In conclusion it must be said that nothing is too good for the country which is not too good for the city. The rural community must determine to have all these good things at any cost, if it wishes to work out its own salvation.



CHAPTER XI

RURAL SCHOOL SUPERVISION

Important.—Supervision is fully as important as teaching. The supervisor must be, to even a higher degree than the teacher, a strong personality, and this too implies a high standard and an attractive salary. The supervisor or superintendent must be somewhat of an expert in the methods of teaching all the common school subjects. Not only must he understand school discipline and organization in its details, but he must possess the ability to "turn in" and exemplify his qualifications at any time. It will be seen everywhere that the supervisor or superintendent is the expensive person; for, having the elements of leadership, he is in demand in educational positions as well as in outside callings. Consequently it is only by a good financial inducement, as a rule, that a competent supervisor can be retained in the profession.

Supervision Standardizes.—Without the superintendent or supervisor, no common standard can be attained or maintained. It is he who keeps the force up to the line; without him each teacher is a law unto himself and there will be as many standards as there are teachers. Human nature is innately slothful and negligent, and needs the spirit of supervision to keep it toned up to the necessary pitch. Supervision over a large force of workers of any kind is absolutely necessary to secure efficiency, and to keep service up to a high standard.

Supervision Can Be Overdone.—The necessity for supervision is clearly felt in the city systems. There they have a general superintendent, principals of buildings, and supervisors in various special lines. A system of schools in the city without supervision would simply go to pieces. It would soon cease to be a system, and would become chaotic. It may be, it is true, that in some cities there is too much supervision; it may become acute and pass the line of true efficiency. Indeed, in some cities the red tape may become so complicated and systematized that it becomes an end, and schools and pupils seem to exist for supervisors and systems instead of vice versa. It is probably true that the constant presence of a supervisor who is adversely critical may do injury to the efficiency of a good teacher. No one can teach as well under disapprobation as he can where he feels that his hands are free; and so in some places supervision may act as a wet blanket. It may suppress spontaneity, initiative, and real life in the school. But this is only an abuse of a good thing, and probably does not occur frequently. In any event, the exception would only prove the rule. Supervision is as necessary in a system of schools as it is in a railroad or in large industries.



[Caption for the above illustrations: ACTIVITIES OF THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL]

Needed in Rural Schools.—The country partakes of the same isolation in regard to its schools as it does in regard to life in general. This isolation is accentuated where there is little or no supervision. Without it, the necessary stimulus seldom or never touches the life of the teacher or the school. There is little uplift; the school runs along in its ordinary, humdrum fashion, and never measures itself with other schools, and is seldom measured by a supervisor. A poor teacher may be in the chair one term and a good teacher another. The terms are short and the service somewhat disconnected. The whole situation gives the impression to people, pupils, and teacher that education is not of very great value.

No Supervision in Some States.—In some states there is but little supervision. There may be, it is true, a district board, but these are laymen, much better acquainted with the principles of farming than with those of teaching. They have no standards for judging a school and seldom visit one. The selection known as the "Deestrict Skule" illustrates fairly well the ability of the old-time school board to pass judgment upon the professional merits of the teacher.

Nominal Supervision.—In other states there is a county superintendent on part time who has a kind of general but attenuated supervision over all the schools of a county. He is usually engaged in some other line of work—in business, in medicine, in law, in preaching—and can give only a small portion of his time to the work of superintendence. Indeed, this means only an occasional visit to the school, probably once every one or two years, and such simple and necessary reports as are demanded by the state superintendent or State Board of Education. Such supervision, however honestly performed, accomplishes but little. The superintendent may visit the teacher to-day, but when he returns a year hence, he is likely to find another teacher in charge. Under such circumstances, what can he do? He has seen the teacher at work for half an hour or an hour; he offers a suggestion, or makes some complimentary remark, and goes his way. No one realizes better than he how little he has been able to accomplish. And yet, under existing circumstances he has done all that could be expected.

Some Supervision.—There are, elsewhere, county superintendents who devote their whole time to the work, but who are chosen for short terms and in a political campaign. Very frequently these men are elected for political reasons quite as much as for educational fitness. If a superintendent so elected is politically minded—and I regret to say that sometimes this is the case—he will probably devote much time, energy, and thought to paving the way for reelection. Expecting to be a candidate for a second term, he will use his best efforts to impress the public mind in his favor. This sometimes results in greater attention to the duties of his office and the consequent betterment of the schools; but, too often, it works in the opposite direction. Being elected for only two years, he has not the time to carry out any educational policy no matter how excellent his plans may be. Of course many persons chosen in this way make excellent and efficient officers, but the plan is bad. The good superintendent frequently loses out soonest.

An Impossible Task.—Superintendents sometimes have under their jurisdiction from one hundred to two hundred, or even more, schools separated by long distances. The law usually prescribes that the county superintendent shall visit each school at least once a year. This means that practically he will do no more; indeed it is often impossible to do more. It means that his visits must of necessity be a mere perfunctory call of an hour or two's duration with no opportunity to see the same teacher again at work to determine whether or not she is making progress, and whether she is carrying out his instructions. Such so-called supervision, or superintendence, is not supervision at all—how can it be? The superintendent is only a clerical officer who does the work required by law, and makes incidentally an annual social visit to the schools.

The Problem Not Tackled.—Such a situation is another evidence that the states which tolerate the foregoing conditions have not, in any real and earnest manner, attempted to solve the problem of rural school supervision. They have merely let things drift along as they would, not fully realizing the problem or else trusting to time to come to their aid. Micawber-like, they are waiting for "something to turn up." But such problems will not solve themselves.

City Supervision.—Compare the supervision described above with that which is usually found in cities. There we usually find a general superintendent and assistant superintendents; there are high school principals and a principal at the head of every grade building; there is also a supervisor of manual training, of domestic science, of music, of drawing, and possibly of other subjects. When we consider, too, that the teachers in the city are all close at hand and that the supervisor or superintendent may drop into any room at any time with scarcely a minute's notice, we see the difference between city supervision and country supervision. Add to this the fact that cities attract the strong teachers—the professionally trained teachers, the output of the professional schools—and we can see again how effective supervision becomes in the city as compared with that in the country. In the country we find only one superintendent for a county often as large as some of the older states, and the possibility of visiting each school only about once a year. Here also are the teachers who are not professionalized, as a rule, and who, therefore, need supervision most.

The Purpose of Supervision.—The main purpose of supervision is to bring teachers up to a required standard of excellence in their work and to keep them there. It is always the easiest plan to dismiss a teacher who is found deficient, but this is cutting the knot rather than untying it. Efficient and intelligent supervision proceeds along the line of building such a teacher up, of making her strong where she is weak, of giving her initiative where she lacks it, of inculcating good methods where she is pursuing poor ones, of inducing her to come out of her shell where she is backward and diffident. In other words, the great work of the supervisor is to elicit from teachers their most active and hearty response in all positive directions. It should be understood by teachers—and they should know that the superintendent or supervisor indorses the idea—that it is always better to go ahead and blunder than to stand still for fear of blundering; and so, in the presence of a good supervisor, the teacher is not afraid to let herself out. In the conference, later, between herself and her supervisor, mistakes may be pointed out; but, better than this, the best traits of the teacher should be brought to her mind and the weak ones but lightly referred to.

What Is Needed.—What is needed in the rural situation is a county superintendent chosen because of his professional fitness by a county board whose members have been elected at large. This board should be elected on a nonpartisan ticket and so far as possible on a basis of qualification and of good judgment in educational matters. It should hold office for a period of years, some members retiring from the board annually so that there shall not be, at any time, an entirely new board. This would insure continuity. Another plan for a county board would be to have the presidents of the district boards act as a county board of education. Such a board should be authorized—and indeed this tradition should be established—to select a county superintendent from applicants from outside as well as inside the county. They should be empowered to go anywhere in the country for a superintendent with a reputation in the teaching profession. This is the present plan in cities, and it should be true also in the selection of a county superintendent.

The Term.—The term of office of the county superintendent should be at the discretion of the county board. It should be not less than three or four years—of sufficient length to enable a man to carry out a line of policy in educational administration. The status of the county superintendency should be similar to that of the city superintendency.

Assistants.—The county board should be empowered to provide assistants for the county superintendent. There should be one such assistant for about thirty or thirty-five schools. It is almost impossible for a supervisor to do efficient and effective work if he has more than this number of schools, located, as they are, some distance apart. Provision for such assistants, who should, like the superintendent himself, be experts, is based upon the assumption that supervision is worth while, and in fact necessary in any system if success is to be attained. If the supervision of thirty-five schools is an important piece of work it should be well done, and a person well qualified for that work should be selected. He should be a person of sympathetic attitude, of high qualifications, and of experience in the field of elementary education. The assistants should be carefully selected by the board on the recommendation of the county superintendent. Poor supervision is little better than none.

