tain forms of animal life, such as the larvae on the tomatoes and turnips. They also became very observant of weather conditions. This work proved so attractive that they were glad to spend an extra hour of each pleasant afternoon in working out of doors. Among other forms of industrial work carried on in this Model School, with the assistance and cooperation of the homes, are sewing, weaving, carpentering, hammock-making, basket-making, and hat-making. The purchase of the raw material for these things was made with a portion of the money obtained from the sale of garden products. The hammocks, baskets, etc., are sold to summer visitors and others, and the children have thus grown in the sense of their own power to do something that has a commercial value. A large part of this work is conducted outside school hours, and adds to the interest of the children in their work. One of the younger classes has been for some time at work upon a play house, which has been built by the pupils of the school and for which they are making furniture and household utensils in miniature. At the same time they are learning to contrast the modes of life in this country with the modes of life in other lands. Advantages of the Village. You village people are to be congratulated that your life and conditions, or what may be your conditions, are so much nearer the ideal life than ours who live in cities. We have some advantages over you, but we have harder problems to solve; you have more advantages over us and fewer problems to solve; but be they many or few, difficult or easy, you will solve them in due time if you faint not, and your village will become more distinctly conscious of a community life, and the truth will grow on you that the welfare of all is the concern of each. It is Tennyson's bold declaration that if he could understand the little flower in the crannied wall, roots and all, he should know what God and man is; and if you can find out what one small township or village is, all in all, your microcosm will reveal to you all sociologies and all philosophies. A village is not a little place,-the smallest hamlet has paths that lead to every corner of the world. The most obscure town is a visible image of the Kingdom of God, and its life need not be mean and dull. The study of a country community shall be our study of the universe. School Gardens in New York City. ness. Each morning has given birth to a new pleasure in the opening of another leaf or another flower. The joy and triumph of "my own achievement" has pervaded everything. Correlation. By PRIN. VAN EVRIE KILPATRICK, Public School No. 52, New York. Three Years at Public School 52, Manhattan. Unlike most schools in New York, Public School 52 is most favorably situated for school gardening. The inspiration beaming from the faces of 200 hopeful children was such as to lead the teachers of this school, in the spring of 1905, to let them loose upon an unoccupied lot about 150 feet square. The parents were first led to take an interest, and were then asked to prepare the ground, which they did willingly. The cultivation of the good will of the community has been a very important factor in the later success of this undertaking. From the outset, the children prepared their plots individually, and used tools which they brought from home. The work of the first year was, however, nearly destroyed by cattle, which broke thru the poor fences. But the teachers had watched with great interest the development of a new expression of childhood in education. They had seen a little child and a growing plant-his care for it-his love for it-his new life and intensified interest in his school work and things about him. So, out of the seeming failure of a first year, the teachers planned early for a new garden the next year. The Board of Education was induced to repair the fence and prepare the soil. The ground was laid out into beds about five feet wide and eight feet long. Every child in school who wanted a plot was given one, and the interest was such that almost every child took one. From the first the garden prospered. As early as eight o'clock in the morning the little gardeners came, and each tended his little plot. His radishes were first to appear, then lettuce, beans, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. The older children were given flower seeds. All work was performed before and after school hours, and during the noon recess. The most striking gains that the undertaking has given the school are the following: Interest in School Work. Leaves and plants were brought in the classroom for exercises in drawing. The drawing of "my plant" or "my leaf," was the source of a new and potent enthusiasm. These same plants and flowers served as material for nature study. But more suggestive than all were the compositions which told various stories of actual planting, of real growing plants, of wonderfully colored flowers, and of experiences which only little people have with real things. This exercise was surely like the upturning of a new nugget in educational methods. Knowledge. The increased knowledge which the children of course acquired concerning that greatest of all human industries-tilling the soil-was most manifest. After all, it is not quite settled yet "What knowledge is of most worth?" There is food for reflection in the proposition that there is great. danger in employing the entire school time of children with the conventional forms of language and