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Professional Instruction.

The programme of professional instruction in the workshops is apportioned to the three years as follows, and is in practical operation in a number of schools:

First Year.

[Two hours per day.]

DRAWING AND MODELING.-Execution of the regular geometric solids of given dimensions from figured sketches.

WORKSHOP TEACHING. (First period)— Working in wood: A box, a drawing board, a mortise-and-tenon joint, a slit-and-tongue joint, a joint halved together obliquely, a St. Andrew's cross, various kinds of scarfed joints.

(Second period)-Working in iron: Exercises with the file on an uneven piece of iron. Makerectangular parallelopiped, with a square base of given dimensions; this to be converted into an octagonal prism, then into one with sixteen sides; this is to be filed round; then, in the lathe, to turn this into a cylinder of specified diameter, and finally convert it into a hexagonal prism.

(Third period)-Working in wood: Various kinds of dovetail joints, splices, skew splices, halved together, scarf-halved with dovetail pieces.

(Fourth period)-Working in iron: Toolmaking, two rules in iron of given dimensions, two plain squares, a pair of calipers, exercises with the lathe and cutting chisel.

Second Year.

[Three hours per day.]

DRAWING AND MODELING.- Execution in graduated series of ornamental casts composed of elements of solid geometry arranged systematically, rosettes, etc.

WORK IN THE SHOPS.-(First period)-Working in wood: Mortise and tenon to moulded work, tenon for miter joint, mortise and tenon with champfered dovetail, tongued joint with cross-ties, mortise and tenon for quoins.

(Second period)-Working in iron: An angle out of square, a pair of pointed compasses, a hand vise.

(Third period)- Working in wood: Angle open-mortise joint,slit-and-tongue joint in two

[blocks in formation]

General principles of the application of drawing to pottery, to fret-cutting in wood and metal, to artistic locksmith's work, and to the ornamental stamping of paper and fabrics.

CHEMISTRY.-Experiments in the laboratory, manipulation, analyses, mode of fixing colors (applied to pottery, stuffs, etc.).

ACCOUNTS.-Industrial account keeping, fixing of a scale of profits, applying the same to the work of tools and machines.

WORK IN THE SHOPS.—(First period)-Working in wood: The making of tools, mouldingblock, miter block, wood bench-clamp, tenon saw, small hand saw, inlaying saw, a plane, use of the wood lathe.

(Second period)-Working in iron: The making of tools, a pair of steel squares, (one of them to be a rim square), a tap wrench, working with the cutting chisel.

(Third period)-Working in wood: The making of tools, a plane, jack plane, square, marking gauge, grooving plane, work with the lathe, model-making.

(Fourth period)-Working in iron: Making a shifting gauge, working at the forge, elementary work; making of tools, chisels, cross-cut chisels, boring bits, etc.; working at the lathe and with the cutting chisel.

In the schools of this class which have instruction in agriculture instead of in the mechanic arts, the course of agriculture covers two years, although the school has a course of three years, the first year of the course being entirely devoted to general culture. The applications of physics, chemistry, natural history, geometry, etc., however, should be pointed out to the students to prepare them for the professional instruction of the last two years of the course. During the week there are two lessons in agriculture, each of one and a half hours. The first year of the course proper is devoted to the study of vegetable life, general and special agriculture, horticulture, and arboriculture. The second year is devoted to the study of animal life, rural economy, and accounts. The syllabus which follows is modified at the discretion of the teacher. The lessons upon general agriculture and zootechnics should be made as general as possible, and only the plants and animals which are raised in the surrounding country should be treated in detail. No lesson on grape-culture should be given in a country where the grape is not cultivated, nor should a lesson upon tobacco-culture be given when none is grown in the neighborhood, and so on. The theoretical instruction is illustrated and fixed by demonstration, practical exercises in the school garden, and excursions. The teacher should avoid with care the use of technical words, which very frequently obscure his meaning and in any case load the memory of the pupil with terms which later on he will never use. The instruction should be as far as possible clear, precise, interesting, and practical.