The Schools Examined.—The county superintendent and his assistants should give, periodically, oral and written examinations in each school, thus testing the work of both the teacher and the pupils. These examinations should not conform in any perfunctory or red-tape manner to a literally construed course of study. The course of study is a means and not an end, and should be, at all points and times, elastic and adaptable. To make pupils fit the course of study instead of making the course of study fit the pupils is the old method of the Procrustean bed—if the person is not long enough for it he is stretched; if too long, a piece is cut off. Any examination or tests which would wake up mind and stimulate education in the neighborhood may be resorted to; but it should be remembered that examinations are likewise a means and not an end.

Some years ago when I was a county superintendent I tried the plan of giving such tests in any subject to classes that had completed a definite portion of that subject and arrived at a good stopping place. If, for example, the teacher announced that his class had acquired a thorough knowledge of the multiplication table, I gave a searching test upon that subject and issued a simple little certificate to the effect that the pupil had completed it. These little certificates acted like stakes put down along the way, to give incentive, direction, and definiteness to the educative processes, and to stimulate a reasonable class spirit or individual rivalry. I meet these pupils occasionally now—they are to-day grown men and women—and they retain in their possession these little colored certificates which they still highly prize.

One portion of my county was populated almost entirely by Scandinavians, and here a list of fifty to a hundred words was selected which Scandinavian children always find it difficult to pronounce. At the first trial many or most of the children mispronounced a large percentage of them. I then announced that, the next time I visited the school, I would test the pupils again on these words and others like them, and issue "certificates of correct pronunciation" to all who were entitled to them. I found, on the next visit, that nearly all the children could secure these certificates. These tests created a great impetus in the direction of correct pronunciation and language. Some teachers, from mistaken kindness, had been accustomed to refrain from correcting the children on such words, but as superintendent I found that both the parents and the children wished drill in pronunciation and were gratified at their success. This is only a sample. I would advocate the giving of tests, or examinations, on any subject in the school likely to lead to good results and to stimulate the minds of the pupils in the right direction. The county superintendent and his assistants might agree to lay the accent or the emphasis on different subjects, or lines of work, in different years.

Keep Down Red Tape.—In all the work of supervision, the formal part—the accounting and reporting part—should be kept simple; the tendency in administrative offices is too often in the direction of complexity and red tape. Wherever there is form merely for the sake of form, it is well worth while to sound a note of warning against it.

Help the Social Centers.—The county superintendent and his assistants can be of inestimable value in all the work of the social centers. They should advise with school boards in regard to consolidation and other problems agitating the community. They should lend a helping hand to programs that are being carried out in any part of the county. They should give lectures themselves at such social centers and, if asked, should help the local communities and local committees in every way within their power.

Conclusion.—The problem, then, of superintendence is, we conclude, one of the large and important problems awaiting solution in rural life and in rural schools. It is the binding force that will help to unify all the educational activities of the county. It is one of the chief stimulating and uplifting influences in rural education. As in the case of most other school problems, the constant surprise is that the people have not awakened sooner to the realization of its importance and to an honest and earnest attempt at its solution.



CHAPTER XII

LEADERSHIP AND COOePERATION

The Real Leader.—Real leadership is a scarce and choice article; true leaders are few and far between. The best kind of leader is not one who attempts to be at the head of every movement and to do everything himself, but rather he who makes the greatest number of people active in his cause. It frequently happens that the more a leader does himself, the less his followers are inclined to do. The more active he is, the more passive they are likely to become. As teaching is causing others to know and react educationally, so genuine leadership is causing others to become active in the direction of the leader's purpose, or aim. Some who pose as leaders seek to be conspicuous in every movement, merely to attract attention to themselves. They bid for direct and immediate recognition instead of being content with the more remote, indirect, but truer and more substantial reward of recognition through their followers who are active in their leader's cause. The poor leader does not think that there is glory enough for all, and so he monopolizes all he can of it, leaving the remainder to those who probably do the greater part of the work and deserve as much credit as he. The spectacular football player who ignores the team and team work, in order to attract attention by his individual plays, is not the best leader or the best player. The real leader will frequently be content to see things somewhat poorly done or not so well done, in order that his followers may pass through the experience of doing them. It is only by having such experiences that followers are enabled, in turn, to become leaders.

Teaching vs. Telling.—As has been shown in an earlier chapter, the lack of leadership is frequently exhibited in the classroom when the teacher, instead of inducing self-activity and self-expression on the part of the pupils, proceeds to recite the whole lesson himself. He asks leading questions and then, at the slightest hesitation on the part of a pupil, he suggests the answer; he asks another leading question from another point of view; he puts words into the mouth of the pupil who is trying in a pitiable way to recite; and ends by covering the topic all over with words, words, words of his own. This is poor leadership on the part of the teacher and gives no opportunity for real cooperation on the part of the pupils. The teacher takes all the glory of reciting, and leaves the pupil without an opportunity or the reward of self-expression.

Enlisting the Cooeperation of Pupils.—All children—and in fact all people—if approached or stimulated in the proper way—like to do things, to perform services for others. A pupil always considers it a compliment to be asked by his teacher to do something for him, if the relations between the teacher and pupil are normal and cordial. This must, of course, be the case if any truly educative response is to be elicited. Socrates once said that a person cannot learn from one whom he does not love. The relation between pupil and teacher should be one of mutual love and respect, if the educational process is to obtain. If this relation does not exist, the first duty of the teacher is to bring it about. Sometimes this is difficult. I once heard a teacher say that it took him about three weeks to establish this relation between himself and one of his pupils. He finally invited the pupil out hunting with him one Saturday, and after that they were the best of friends. The pupil became one of the leaders in his school and his cooperation was secured from that time forward. In this instance the teacher showed marked leadership as well as practical knowledge of psychology and pedagogy. Francis Murphy, the great temperance orator, understood both leadership and cooperation, for he always, as he said, made it a point to approach a man from the "south side."

A pupil, if approached in the right way, will do anything in his power for his teacher. There may be times when wood or fuel must be provided, when the room must be swept and cleaned, when little repairs become necessary, or an errand must be performed. In such situations, if the teacher is a real leader and if his school and he are en rapport, volunteers will vie with each other for the privilege of carrying out the teacher's wishes. This would indicate genuine leadership and cooperation.

Placing Responsibility.—Whether in school or some other station in life, there is scarcely anything that so awakens and develops the best that is in either man or child as the placing of responsibility. Every person is educated and made greater according to the measure of responsibility that is given to him and that he is able to live up to. While it is true that too great a measure of responsibility might be given, this is no reasonable excuse for withholding it altogether for fear the burden would be too great. There is a wide middle ground between no responsibility and too much of it, and it is in this field that leadership and cooperation can be displayed to much advantage. The greater danger lies in not giving sufficient responsibility to children and youths. It is well known that, in parts of our country, where men who have been proved to be, or are strongly suspected of being crooked, have been placed upon the bench to mete out justice, they have usually risen to the occasion and to their better ideals, and have not betrayed the trust reposed in them, or the responsibility placed upon them. There is probably no finer body of men in America than our railroad engineers; and while it may be true that they are picked in a measure, it is also true that their responsible positions and work bring out their best manhood. As they sit or stand at the throttle, with hand upon the lever and eyes on the lookout for danger, and as they feel the heart-throbs of their engine drawing its precious freight of a thousand souls through the darkness and the storm, they cannot help realizing that this is real life invested with great responsibilities; and with this thought ever before them, they become men who can be trusted anywhere. There is little doubt that Abraham Lincoln's mettle was tempered to the finest quality in the fires of the great struggle from 1860 to 1865, when every hour of his waking days was fraught with the greatest responsibility.

How People Remain Children.—If children and young people are not given responsibilities they are likely to remain children. The old adage, "Don't send a boy to mill," is thoroughly vicious if applied beyond a narrow and youthful range. In some neighborhoods the fathers even when of an advanced age retain entire control of the farm and of all activities, and the younger generation are called the "boys," and, what is worse, are considered such till forty years of age or older—in fact as long as the fathers live and are active. A "boy" is called "Johnnie," "Jimmie," or "Tommie," and is never chosen to do jury duty or to occupy any position connected in the local public mind with a man's work. The father in such cases is not a good leader, for he has given no responsibility to, and receives no genuine cooperation from, his sons, who are really man grown, but who are regarded, even by themselves, from habit and suggestion, as children. If these middle-aged men should move to another part of the country they would be compelled to stand upon their own feet, and would be regarded as men among men. They would be called Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Brown, instead of diminutive and pet names; and, what is better, they would regard themselves as men. This would be a wholesome and stimulating suggestion. Hence Horace Greeley's advice to young men, to "Go West," would prove beneficial in more ways than one.

