower
nnimals. He pointed out how superior
the animals are to man in the beginning,
who is the most helpless and dependent of
all created things in his infancy. And
then he showed how man's advantage over
the animals later on was due to his capacity for education, the ability to think and
reason,   to relate cause and effect, etc.
"Xow education," said he, "is the thing
that gets a fellow out of trouble, helps him
overcome the difficulties that he is constantly finding in his path, makes him master of the situation."
I smiled when I heard this definition,
because it was new and different; but the
more I think about it the better I like it.
Notice how well it fits! "The thing that
gets a fellow out of his trouble, that
helps him meet and overcome his difficulties."
Suppose we make this the test and meas-
v;re of the education we want and believe
in, and see how well it suits our subject.
What are the principal or most common
troubles that beset man, and which education is to help him over?
I suppose the most comprehensive answer would be: Man's chief trouble all
his life is to get what he wants, to provide for his needs, and to satisfy his desires; and education is the thing that is to
help him out. First then, education must
help him to know what needs are real and
not imagined, what desires are worthy and
uplifting. This is the education that
trains the judgment, develops taste, forms
ideals  and   fixes   habits  of  life. This
sort of an education we call moral, for it
has to do with the making of character.
The points that I have been trying to
make are these: That education is the
one thing that gives the mastery over the
difficulties of life; that certain difficulties
or needs are common to all people, and
therefore a certain part and amount of educational training should be the same for
a"- Bnt that only those things that
touch the lives nnd enter into the experiences of the pnpils, and seem to connect
with what they hope to do later on have
sny real .sducational value.        And there
fore the schools of the future should be sn
planned that they shall give instruction in
those subjects that we have termed humanistic, and in addition to this each school
shall furnish that education which most
nearly meets the needs of its community,
which is most closely related to the activities and interests of the people who use it.
This means, then, that in the rural schools
the pupils shall be educated iu and by
means of the study of agriculture, wliils>
the city pupils shall be trained in and
through such studies as are related to the
principal industries of city life. The
reasons for such a system of education in
our public schools are both economic and
Although I have not entirely recovered
from my disease (owing to its being chronic and having been troubled with same for
oyer 30 years). My health has been greatly improved, as also has tliat of the entire family.
We have never found the thermometer lower than 20 degrees above zero
since wc have lieen here. Nor does it get
so very hot in the summer; we always
share I good breeze stirring. It is never
sultry,  and sunstrokes are unknown.
We have several northern people coming
here, but the majority that are in this
vicinity nre Indinnans.
The natives have until    recently    given
A Clay County Barn, owned by M. Cullin, managed by Fred Drake, showing manner of transmission of power from power shed to feed center.
pedagogic* and from each standpoint are
equally urgent. All the material interests of our country are justly demanding
that the public schools send out their pupils better prepared—more skillful and capable—for the work they are to do-
And the educators are saying: "These
things that touch our lives are the things
which cause us to think and develop. Ansl
as education is life and Ufe is education,
should we not bring into the curricula of
cur schools a greater proportion of those
thinga that have a vital relation to life and
its interests'.'"
"The way to educate a boy is to set him
to work; the way to get him to work is to
interest him; the way to interest him is to
vitalize his task by relating it to some
form of reality."
The idea that education does not necessarily mean the learning of something that
is far removed from us in time and space,
and that will probably bear on closer relation to our business of earning a living
than does the North Pole to a hitching
post, seems to be getting into the minds of
a good many people, and they are wondering why they never thought of it in this
light before.
LETTER FROM ARKANSAS.
Editors Indiana FarniCT:
As I am a reader of the Indiana Farmer
and also used to be an Indiana farmer, myself. I will try and tell you something
concerning the country that I now live in.
Indiana is my native State, but being
troubled with asthma and other chronic
diseases I could not stand the winters
there and came to this place about two
years ago.
their attention mostly to cotton raising.