numbers to the exclusion of nearly all the facts of and experience with natural life. Idealization of a Great Necessity. Whenever the school undertakes any activity, that activity is exalted in the estimation of its pupils and of its patrons. The school garden at Public School 52 quickened the interest in gardening at home. The very work was ennobled. "My garden" became a work as great as "my grammar lesson." Tastes were formed which surely will mean much for the future. Individual Development. But no more marked gain was noted than the variety of results which attended the individual ownership of a plot. Here each one measured himself with every other one and learned the greatest lesson of life. The boy who saw his neighbor's garden grow faster than his own had driven into his brain a notion of the value of individual effort that he will never forget. The garden work at Public School 52 has been taken up for 1907 with a far greater interest on the part of all than ever The feeling of drudgery has given way to happi- before. The future seems assured. The life of the garden has intensified the life of the whole school. The ability that has coaxed the growth of a plant has been transported to the classroom to conquer sums and language forms. School life has become worth living, for the very inspiration of success has been diffused everywhere. Joyousness. The Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. FRIENDS OF THE INSTITUTION HOPE IT WILL LATER BE CALLED "THE OKLAHOMA STATE COLLEGE." By BLANCHE E. LITTLE. As the tide of Western immigration flowed over and around the lands reserved for the Indians, one piece after another was cut off by treaty or other wise, until finally there was formed the Territory of Oklahoma; which, as Senator Beveridge declared, was in matter of its boundaries, "Unscientific, accidental, and grotesque." It is quite like turning the pages of a book of magic for any one who has ever been in Oklahoma, to return there after a few years' absence and note the changes, improvements, and progress. voted the bonds for the first building. At the time this school was being conducted in a church, the second Legislature of the territory, which met in 1893, had up for consideration the issuing of bonds for the completion of three of Oklahoma's educational institutions. The Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Normal School, and the University. Mr. Frank Greer, editor of the Guthrie State Capital, as a member of that Legislature, championed the measure, supported by all the friends of education in that body. After a fierce fight on both sides, ROBT. H. TUCKER Professor of German and Latin. Associate in English, and Dean of the Science and Literature Course. A. C. SCOTT President of Agricultural and Mechanical College of Oklahoma. Before the advent of the railroad in Eastern Oklahoma, and when you could only reach Stillwater, the county seat of Payne county, by means of the stage, I recall in passing thru inquiring, "Where is the College?" and being informed, "It is held in that little church over there." This, the humble beginning in 1891. For the first five years of its existence the school was without any established housing, the first permanent building being erected in 1896. The town of Stillwater donated eht first land, two hundred acres, and the county W. L. ENGLISH the bonding proposition was passed. Under these bonds the three educational institutions were revived. All sorts of charges were made against the boards of regents. Investigation showed that the regents were doing the very best they could, without the means at hand, and in their courage and business judgment and their desire to see these schools erected, the voting of these bonds by the legislative assembly was the very best move possible, and these schools never would have been completed without this bonding proposition. Not to MORRILL HALL-So named by the Legislative Assembly in honor of Senator Justin Morrill, who used his influence to further educational interests. This building contains the administrative and business offices of the College and Station, lecture room, and laboratories for the departments and animal husbandry, horticulture, agriculture and chemistry. Architecturally speaking this building is particularly pleasing. have completed these institutions would have been an outrage upon the intelligence of the people of Oklahoma. While this reads like ancient history, it hardly seems possible that an event of such importance should so soon have slipped from the memory of the public. To-day there are three institutions of which any state in the Union might be proud. Here, at the Agricultural and Mechanical College is a plant with ten good buildings and a thousand acres of land belonging to the experiment station. This school comes under the head of what are known as "Land Grant Schools." The forces which led to the establishment of this school were set in motion during the Civil War. On the second day of July, 1862, an act of Congress donating lands for agricultural colleges in every state and territory of the Union, was approved by President Lincoln. This act apportioned to each state a quantity of land equal to thirty thousand acres for each senator and representative in Congress. It was provided that moneys derived from the sale of these lands should be permanently invested, and the proceeds used and appropriated to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college, where the