This state of affairs is illustrated on a large scale by the Chinese life and civilization. From time immemorial the Chinese have been taught to regard themselves as children, and the emperor as the common father of all. The head of the family is the head as long as he lives and all his descendants are mere sons and daughters. When he dies he is the object of worship. This custom has tended to influence in a large measure the thought and life of China and to keep the Chinese, for untold generations, a childlike and respectful people. Whatever may come to pass under the new regime, recently established in their country, they have been, since the dawn of history, a passive people, the majority of whom have not been honored with any great measure of responsibility.

On the Farm.—Such lessons from history, written large, are as applicable in rural life as elsewhere. Cooeperation and profit-sharing are probably the key to the solution of the labor problem. Many industrial leaders in various lines, notably Mr. Henry Ford in his automobile factories in Detroit, have come to the conclusion that cooperation, or some kind of profit-sharing by the rank and file of the workers, is of mutual benefit to employer and laborer. The interest of workers must be enlisted for their own good as well as for the good of society at large. It induces the right attitude toward work on the part of the worker, and the right attitude of employer and employee toward each other. This leads to the solidarity of society and the integrity of the social bond. It tends to establish harmony and to bring contentment to both parties.

Renters.—The renter of a farm must have sufficient interest in it and in all its activities to improve it in every respect, rather than to allow it to deteriorate by getting out of it everything possible, and then leaving it, like a squeezed orange, to repeat the operation elsewhere. A farm, in order to yield its best and to increase in production and value, must be managed with care, foresight, and scientific understanding. There must be, among other things, a careful rotation of crops and the rearing of good breeds of animals of various kinds. But these things cannot be intrusted to the mere renter or the hired man who is nothing more. These are not sufficiently interested. The man who successfully manages a farm must be interested in it and in its various phases, whether he be a renter or a worker. He must be careful, watchful, industrious, intelligent, and a lover of domestic animals; otherwise the farm will go backward and the stock will not thrive and be productive of profits. The man who drives a farm to a successful issue must be a leader, and, if he is not the owner, he must cooperate with the owner in order that there may be interest, which is the great essential.

The Owner.—If the farm is operated by the owner himself and his family, there is still greater need of leadership on the part of the father and of cooperation on the part of all. Money and profits are not the only motives or the only results and rewards that come to a family in rural life. As the children grow up to adult life, both boys and girls, for their own education and development in leadership and in cooperation, should be given some share in the business, some interest which they can call their own, and whose success and increase will depend on their attention, care, and industry. That father is a wise leader who can enlist the active cooperation of all his family for the good of each and of all. Such leadership and cooperation are the best forms and means of education, and lead inevitably to good citizenship. How often do we see a grasping, churlish father whose leadership is maintained by fear and force and whose family fade away, one by one, as they come to adolescence. There is no cementing force in such a household, and the centrifugal forces which take the place of true leadership and cordial cooperation soon do their work.

The Teacher as a Leader.—We have already spoken of the teacher as the natural leader of the activities of a social center, or of a community. In such situations the teacher should be a real leader, not one who wishes or attempts to be the direct and actual leader in every activity, but one "who gets things done" through the secondary leadership of a score or more of men, boys, and girls. The leader in a consolidated district, or social center, who should attempt to bring all the glory upon himself by immediate leadership would be like the teacher who insists on doing all the reciting for his pupils. That would be a false and short-lived leadership. Hence the teacher who is a true leader will keep himself somewhat in the background while, at the same time, he is the hidden mainspring, the power behind the throne. "It is the highest art to conceal art." Fitch, in his lectures on teaching, says that the teacher and the leader should "keep the machinery in the background." The teacher should start things going by suggestion and keep them going by his presence, his attitude, and his silent participation.

Too much participation and direction are fatal to the active cooperation and secondary leadership of others. Hence the teacher will bring about, in his own good time and way, the organization of a baseball team under the direction of a captain chosen by the boys. The choice, it is true, may probably be inspired by the teacher. The same would take place in regard to every game, sport, or activity, mental, social, or physical, in the community. The danger always is that the initial leader may become too dominant. It is hard on flesh and blood to resist the temptation to be lionized. But it is incomparably better to have partial or almost total failures under self-government than to be governed by a benevolent and beneficent autocrat. And so it is much better that boys and girls work out their own salvation under leaders of their own choice, than to be told to organize, and to do thus and so. It requires a rare power of self-control in a real leader to be compelled to witness only partial success and crude performance under secondary leaders groping toward success, and still be silent and patient. But this is the true process of education—self-activity and self-government.

Self-activity and Self-government.—In order to develop initiative, which is the same thing, practically, as leadership, opportunity must be given for free self-activity. Children and adults alike, if they are to grow, must be induced to do. It is always better to go ahead and blunder than to stand still for fear of blundering. Many kind mothers fondly wish—and frequently attempt to enforce their wish—that children should learn how to swim without going into the water. Children see the folly of this and, in order not to disturb the calm and peace of the household, slip away to a neighboring creek or swimming-hole, for which they ever after retain the most cherished memories. In later years when all danger is over these grown-up children smilingly and jokingly reveal the mysteries of the trick! Children cannot learn to climb trees without climbing trees, or to ride calves and colts without the real animals. Some chances must be taken by parents and guardians, and more chances are usually taken by children than their guardians ever hear of. Accidents will happen, it is true, but in the wise provision of Mother Nature the world moves on through these persistent and instinctive self-activities.

Self-activity is manifested on a larger scale in society and among nations and peoples. Civilization is brought about through self-activity and cooperation. It were better for the Filipinos to civilize themselves as much as possible than that we impose civilization upon them. It is better that Mexico bring peace into her own household, than that we take the leadership and enforce order among her people. When the Irish captain said to his soldiers, "If you don't obey willingly I'll make you obey willingly," he fused into one the military and the truly civic and educational conceptions. An individual or a nation must energize from within outward in order to truly express itself and thus develop in the best sense. Hence in any community the development of self-expression, self-activity, and cooperation under true leadership is conducive to the highest type of individuality and of citizenship.

Taking Laws upon One's Self.—It is under proper leadership and cooperation that children and young people are induced to take laws upon themselves. It is always a joy to a parent or a teacher when a pupil expresses himself with some emotion to the effect that such and such a deed is an "outrage," or "fine" as the case may be. It is an indication that he has adopted a life principle which he means to live by, and that it has been made his own to such an extent that he expresses and commits himself upon it with such feeling. Moralization consists in just this process—the taking upon one's self of a bundle of good life principles. Under the right kind of leadership and cooperation this moralizing process grows most satisfactorily. Children then take upon themselves laws and become self-governing and law-abiding.

An Educational Column.—One of the best means of creating an atmosphere and spirit of education and culture in a community is to conduct an "educational column" in the local newspaper. The teacher as a real leader in the community could furnish the matter for such a column once every two weeks or once a month, and, before long, if he is the leader we speak of, the people will begin to look eagerly for this column; they will turn to it first on receiving their paper. Here items of interest on almost any subject might be discussed. The column need not be limited narrowly to technically educational topics. The author of such a column could thus create and build up in a community the right kind of traditions and a good spirit, tone, and temper generally. His influence would be potent outside the schoolroom and he would have in his power the shaping and the guiding of the social, or community mind. It is wonderful what can be done in this way by a prudent, intelligent, and interesting writer. The community soon will wish, after the column has been read through, that he had written more. This would be an encouraging sign.

All Along the Educational Line.—The kind of leadership and cooperation indicated in this chapter should be exemplified through the entire common-school system. It should obtain between the state superintendent and the county superintendents; between the county superintendents and their deputies, or assistants on the one hand and the principals of schools on the other; between principals and teachers; and between teachers and pupils. It should exist between all of these officials and the people variously organized for social and educational betterment. Then there would be a "long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together" for the solution of the problems of rural life and the rural school.



CHAPTER XIII

THE FARMER AND HIS HOME

Farming in the Past.—In the past, successful farming was easier than it is at present or is destined to be in the future. In the prairie regions of the great central West, the virgin and fertile soil, the large acreage of easy cultivation, and the good prices made success inevitable. Indeed, these conditions were thrust upon the fortunate farmer.