But since northern people are coming in
they are introducing various other crops,
as corn, oats, potatoes, peanuts, peas,
sugarcane and various others. Alfalfa is
proving very productiove also, and the
people say that they used to raise an
abundance of wheat, _ but they have not
raised any in this vicinity in the last few
jears. Fruits of all kinds can be suc-
ceesfully raised here, especially peaches,
pears, plums, and figs grow unusually
well. But the people have not given much
attention to fruit raising as yet.
There are thousands of acres of good
cheap land here that can be made to bring
an abundance of wealth if put into cultivation. Most of the immigration has been
going into Texas, and Arkansas has been
overlooked to a great extent, until the last
year or so; but it is scorning this way more
of late; land values have not increased in
pisspssrtion here as they have in other
parts, where immigration has been more
plentiful. (lood improved land can now be
bought here at frssm $16 to $50 per acre,
and unimproved land as low as $5 to $10
per acre. But land values are beginning
to increase considerably now. I send
you a cut of the house in which I live; said
dwelling alone cost $5,500 when erected,
besides the cost of all the outbuildings.
I bought this farm of 100 acres for less
than the buildings alone cost when erected.
Hut these conditions were not here to stay,
for land values have increased over one
slresl per cent in the last three or four
years, and still continue to increase very
rapidly.
To the northern farmers who have to rent
high priced lands,    and scarcely live,    I
would say go where you can obtain good
cheap homes. If you have not got the
money to buy land you ean easily rent, as
land is here in plenty, but the renters are
Is w ssinsidering the amount of land there
is, as anyone tbat is able and willing to
work can easily obtain a home of his own
in a short time. In renting the renter
gets three-fourths of the cotton and two-
thirds of the corn, as that is the general
rent.
To the afflicted or the old I would say
that we have the ideal climate here, for
all diseases of the lungs, stomnch, kidneys
or catarrhal troubles. You scarcely ever
see anyone afflicted with rheumatism here.
We have good soft, pure water that does
not contain a particle of lime. The upland is rolling enough to afford natural
drainage, and is of a sandy or gravelly nature, underlaid with a clay subsoil. The
river bottom land is of a dark sandy nature, and in some of it you find a black,
sticky like soil.
This river land is very productive, especially for cotton, corn and alfalfa. The
native people are very courteous and do
not have any enmity toward the northern
people, as some ot the people that have
never been among them would suppose.
They have good schools and churches, and
almost everyone goes to church, both the
white people and the negroes. The negro
here is very polite and industrious, the
most of them in the country own their own
homes, but the majority of them live in the
mill towns and do public work. They have
their own schools and churches, and are
not allowed to associate with the white
people. The negro is taught to look np
to and do as the white people wish him to
do. Lewisville, our county seat town, has
over two thousand inhabitants. It has
two railroads, a good bank, many business
liiiiscs, two cotton-gins, saw mill, a plain-
ning mill, electric light plant and telephone
system, a fine court house and one of the
best graded schools in the state.
Wc have the R. F. D. mail route and
telephone system in the country; have good
public roads and almost all the advantages
that we had in the north. Stamps is just
five miles from here; it is considered to
have the largest lumber mill in the Southwest. They furnish employment for over
two thousand men.
■ Generally speaking I think that this
country affords as great advantages to the
average farmer or prospective immigrant
as he will find anywhere. It costs about
$20 round trip from Indianapolis to Lewisville, Arkansas and return.
William W. Isenhower.
TO  FERTILIZE THE  GARDEN.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Will you, or some of your readers tell
me how to bring np a garden soil that
seems to be exhausted; it is rather loose
black ground, about 40x20 in size, so situated as to make it next to impossible to
fertilize with manure, being in town nnd
an inside lot. We have found that wood
ashes helps a beet bed, but what is needed
for tomr.totas, beans, radishes and turnips? We have an agent here who deals
in commercial fertilizers; should such be
applied now or later? L.
—The ground should have a dressing of
■complete fertilizer, containing nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash. The wood
ashes contain potash and some phosphoric
asisl apply commercial fertilizer early in
the spring: however, it is better to apply
the nitrogen just before planting. From 30
to 40 pounds of complete fertilizer would
be enough for your little garden plot.