leading object should, without excluding the scientific and classical studies and military tactics, be to teach such branches of learning as related to agriculture and mechanical arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the states might respectively prescribe, in order to promote liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life. While this college does not receive the benefits accruing from this act, still this legislation resulted in a further endowment of colleges of this class, by act of Congress approved in 1890. Under the provisions of this act, this school now receives $44,500, To be applied only to instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural, and economical science, with special reference to their application in life and to the facilities for instruction." The work of the college is not, however, limited even to this broad range of subjects, the territory having provided funds for instruction in subjects not included in this article. Broadly speaking, the United States Goverment bountifully provides for the payment of the salaries of the instructors, and furnishes the most approved and modern school equipments, but the territory must and does provide the necessary buildings. The total income to the college and experiment station from various sources is close to $100,000 a year. The value of the entire plant can be estimated at not less than $400,000. That this school does not put all its money into buildings and apparatus, is shown by the very capable force of men and women employed as heads of the various departments and courses of instruction. I was impressed with the fact that they have a large faculty, and this in more ways than one. The President's particular pride seems to be in the results of the school, as shown by its graduates; not one of whom, as he expresses it, but has "made good." Without an exception they are occupying good positions. Several are in the different departments at Washington, D. C. One is chief of the Section of Forest Reserve Planting. Another is scientific assistant in the pathological division of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Another is assistant in the Bureau of Entomology. Two are scientific assistants in the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture. One is scientific assistant animal bacteriology, Bureau of Animal Industry. Of those receiving the course in engineering, all have obtained good. positions. One is foreman in the testing department of the General Electric Company, Schnectady, New York. Another is with the South Bethlehem Steel Company of Pennsylvania. Another is with the Westinghouse Company of Pittsburg. One is with the Bullock Electric Company of Cincinnati, and another as engineer is with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, San Francisco. President Scott says he has positions for all of them just as soon as they graduate. There seems to be no trouble in placing them in positions which they are qualified to fill. The value of the college course is to be found, not chiefly in what the graduate knows, but in what he is and can learn to do. The ideal function of the college is to put the student in the way of making the utmost of himself. There is no truer maxim than that of Diesterweg that, "Education is liberation." President Scott hopes to see the name of the school changed from the Agricultural and Mechanical College to that of the Oklahoma State College. The present name is almost a misnomer. Even the people of the territory were quite a while in realizing that they had been misinformed concerning the objects and facilities of this college. They had the impression that the institution was only "a place where they farmed some and carried on high school work." The people know better now. It would seem that most young people could find here the course of instruction they needed most. All the regular collegiate courses cover a period of five years. There is the "science and literature course" for both men and women. Then there is the general science course, the agricultural courses, and the engineering course, which embraces mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering. Farmers' sons and daughters may come here and learn much that will help them in their work on the farm. But the children of the professional man, the children of the doctor, the lawyer, the business man, will also find what they are looking for. The course of study affords a sufficient range of choice for any boy or girl who wants to work. There is no ready-made education handed out, but the student can certainly get the training he most desires. The football and athletic fields could hardly be finer. The ground is naturally level, and they simply had all out of doors in which to lay them out. These strong young men, students from Oklahoma and neighboring states are proud of the reputation of their school for athletics. They have a gymnasium that with heating plant and furnishing must have cost close to $18,000. The experiment station and School of Agriculture connected with the college is doing a wonderful work in and what might be termed "the new agriculture." The thousand-acre farm gives a variety of Oklahoma soil, from the best creek bottom land, to all kinds of upland soil so that anything of interest to this section of the country can be tested. This "station" is a powerful institution, exerting an important influence upon the state. William L. English, B. S., is director