But those days are passed. Increased population is reducing the acreage and cultivation, while it is eliminating the surplus fertility; competition and social and economic pressure are reducing the margin of profits. Thrift, good management, and brains are becoming increasingly important factors in successful farming.

Old Conceit and Prejudice.—Twenty years ago, when the agricultural colleges were taking shape and attempting to impress their usefulness upon the farmer, the latter was inclined to assume a derisive attitude, and to refer to their graduates as "silk-stocking farmers"—or, as one farmer put it, "theatrical" sort of fellows, meaning theoretical! In the farming of the future, however, the agricultural college and its influence are bound to play a large part. There is plenty of room on a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres for the best thinking and the most careful planning. Foresight and ingenuity of the rarest kinds are demanded there.

We wish to enumerate, and discuss in brief, some of the important points of vantage to be watched and carefully guarded, if farm life, which means rural life, is to be pleasant and profitable. If rural life is to retain its attractions and its people, it must be both of these. Let us, in this chapter, investigate some things which, although apart from the school and education in any technical sense, are truly educative, in the best sense.

Leveling Down.—One thing that sometimes impresses the close observer who is visiting in the country and in farm homes is that there exists in some rural localities a kind of "leveling down" process. People become accommodated to their rather quiet and unexciting surroundings. Their houses and barns, in the way of repairs and improvements, are allowed gradually to succumb to the tooth of time and the beating of the elements. This process is so slow and insidious that those who live in the midst of it scarcely notice the decay that is taking place. Hence it continues to grow worse until the farm premises assume an unattractive and dilapidated appearance. Weeds grow up around the buildings and along the roads, so slowly, that they remain unnoticed and hence uncut—when half an hour's work would suffice to destroy them all, to the benefit of the farm and the improvement of its appearance.

In the country it is very easy, as we have said, to "level down." People live in comparative isolation; imitation, comparison, and competition enter but little into their thoughts and occupations. In the city it is otherwise. People live in close proximity to each other, and one enterprising person can start a neighborhood movement for the improvement of lawns and houses. There is more conference, more criticism and comparison, more imitation. In the city there is a kind of compulsion to "level up."

When one moves from a large active center to a smaller one, the life tendency is to accommodate one's self to his environment; while if one moves from a small, quiet place to a larger and more active center, the life tendency is to level up. It is, of course, fortunate for us that we are able to accommodate ourselves to our environment and to derive a growing contentment from the process. The prisoner may become so content in his cell that he will shed tears when he is compelled to leave it for the outer world where he must readjust himself. The college man, over whom there came a feeling of desolation on settling down in a small country village with one store, comes eventually to find contentment, sitting on the counter or on a drygoods box, swapping stories with others like himself who have leveled down to a very circumscribed life and living. Leveling down may be accomplished without effort or thought, but eternal vigilance is the price of leveling up.

Premises Indicative.—A farmer is known by the premises he keeps, just as a person is known by the company he keeps. If a man is thrifty it will find expression in the orderliness of his place. If he is intelligent and inventive it will show in the appointments and adaptations everywhere apparent, inside and outside the buildings. If the man and his family have a fine sense of beauty and propriety, an artistic or aesthetic sense, there will be evidences of cleanliness and simple beauty everywhere—in the architecture, in the painting, in the pictures, and the carpets, in the kinds and positions of the trees and shrubbery, and in the general neatness and cleanliness of the premises. It is not so necessary that people possess much, but it is important that they make much of what they do possess. The exquisite touch on all things is analogous to the flavor of our food—it is as important for appetite and for nourishment as the food itself.

Conveniences by Labor-saving Devices.—If there are ingenuity and the power of ordinary invention in common things, system and devices for saving labor will be evident everywhere. The motor will be pressed into service in various ways. There will be a place for everything, and everything will be in its place. Head work and invention, rather than mere imitation, characterize the activities of the master.

Eggs in Several Baskets.—The day is past when success may be attained by raising wheat alone. This was, of course, in days gone by, the easiest and cheapest crop to produce. It was also the crop that brought the largest returns in the shortest time. Wheat raising was merely a summer's job, with a prospective winter's outing in some city center. It was and is still the lazy farmer's trick. It was an effort similar to that of attempting the invention of a perpetual motion machine; it was an attempt, if not to get something for nothing, at least to get something at the lowest cost, regardless of the future. But nature cannot be cheated, and the modern farmer has learned or is learning rapidly, that he must rotate and diversify his crops if he would succeed in the long run. Consequently he has begun rotation. He also replenishes his soil with nitrogen-producing legumes, along with corn planting and with summer fallowing. He engages in the raising of chickens, hogs, cattle, and horses. This diversification saves him from total loss in case of a bad year in one line. The farmer does not carry all his eggs in one basket. A bad year with one kind of crops may be a good year with some other. Diversification also makes farming an all-year occupation, every part of which is bringing a good return, instead of being a job with an income for the summer and an outlay for the winter. Live stock, sheep, hogs, and cattle grow nights, Sundays, and winters as well as at other times, and so the profits are accumulating all the year round.

The Best is the Cheapest.—The modern farmer also realizes that it takes no more, nor indeed as much, to feed and house the best kinds of animals than it does to keep the scrub varieties. In all of this there is a large field for study and investigation. But one must be interested in his animals and understand them. They should know his voice and he should know their needs and their habits. As in every other kind of work there must be a reasonable interest; otherwise it cannot be an occupation which will make life happy and successful.

Good Work.—The good farmer has the feel and the habit of good work. The really successful man in any calling or profession is he who does his work conscientiously and as well as he can. The sloven becomes the bungler, and the bungler is on the high road to failure. It is always a pleasant thing to see a man do his work well and artistically. It is the habit, the policy, the attitude of thus doing that tell in the long run. A farmer may by chance get a good crop by seeding on unplowed stubble land, but he must feel that he is engaged in the business of trying to cheat himself, like the boy playing solitaire—he does not let his right hand know what his left hand is doing. The good farmer is an artist in his work, while the poor farmer is a veritable bungler—blaming his tools and Nature herself for his failures.

Good Seed and Trees.—The successful farmer knows from study and experience that only healthy seed and healthy animals will produce good grain and strong animals after their kind. He does not try tricks on Nature. He selects the best kinds of trees and shrubbery and when these are planted he takes care of them. He realizes that what is worth sowing and planting is worth taking care of.

A Good Caretaker.—The successful and intelligent farmer keeps all his buildings, sheds, and fences in good repair and well painted. He is not penny-wise and pound-foolish. He knows the value of paint from an economic and financial point of view as well as from an artistic and aesthetic one. Knowing these things, and from an ingrained feeling and habit, he sees to it that all his machinery and tools are under good cover, and are not exposed to the gnawing tooth of the elements. This habit and attitude of the man are typical and make for success as well as for contentment. As it is not the saving of a particular dollar that makes a man thrifty or wealthy, but the habit of saving dollars; so it is not the taking care of this or that piece of machinery, or that particular building, but the habit of doing such things that leads him to success.

Family Cooeperation.—Such a man will also enlist the interest and the active cooperation of his sons and daughters by giving them property or interests which they can call their own; he will make them, in a measure, co-partners with him on the farm. There could be no better way of developing in them their best latent talents. It would result in mutual profit and, what is better, in mutual love and happiness. One of the greatest factors in a true education is to be interested, self-active, and busy toward a definite and worthy end. Under such circumstances both the parents and the children might be benefited by taking short courses in the nearest agricultural college; and a plan of giving each his turn could be worked out to the interest and profit of all the family. Such a family would become local leaders in various enterprises.

An Ideal Life.—It would seem that such an intelligent and successful farmer and his family could lead an ideal life. Every life worth while must have work, disappointments, and reverses. But work—reasonable work—is a blessing and not a curse. Work is an educator, a civilizer, a sanctifier.

A family like that described might in the course of a few years possess most of the modern conveniences. The telephone, the daily mail, the automobile, and other inventions are at hand, in the country as well as in the city. The best literature of to-day and of all time is available. Music and art are easily within reach. With these advantages any rural family may have a happy home. This is more than most people in the cities can have. More and more of our people should turn in the future to this quiet but happy and ideal country life.



CHAPTER XIV

THE RURAL RENAISSANCE

Darkest Before the Dawn.—Prior to the present widespread discussion, which it is hoped will lead to a rural renaissance, the condition and the prospects of country life and the country school looked dark and discouraging. Country life seemed to be passing into the shadow and the storm. It seemed as if the country was being not only deserted but forgotten. The urban trend, as we have seen, moved on apace. Farms were being deserted or, if cultivated at all, were passing more and more into the hands of renters. The owners were farming by proxy. This meant decreased production and impoverished soil. It meant one-crop, or small-grain farming; it meant a class of renters or tenants with only temporary homes, and hence with only a partial interest. The inevitable result would be an impoverished rural life and poor rural schools. Without a realization of the seriousness of the situation and the trend on the part of the people at large, all these conditions prevailed to a greater or less extent. The people seemed unaware of the fact that rural life was not keeping pace with the progress of the world around. In New England whole districts were practically deserted, and her abandoned farms told the tale. In Virginia and in most of the older states similar conditions existed. The people migrated either to the cities or to the newer and cheaper agricultural regions of the West.

The Awakening.—But the time came when the newer lands were not so available and when social and economic pressure forced the whole problem of rural life upon the attention of the nation. Difficulty in adjustment to surroundings always constitutes a problem, and a problem always arouses thought. When our adjustment is easy and successful it is effected largely through habit; but when it is obstructed or thwarted, thought and reason must come to the rescue. Investigation, comparison, and reflection are then drafted for a solution. This is what happened a few years ago. The whole situation, it is true, had been in mind previously, but only in a half conscious or subconscious way. It was being felt or sensed, more or less clearly, that there was something wrong, that there was a great unsupplied need, in rural life; but the thought had no definite shape. The restiveness, the restlessness, was there but no distinct and articulate voices gave utterance to any definite policy or determination. There was no clearly formulated consensus of thought as to what ought to be done. Prior to this time the thought of the people had not been focused on country life at all. The attention of the rural districts was not on themselves; they were not really self-conscious of their condition or that there was any important problem before them. But not many years ago, owing to various movements, which were both causes and effects, the whole country began to be aroused to the importance of the subjects which I have been discussing. The Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools appointed by the National Educational Association had reported the phases of the rural life problem in 1897; but many declarations and reports of that kind are necessary to stir the whole country. Hence no decisive movement, even in rural education, became noticeable for several years. But this report did much good; it not only formulated educational thought and policy in regard to the subject but it also awakened thought and discussion outside of the teaching profession.

The Agricultural Colleges.—The agricultural colleges and experimental stations in the several states had also been active for some years and had formulated a body of knowledge in regard to agricultural principles and methods. They had distributed this information widely among the farmers of the country. The latter, at first, looked askance at these colleges and their propaganda, and often refused to accept their suggestions and advice on the ground that it was "mere theory," and that farmers could not be taught practical agriculture by mere "book men" and "theorizers." The practical man often despises theory, not realizing that practice without theory is usually blind. But the growing science of agriculture was working like a leaven for the improvement of farm life in all its phases, and to-day the agricultural colleges and experiment stations are the well-springs of information for practical farmers everywhere. Bulletins of information are published and distributed regularly, and farmers are being brought into closer and closer touch with these institutions.

Conventions.—During this awakening period, conventions of various kinds are held, which give the farmers an opportunity to hear and to participate in discussions pertaining to the problems with which they are wrestling. They come together in district, county, or state conventions, and the result has been that a class consciousness, an esprit de corps, is being developed. Farmers hear and see bigger and better things; their world is enlarged and their minds are stimulated; they are induced to think in larger units. Thought, like water, seeks its level, and in conventions of this kind the individual "levels up." He goes home inspired to do better and greater things, and spreads the new gospel among his neighbors. At the conventions he hears a variety of topics discussed, including good roads, house plans, sanitation, schools, and others too numerous to mention.

Other Awakening Agencies.—The agricultural paper, which practically every farmer takes and which every farmer should take, brings to the farm home each week the most modern findings on all phases of country life. The rural free delivery and the parcel post bring the daily mail to the farmer's door. The rural telephone is becoming general, and also the automobile and other rapid and convenient modes of communication and transportation. All these things have helped to develop a clearer consciousness of country life, its problems and its needs.

The Farmer in Politics.—Add to all the foregoing considerations the fact that, in every state legislature and in Congress, the number of rural representatives is constantly increasing, and we see clearly that the country districts are awakening to a realization not only of their needs but of their rights. All of these conditions have helped to turn the eyes of the whole people, in state and nation, to long neglected problems.

The National Commission.—So the various agencies and factors enumerated above and others besides, all working more or less consciously and all conspiring together, finally resulted in the appointment of a National Commission on Rural Life, the results and findings of which were made the subject of a special message from the president to Congress in 1909. The report of the commission was issued from the Government Printing Office in Washington as Document Number 705, and should be read by every farmer in the country. This commission was the resultant of many forces exerted around family firesides, in the schoolroom, in the press, on the platform, in conventions, in legislatures, and in the halls of Congress. For the first time in this country, the conditions and possibilities of rural life were made the subjects of investigation and report to a national body. Thus the Commission became thenceforth a potent cause of the attention and impetus since given to the problems we are discussing.

Mixed Farming.—In recent years, too, what may be called "scientific farming" has become a decided "movement" and is now very extensively practiced. This includes diversified farming, rotation of crops, stock raising, the breeding of improved stock, better plowing, and a host of matters connected with the farmer's occupation. Thus farming is becoming neither a job nor an avocation, but a genuine vocation, or profession. It requires for its success all the brains, all the ingenuity, all the attention and push that an intelligent man can give it; and, withal, it promises all the variety, the interest, the happiness, and the success that any profession can offer.

Now Before the Country.—The movement in behalf of a richer rural life and of better rural schools is now before the country. It is the subject of discussion everywhere. It is in the limelight; the literature on the subject is voluminous; books without number, on all phases of the subject, are coming from the press. Educational papers and magazines, and even the lay press, are devoting unstinted space to discussions on country life and the rural school. The country has the whole question "on the run," with a fair prospect of an early capture. On pages 182-186 we give a bibliography of a small portion of the literature on these questions which has come out recently.

Educational Extension.—Within the last few years the movement known as "extension work," connected with the educational institutions, has had a rapid growth. The state universities, agricultural colleges, and normal schools in almost every state are doing their utmost to carry instruction and education in a variety of forms to communities beyond their walls. They are vying with each other in their extension departments, in extra-mural service of every possible kind. In many places institutions are even furnishing musical performances and other forms of entertainment at cost, in competition with the private bureaus, thus saving communities the profits of the bureau and the expense of the middlemen. The University of Wisconsin has been in recent years the leader in this extension work. Minnesota, and most of the central and western states are active in the campaign of carrying education and culture to outlying communities. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota have recently pooled their forces for some exchange of service in extension work.

Library Extension Work.—In Wisconsin, the state library is under the direction of the university extension department, and collections of books, which may be retained for a definite length of time, may be secured by any town or community in the state. In this way a library may do excellent service.

Some Froth.—No doubt some froth will be produced by the stirring of the waters which are moving in some places with whirlpool rapidity. There is considerable sound and fury, no doubt, in the discussions and in the things attempted in these uplifting movements. There is a considerable amount of smoke in proportion to the fire beneath. But, even with the froth, the noise, and the smoke, there is some latent power, some energy, beneath and behind it all. The main thing is that the power, the energy, the thought, the enthusiasm of the nation have been started on the right way. We can discount and overlook the vagaries and foibles which will undoubtedly play around the outskirts of the movement. Every new movement shows similar phenomena. Much will be said, written, and done which is mere surface display. But while these may do little good, they will do no harm and are indicative of the inner and vital determination of the people to confront the difficulties.

Thought and Attitude.—Our thought and our attitude make any kind of work or any kind of position desirable and worthy, or the reverse. Many vicious leaders poison the minds of workers and make them dissatisfied with their work and their employers by suggesting a wrong spirit and attitude. We do not advocate passive submission to wrongs; nor on the other hand do we think that the interests of the laborer are to be subserved by infusing into his mind jealousy and envy and discontent with his lot.

A young man goes through the practice and games of football, enduring exertion and pain which he would not allow any other person to force upon him; at the same time, he has a song in his heart. On a camping trip a person will submit to rigors and privations which he would think intolerable at home. Whatever is socially fashionable is done with pleasure; the mind is the great factor. If one is interested in his work, it is pleasant—indeed more enjoyable than play; but if there is no interest it is all drudgery and pain. The attitude, the motive, the will make all the difference in the world. In the rural renaissance, farm life may become more and more fashionable. This is by no means impossible. Country life has no such rigors as the football field or the outing in the wilds. When as a people we have passed from the sensuous and erotic wave on the crest of which we seem at present to be carried along, we can with profit, intellectually, morally, socially, and physically, "go forth under the open sky and list to Nature's teachings." Everything except the present glare of excitement beckons back to the land, back to the country. Whether as a people we shall effectively check the urban trend, will, in the not distant future, test the self-control, the foresight, the wisdom, and the character of the manhood and womanhood of this nation.