of the work of the station. He is a young man who has won his degrees by insistent and sane study. He is both scientific and practical. The interest he takes in his work would imbue any one with enthusiasm. Many interesting features are developed, discoveries and investigations made, that are an honor to any searcher, to any specialist in science; but primarily the work of the station is for the benefit of the people. The results of experiments which each year become more important, not only from the standpoint of science, but in actual increase in wealth to the State, are the property of the public. A great many bulletins giving results of experiments are issued each year and distributed among the farmers. There is continued co-operation with the Board of Agriculture in farmers' institute work, and speakers are supplied from the college. Here in the cotton belt they are making various tests with the cotton, the Boll weavil, and the cotton-seed products, thus insuring a great saving in the production of cotton. They have done much with alfalfa hay. The results with Bermuda grass, which the Oklahoma farmer used to consider quite a "pest," have been quite remarkable. They now know how to handle it to advantage, and it proves quite a profitable crop. They have learned how to keep it in check by planting cow peas. Hardy Bermuda grass roots have been distributed to many farmers. The entomologist goes out and inspects nurseries for the Board of Agriculture of the State. The growth of wheat thruout Oklahoma has been materially increased and improved by the result of the experiment work. In the prosecution of the work of the station, one question is always before the director and his staff. It is insistent and vital, ever answered and yet never quite satisfactorily. It is "How may he most help the state?" The answer to this question may lead thru many avenues. It may be the training of an ear of corn to grow for a particular purpose, to be food for man or beast; the experimenting with the Kaffir corn; he extermination of a certain kind of grass when it spreads where it is not wanted; by the creation of a new kind of wheat, promising magnificently to strengthen the harvest of the country. It may be the experiment with a new fruit or vegetable from another section, destined to supplant native varieties, or the betterment of a strain of horses or cattle, or the revolution of the methods of handling a dairy product or the solution of intricate problems and the establishment of vital laws for the feeding of animals so that economy is secured and health sustained. The lines reach far and deep into the very heart of life. If this isn't getting close to nature, what is? Most interesting and valuable of all is the original investigation, the first-hand solution of problems in which the people are directly interested. There is no institution in Oklahoma that means more for the future welfare and prosperity of the territory and the intelligence, thrift, and happiness of its people than the college and experiment station, and there is evidently none more deserving of a liberal support and patronage. It is in no sense a local institution, nor is it so regarded. To the young people of Oklahoma who realize that mental and industrial training combined tend to make a most useful class of citizens, this school offers unusual inducements and advantages. My interview with Professor English was cut short owing to the fact that he was starting for Western Oklahoma, where it is high and dry and dusty, to start a sub-station for experiments in "dry farming." At the Summer Institute one year at Martha's Vineyard, I heard the teachers invited to be present and take a "dry swimming lesson." lesson." But dry "farming"? It is really a reclamation of arid lands, and the experiments with crops that will grow without rain, or at least with little moisture. The solving of the problem would seem to be immensely difficult. The question is particularly vital in the far West, where there are great stretches of fine land, apparently unproductive because of lack of rain and other places where the land is apparently arid and waste. The work no doubt will be searching and consistent. The course of study for the school of agriculture and domestic economy covers two years. The work in horticulture and dairying is not slighted. At a short course in stock judging and seed selection given last year in January, four hundred farmers of Oklahoma and Indian Territory were in attendance. Besides the regular instructors, specialists from the Department of Agriculture at Washington and elsewhere were secured to aid the work. Bulletins of interest are published and sent to the farmers from time to time. The keynote to the success of all this work is that it is absolutely free to the public. Nothing discovered here will ever be patented. Where can be found a more fascinating service to the world? It is quite beyond one's power of imagination to foresee what such work as is being done at this school means to the race. It certainly is a goodcitizenship institution of the highest efficiency. Oklahoma enters the Union with what Secretary Hay would have called a distinct educational entity" of its own. I was thankful for a windy day. Had I left Oklahoma without seeing one, I should not have had a feeling of being perfectly at home. My! how that Oklahoma breeze does stir things up. Oh the windy day is the vagrant's day! And whether he whistles, or laughs or sings, |