CHAPTER XV

A GOOD PLACE AFTER ALL

Not Pessimistic.—Some of the early chapters of this book may have left the impression that a restoration, or rejuvenation, of country life, such as will reverse the urban trend and make rural life the more attractive by comparison, is difficult if not impossible. It is difficult we grant; but we do not wish to leave the impression that such is improbable, much less impossible. We were simply facing the truth on the dark, or negative, side, and were attempting to give reasons for conditions and facts which have been everywhere apparent. If there are two sides to a question both should be presented as they really are. It is always as useless and as wrong to minimize as it is to exaggerate, and we were simply accounting for facts.

We did not mean that there is no hope. The first essential in the solution of any problem or in the improvement of any condition is to get the condition clearly and accurately in mind—to conceive it exactly as it is.

There is no doubt that the city, with its material splendor and its social life, has attractions; but if we turn to rural life, we shall find, if we go below the surface of human nature, the strongest appeals to our deeper and more abiding interests. The surface of things and the present moment are near to us, and powerful in the way of motivation. These, however, are the aspects of human environment which appeal most strongly to the child, to the savage, and to the uneducated person. If we are optimists, believing that the race is progressing, and that our own people and country are progressing as rapidly as or more rapidly than any other, we must believe that motives which appeal to our deeper, saner, and more disciplined nature will win out in the long run. Let us see, then, what some of the appeals to this saner stratum of human nature, in behalf of rural life, are.

Fewer Hours of Labor than Formerly.—The hours of labor have been reduced everywhere. In the olden time labor was done by slaves or serfs, and neither their bodies nor their time was their own. They labored when, where, and as long as their masters dictated. Even a generation ago there was little said, and there was no uniformity, as to how long a working-man should labor. In busy seasons or on important pieces of work, he labored as long as the light of day permitted. It was from sun to sun, and often long after the sun had disappeared from the western horizon. Sixteen hours was no uncommon day for him. Under such conditions there was no room for mental, social, or spiritual advancement. Later, the hours were reduced to a maximum of fourteen. This proved to be so satisfactory that laws were passed providing for a further decrease in hours. This standardizing of the day of labor, while not general in the country, had its effect. The twelve-hour day, while still long, was a decided betterment over the sixteen-hour day. There was beginning to be a little possible margin for social, mental, and recreational activity. But the twelve-hour day must inevitably get the better of the human system and of the spirit of man. It is too long and too steady a grind, and habit and long hours soon tell their story. They inevitably lead to the condition of the "man with the hoe."

As improvements in machinery were perfected and inventions of all kinds multiplied and spread both in the factory and on the farm, the ten-hour day was ushered in. It was inevitable in this age of inventions and improvements. Capital had these inventions and improvements in its possession and a laboring man could now do twice as much with the same labor as formerly. But society as a whole could not assent to the theory and the practice that the capitalist, the owner of the machines, should reap all the advantages; and so, while the hours were still further reduced, the wages were increased, thus more nearly equalizing the benefits accruing to employer and employed. With the aid of inventions the worker, on the average, can do more in the short day of eight or ten hours than he did formerly in the sixteen-hour day. It is not contended, however, that every laborer actually does this. This phase of the question is a large factor in the labor problem. But from the point of view of the average man and of society, labor with the aid of machinery can produce probably twice as much as it produced formerly without that aid. This fact has had great influence upon industrial life everywhere, and makes for increased opportunities and growth.

The Mental Factor Growing.—The trend alluded to above implies that the mental factor is growing larger and larger in occupations of all kinds. Success is becoming more and more dependent on knowledge, ingenuity, prudence, and foresight. Especially is this true on the farm. There is scarcely any calling that demands or can make use of such varied talents. All fields of knowledge may be drawn upon and utilized, from the weather signals to the most recent findings and conclusions of science and philosophy. As the hours of labor both in the factory and on the farm are shortened still more—as is possible—the hours of study, of play, and of social converse will be lengthened. Indeed this is one of the by-problems of civilization and progress—to see that leisure hours are profitably spent for the welfare of the individual. In any event, the prospect of reasonable hours and of social and cultural opportunities in rural life is growing from day to day. The intelligent man with modern machinery and ordinary capital, if he has made some scientific study of agriculture, need have no fear of not living a successful and happy life on the farm. A knowledge of his calling in all its aspects, with the aid of modern machinery, and with sobriety, thrift, and industry, will bring a kind of life to both adults and children that the crowded factory and tenements and the tinsel show of the city cannot give. But one must be willing to forego the social and physical display of the surface of things and to choose the better and more substantial part. If we are a people that can do this there is hope for an early and satisfactory solution of the problems of rural life.

The Bright Side of Old-time Country Life.—Even in the country life of twenty-five to fifty years ago, there was a bright and happy side. It was not all dark, and, in its influence for training the youth to a strong manhood, we shall probably not look upon its like again. If strength and welfare rather than pleasure are the chief end of life, many of the experiences which were undoubtedly hardships were blessings in disguise. Every boy had his chores and every girl her household duties to perform. The cows had to be brought home in the evening from the prairie or the woods; they had to be milked and cared for; calves and hogs had to be fed; horses had to be cared for both evening and morning; barns, stables, and sheds had to be looked after. All the animals of the farm, including the domestic fowls, such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys, became our friends and each was individually known.

Though all the duties of farm life had to be done honestly and well, nevertheless the farmer's boy found time to go fishing and hunting, skating, coasting, and trapping. He learned the ways and the habits of beasts, birds, and fish. He observed the squirrels garnering their winter supply in the fall. He watched the shrewd pocket gopher as it came up and deposited the contents of its cheek pockets upon the pile of fresh dirt beside his hole. He learned how to trap the muskrat, and woe to the raccoon that was discovered stealing the corn, for it was tracked and treed even at midnight. The boy's eyes occasionally caught sight of a red fox or of a deer; and the call of the dove, the drum of the pheasant, the welcome "whip-poor-will" and the "to-whit, to-whit, to-who" of the owl were familiar sounds. He ranged the prairie and the woods; he climbed trees for nuts and for distant views, and knew every hill, valley, and stream for miles and miles around. Even his daily and regular work was of a large and varied kind. It was not like the making of one tenth of a pin, which has a strong tendency to reduce the worker to one tenth of a man.

On the farm one usually begins and finishes a piece of work whether it be a hay-rack or a barn; he sees it through—the whole of it receives expression in him. It is his piece of work and it faces him as he has to face it. The tendency is for both to be "honest." If there were so much brightness and variety in days gone by, when all work was done by hand, how much better the situation can be now and in the future, when inventions and machines have come to the rescue of the laborer, and when the hours of toil have been so materially shortened!

The Larger Environment.—There is no doubt that a large and varied environment is conducive to the growth of a strong and active personality. If one has to adjust himself at every turn to something new, it will lead to self-activity and initiative, to ingenuity and aggressiveness. If tadpoles are reared in jars of different sizes, the growth and size of each will vary with the size of the vessel, the smallest jar growing the smallest tadpole, and the largest jar the largest tadpole. It is fighting against the laws of fate to attempt to rear strong personalities in a "flat" or even in a fifty-foot lot. They need the range of the prairies, the hills, and the woods. Shakespeare was born and brought up in one of the richest and most stimulating environments, natural and social, in the world; and this, no doubt, had much to do with his matchless ability to express himself on all phases of nature and of mind. Large and varied influences, while they do not compel, at least tend to produce, large minds; for they leave with us infinite impressions and induce correspondingly varied reactions and experiences. Under such conditions a child is reacting continually and thus becoming active and efficient. He is challenged at every turn, and if stumbling blocks become stepping stones, the process is the very best kind of education.

Games.—There are excellent opportunities in the country for all kinds of games, for there ample room and many incentives to activity present themselves. In the city, children are often content with seeing experts and professionals give performances or "stunts," while they, themselves, remain passive. In the country there are not so many attractions and distractions—so many dazzling and overwhelmingly "superior" things—that children may not be easily induced to "get into the game" themselves. I fear that in recent years owing to imitation of the city and its life, play and games in the country have become somewhat obsolete. There needs to be a renaissance in this field. We have been offered everywhere in recent years so much of what might be called the "finished product" that the children are content merely to sit around as spectators and watch others give the performances.

As in the case of the rural school the play instincts of country children must be awakened again in behalf of rural life in general. There are scores of games and sports, from marbles to football, which should receive attention. In recent years the social mind, in all sports, seems to be directed to the result, the winning or losing, instead of to the game, as a game, and the fun of it all. True sportsmanship should be revived and cultivated. There is no reason why there should not be found in every neighborhood, and especially at every school center, all kinds of plays and games, each in its own time and place and having its own patronage—marbles, tops, swings, horseshoes, "I spy," anti-over, pull-away, prisoner's base, tennis, croquet, volley ball, basketball, skating, coasting, skiing, baseball, and football. Horizontal bars, turning pole, and other apparatus should be provided in every playground. In the social centers, if the boys can be organized as Boy Scouts, and the girls as Camp-Fire Girls, good results will ensue.

Many more plays and games will suggest themselves, and those for girls should be encouraged as well as those for boys. All the aspects of rural life can thus be made most enjoyable. It is often well to introduce and cultivate one game at a time, letting it run its course, something like a fever, and then, at the psychological moment, introduce and try out another. To introduce too many at one time would not afford an opportunity for children to experience the rise and fall of a wave of enthusiasm on any one, and this is quite important. Usually some direction should be given to play, but this direction should not be suppressive, and should be given by a leader who understands and sympathizes with child nature.

Inventiveness in Rural Life.—In the city, where everything is manufactured or sold ready-made, a person simply goes to the store and buys whatever he needs. In the country this cannot be done, and one is driven by sheer necessity to devise ways and means of supplying his needs, himself. He simply has to invent or devise a remedy. Necessity is the mother of invention.

It is really better for boys and girls in the country if their parents are compelled to be frugal and economical. If children get anything and everything they wish, merely for the asking, they are undone; they become weak for lack of self-exertion, self-expression, and invention; they become dissatisfied if everything is not coming their way from others. They become selfish and careless. Having tasted of the best, merely for the asking, they become dissatisfied with everything except the best. This is the dominant tendency in the city and wherever parents are foolish enough to satisfy the child's every whim. If the parents carry the child in this manner, the child, in later years, will have weak legs and the parents will have weak backs. Moreover, love and respect move in the direction of activity, and if everything comes the child's way there will be little love, except "cupboard love," going the other way.

It is unfortunate for children to experience the best too early in life; there is then no room for growth and development. It was Professor James who said that the best doll he ever saw was a home-made rag doll; it left sufficient room for the play of the imagination. With the perfect, factory-made doll there is nothing more for the imagination to do; it is complete, but it is not the little girl who has completed it. In the country, men and women, boys and girls are induced to begin and complete all kinds of things. Many things have to be made outright and most things have to be repaired on the farm. Challenges of this kind to inventiveness and activity are outstanding all the time. Sleds, both large and small, wheelbarrows and hay racks, sheds, granaries, and barns are both made and repaired. But in all there is no mad rush. It is not as it is in the factory or in the sawmill. One is not reduced to the instantaneous reactions of an automaton; he has time to breathe and to think. One can act like a free man rather than like a machine. There is room for thought and for invention.

Activity Rather than Passivity.—In this infinite variety of stimulation and response, the youth is induced to become active rather than passive. While he is not pushed unduly, he is reasonably active during all his waking hours, and the habit of activity, of doing, is ingrained. This is closely related to character and morality, to thrift and success. Such a person is more likely to be a creditor than a debtor to society. In this respect the country and the farm have been the salvation of many a youth.

In the city many children have no regular employment; they have no chores to do and no regular occupation. Evenings and vacations find them on the streets. Then Satan always finds mischief for idle hands to do. These children become passive except under the impulses of instinct or of mischievous ideas; they have no regular and systematic work to do; everything is done for them. During their early years habits of idleness, of passive receptivity, of mischief, and possibly of crime, are ingrained. And though this kind of life may be more pleasurable, in a low sense, than the active life of the country, there can be no doubt as to which is the more wholesome and strengthening.

Child Labor.—A good child-labor law is absolutely essential to the welfare of the children for whom it has been enacted; nevertheless, there has been a great omission in not providing that idle children shall do some work. Even in large cities there are probably more children who do not work enough than there are who are made to work too hard. In our zeal we sometimes forbid children to work, when some work would be the very best thing for them. It is true that on the farm as well as in the factory ignorant and mercenary parents make dollars out of the sweat of their children, when these should be going to school or engaged in physical and mental recreation and development. It is unfortunate that society is not able to see to it, that, as in Plato's Republic, every child and every person engage in the work or study for which he is best fitted, and to the extent that is best for him. Then the hundreds of thousands of children who are idling would be engaged in some kind of occupation, and those who are working too hard would be given lighter tasks; and all would have the privilege of an appropriate education.

The Finest Life on Earth.—In view of such circumstances and opportunities, life in the country should be, and could be made, the best and most complete life possible to a human being. Country life is the best cradle of the race. To have a good home and rear a family in the heart of a great city is well-nigh impossible for the average laboring man. The struggle for existence is too fierce and the opportunity, in childhood and youth, for self-expression and initiative is too meager. The environment is too vast, complex, and overwhelming, with nothing worth while for the child to do. "Individuals may stand, but generations will slip" on such an inclined plane of life. From this point of view it can be truly said, we think, that "God made the country while man made the town."

The real, vital possibilities of country life are without number. The surface attractions of the city are most alluring. A focusing of the public mind upon the problem, its pros and cons, will, it is to be hoped, turn the scales without delay in favor of country life and its substantial benefits.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following bibliography is submitted as affording information and suggestive helps to those who are interested in the problems herein discussed. Although the books and references have been selected with care, it is not to be inferred that the list includes any considerable portion of the vast and still increasing output of literature in this field of investigation. But it will prove to be a fairly comprehensive list from which the reader may select such articles or books as make a favorable appeal to him. The works referred to are all of recent date, and express the current trend of thought upon the problems discussed in this little volume.

BOOKS

American Academy of Political and Social Science. Philadelphia, 1912. Vol. XL, No. 129, "Country Life": Butterfield, "Rural Sociology as a College Discipline"; Cance, "Immigrant Rural Communities"; Carver, "Changes in Country Population"; Coulter, "Agricultural Laborers"; Davenport, "Scientific Farming"; Dixon, "Rural Home"; Eyerly, "Cooeperative Movements among Farmers"; Foght, "The Country School"; Gillette, "Conditions and Needs of Country Life"; Gray, "Southern Agriculture"; Hartman, "Village Problems"; Hamilton, "Agricultural Fairs"; Henderson, "Rural Police"; Hibbard, "Farm Tendency"; Kates, "Rural Conferences"; Lewis, "Tramp Problem"; Marquis, "The Press"; Mumford, "Education for Agriculture"; Parker, "Good Roads"; Pearson, "Chautauquas"; Roberts and Israel, "Y.M.C.A."; Scudder, "Rural Recreation"; True, "The Department of Agriculture"; Van Norman, "Conveniences"; Watrous, "Civic Art"; Washington, B. T., "The Rural Negro Community"; Wilson, "Social Life"; Wells, "Rural Church".

Bailey, L. H.: The Country Life Movement in the U. S. (1912) 220 pp. Macmillan Co., New York. Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. 4 vols. $20.00. Macmillan Co., New York. The State and the Farmer. (1911) 177 pp. Macmillan Co., New York. The Training of Farmers. (1909) 263 pp. Century Co., New York.

Betts, George H.: New Ideals in Rural Schools. (1913) 127 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.

Brown, H. A.: Readjustment of a Rural High School to the Needs of a Community. (1912) Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 20.

Buell, Jennie: One Woman's Work for Farm Women. 50c. Whitcomb & Barrows, Boston.

Burnham, Ernest: Two Types of Rural Schools. (1912) 129 pp. Teachers College, Columbia, New York.

Butterfield, K. L.: Chapters in Rural Progress. $1.00. Univ. of Chicago Press. The Country Church and the Rural Problem. (1911) 165 pp. Univ. of Chicago Press.

Carney, Mabel: Country Life and the Country School. (1912) 405 pp. Row, Peterson & Co., Chicago.

Conference on Rural Education—Proceedings. (1913) 45 pp. Wright & Potter, Boston.

Coulter, John Lee: Cooeperation Among Farmers. (1911) 75c. Sturgis & Walton Co., New York.

Cubberly, E. P.: The Improvement of the Rural School. (1912) 75 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. Rural Life and Education. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.

Curtis, Henry S.: Play and Recreation for the Open Country. (1914) 265 pp. Ginn & Co., Boston.

Davenport, Mrs. E.: Possibilities of the Country Home. (Bulletin.) University of Illinois, Urbana.

Dodd, Helen C.: The Healthful Farm House; by a Farmer's Wife. (1911) 69 pp. Whitcomb & Barrows, New York.

Eggleston, J. D., and Bruere, R. W.: The Work of the Rural School. (1913) 287 pp. Harpers.

Fiske, G. W.: The Challenge of the Country. (1912) 283 pp. Association Press, New York.

Foght, H. W.: The American Rural School. (1910) 361 pp. Macmillan Co., New York.

F. T.: The Country School of To-morrow. (1913) 15 pp. General Education Board, New York.

Gillette, J. M.: Constructive Rural Sociology. (1913) 301 pp. Sturgis & Walton, New York.

Haggard, H. R.: Rural Denmark and its Lessons. (1911) $2.25. Longmans, Green & Co., New York.

Hutchinson, F. K.: Our Country Life. (1912) 316 pp. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago.

Kern, O. J.: Among Country Schools. (1906) 366 pp. Ginn & Co., Boston.

Macdonald, N. C.: The Consolidation of Rural Schools in North Dakota. (1913) 35 pp. State Board of Education, Bismarck, N. D.

McKeever, Wm. A.: Farm Boys and Girls. (1912) 326 pp. Macmillan Co., New York.

Monahan, A. C.: The Status of Rural Education in the U. S. Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C.

Page, L. W.: Roads, Paths, and Bridges. (1912) $1.00. Sturgis & Walton Co., New York.

Pennsylvania Rural Progress Association: Proceedings, Rural Life Conference. (1912) 227 pp. Julius Smith, Secretary, Pennsdale, Pa.

Plunkett, Sir Horace C.: Rural Problem in the U. S. (1910) 174 pp.

Report of National Commission on Rural Life. Doc. No. 705. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

Schmidt, C. C.: Consolidation of Schools. University of North Dakota.

Seerley, H. H.: The Country School. (1913) 218 pp. Scribner's Sons, New York. Rural School Education. (1912) 84 pp. University of Texas.

Wray, Angelina: Jean Mitchell's School. $1.00. Public School Pub. Co., Bloomington, Ind.

ARTICLES IN REPORTS AND PERIODICALS

Allman, L. J.: Teachers for Rural Schools. Report, N. E. A. (1910) pp. 280 and 575.

Bailey, L. H.: Why Boys Leave the Farm. Century, 72: 410-16 (July, 1906).

Barnes, F. R.: Present Defects in the Rural Schools. Report N. D. E. A. (1909) pp. 259-266.

Bruere, Martha Bensley: The Farmer and His Wife. Good Housekeeping Mag., June, 1914, p. 820, New York.

Conference for Education in the South; Proceedings, 1909. Foster, Webb, and Parkes, Nashville, Tenn.

Consolidation: Drop a postal card to Superintendents of Public Instruction for latest printed matter.

Cotton, F. A.: Country Life and the Country School. School and Home Education, 28:90-94 (Nov., 1908).

Coulter, J. C.: Cooeperative Farming. World's Work, 23: 59-63 (Nov., 1911).

County Supervision. Report N.E.A. 1908, p. 252.

Cubberly, E. P.: Politics and the Country School Problem. Educ. Review, 47:10-21 (Jan., 1914).

Gillette, J. M.: The Drift to the City. Am. Journal of Sociology, 16:645-67 (Mar., 1911).

Hibbard, B. H.: Tenancy in the North Central States. Quar. Journal of Economics, 25:710-29 (Aug., 1911).

Hill, J. J.: What We Must Do to be Fed. World's Work, 19: 12226-54 (Nov., 1909).

McClure, D. E.: Education of Country Children for the Farm. Education, 26:65-70 (Oct., 1905).

Miller, E. E.: Factors in the Re-making of Country Life. Forum, 48:354-62 (Sept., 1912).

Passing of the Man With the Hoe. World's Work, 20: 13246-58 (Aug., 1910).

Rural Life and Rural Education. Report N. E. A. 1912, pp. 281-313.

Supervision: Index of N. E. A. Reports For County. Report of 1908, pp. 252-71.

Wells, George F.: Is an Organized Country Life Movement Possible? Survey, 29:449-56 (Jan. 4, 1913).



INDEX

Activity and passivity, 179

Affiliation, 112

Agricultural colleges, 46, 162

Apperception mass, 101

Assistant county superintendent, 134

Attendance in consolidated school, 73

Automobile parties, 124

"Back to the country," 9

Best, the—the cheapest, 157

Boarding place, 62

Boy Scouts, 177

Bright side of rural life, 173

Camp-Fire Girls, 177

Character, 83

Child labor, 180

China, 107, 144

Chores, 10

Cities, population of, 19; churches of, 23; conveniences in, 20, 21; schools of, 22

Commission, Rural, 9, 164

Committee of Twelve, 162

Community activities, 115

Consolidation, 37, 60, 63, 65, 75; cost, 70; difficulties, 64; effects of, 71, 72, 73, 74; process, 63; when not needed, 64

Conventions, 163

Cooeperation, 139, 140, 145, 158

County superintendence, 129

Course of study, 108

Curriculum in rural schools, 100-113

Dancing, 120

Debates, 116

District system, 64

Diversification in farming, 156, 165

Dramatic performances, 118

Driver, 69

Education, 77; of teachers, 84; value of, 24

Educational centers, 23; column in press, 150

Environment, 105, 175

Examination of schools, 135

Exhibits, school, 122

Experience, teaching, 85

Extension work, 166

Farmer, the, and his home, 152; and his politics, 164

Forum, a rural, 123

Games, 121, 176

Grading, 71

Harvesting machinery, 38-41

High schools, progress in, 47

Higher education, progress in, 44

Hopkins, Mark, 34, 35, 78

Hours of labor, 170

Ideal life, 159

Imitation, 18, 100, 101

Individual work, 109

Inseparables, the three, 88, 91, 126

Interpreting core, 101

Inventiveness in rural life, 177-179

Kindness, too much, 80

Knots, untying, 70

Labor, hours of, 170

Labor-saving devices, 155

Laws, self-imposed, 150

Leadership, 62, 114, 139, 147

Lectures, 118

Leveling process, 153, 154

Library extension, 166

Literary society, 115

Literature, urbanized, 22

Machinery, caring for, 158

Married teachers, 75

Men needed in teaching, 53, 93

Mental factor, 172

Mixed farming, 165

"Mode," the, 88, 89

Model rural school, 61

Moving pictures, 120

Muensterberg, Prof. H., 92

Murphy, Francis, 141

Music, 119

Normal schools, 45

Ocean travel, 43

Organization, 26, 125

"Overflow of instruction," 111

Physical soundness, 82, 122

Plant, the educational, 34, 35, 77

Problem, rural, 24, 36, 37, 57, 131

Profession, 57, 90

Profit-sharing, 145

Progress, lines of, 38-48

Punctuality, 73

Reaping machines, 14, 38

Renaissance, rural, 160

Responsibility, 142

Retired farmers, 23

Retirement fund, 94

Roads, better, 75

Routine, 11

Rural Commission, 9, 164

Rural schools, 49; backward, 15, 47, 49; buildings, 28; course of study for, 108; good, 36, 61; interior, 31; no progress in, 50; organization, 26; ventilation of, 29

Rural teachers, 102; courses for, 59, 103

Salaries, 87, 96, 97

School board, 98

Scientific farming, 165; spirit, 107

Self-activity, 148, 149, 150

Social center, 74, 114, 137; cost of, 124, 126; as business center, 125

Spelling school, 117

Sports, 121

Standards, 54, 58, 90; to be raised, 92

Steam engine, 42

Storm, A. V., 53

Supervision, 55, 60, 74, 127, 129; city, 132; county, 129, 131; importance of, 127; nominal, 129; overdone, 128; purpose of, 132

Surroundings, effect of, on children, 30, 34

Teacher, 35, 75, 77, 79, 87, 113; chief factor, 34; leader, 62, 114, 147; courses for, 59, 83, 103

Terms, school, 55, 109

Textbook teaching, 104

Township system, 65, 66

Transportation of pupils, 67, 69

Urban trend, 19

Urbanized literature, 22

Value of education, 24

Ventilation, 29

Wages, 90, 96

Waste land, 160

Winter work, 14

Women's condition, 16

Work, value of, 10, 14, 157, 180; city, 23; farm, 12

Yearly routine, 11

THE END