Lately a course of agriculture for the country elementary schools of France has been printed: how far it is in operation is not known to this Bureau, but what it is is shown by the syllabus which follows:

ED 90-64

SYLLABUS OF THE AGRICULTURAL COURSE IN THE ECOLES PRIMAIRES SUPÉRIEURES FOR BOYS.

FIRST YEAR-AGRICULTURE.

1.-INTRODUCTION.

Definition and object of agriculture.-As one of the branches of human knowledge. The object of the science is to find the most advantageous way of producing vegetables and animals. Is one of the most important industries. Résumé of its results. Capital that it employs. Number of persons that it employs. Its primary conditions, tools, and forces. The rôle of water, heat, and light. The farmer should be familiar with the physical and natural sciences. Illustrations of this fact by examples taken from botany, geology, zoɔ̃logy, physics, etc. Agriculture as a science, as an art, as a trade. What meaning the words practice and routine should convey. The object of the course is not to teach the trade of agriculture, but to study the phenomena of the life of cultivated plants and domestic animals and to give information that will aid in its development and multiplication. The course should be filled with practical and healthy ideas, so that the pupil when he becomes a man will better understand his trade by reasoning upon what he is doing and strive to improve his methods, to wit:

Utility and advantage of instruction never more necessary than now to the farmer competition; rapidity of the change in procedure; conditions under which plants and animals may be improved: advantages of this improvement; good and bad seedings; fertility of the soil; law of restitution; necessity of neglecting nothing: influence of good and poor food on domestic animals; difference between a well made and a poorly constructed plow as an instrument of work.

Importance of the slightest progress in agriculture. Choice and improvement of the French varieties of seed so as to obtain a great yield, as for instance, if 50 more liters of grain can be raised to a hectare, it would be a gain of 100,000,000 francs a year, and if a centime can be saved daily in the feeding of domestic animals by improving the manner of preparing the food or ameliorating the animal machine in a manner to enable it to employ the food consumed to a better advantage to the farmer, it would be a gain of a 215,000,000 francs.

Instruction increases the charms of rural life. The attractions of the study of natural objects. Observation and interpretation of natural phenomena. Rôle of the enlightened farmer as the director of operations or as a broker. Mechanical work nourishes (asservit) both mind and body. Work done intelligently and willingly elevates man and increases his dignity. Work of cities and shops. Work of the country. Economy, health, strength, and vigor. Thanks to the healthfulness of her occupations agriculture is able to furnish the most numerous, spirited, and enduring part of the army. To cultivate and improve the soil is, then, doubly to serve one's country.

2. GENERAL AGRICULTURE.

Agrology (i. e., study of the soil with relation to agriculture).

I.-Soil and subsoil.

Origin and formation of the arable bed. Meteorological, physical, and chemical action. Circumstances which influence the quality of the land, such as geographic situation, altitude. Inclination and exposure of the land. Rainfall.

IL-Classification of lands according to their physical and chemical composition.

Physical properties and chemical composition of the land. Wheat, rye, oats, vine, and fruit lands, natural and artificial meadows, pastures, woods, and forest land.

III.-Study of the best way of modifying the composition of the soil and the physical properties. 1. Definition and classification of measures. Animal, vegetable, and mineral manure. Composts.

2. Stable manure, solid and liquid. Relation between and food consumed. Influence of food upon. Importance of liquid portion. Use of litters and of

what made. Preparation of litters of straw, rushes, ferns, leaves, dry grass, sawdust, marl (marne), dry earth. Care that should be given stable manure as to fermentation so as to prevent loss of valuable ingredients. Calculation of the production in relation to the consumption of forage and grain. Means at hand for increasing the supply of manure and improve its quality. Value of manure lost by negligence, in money. Fertilizing matter of cities and villages; its value and utilization. Manner of employing liquid manures. Poudrette. Wool-waste, hair, horn, skin, etc. Guano.

Vegetable manure.-Green manure; fiber (such as cotton-seed meal, for instance); sediments and waste from distilleries and sugar refineries, tanneries, etc.; sea plants, muck, paring and burning (as it is called in English agricul ture).

Mineral manure.-Phosphates of chalk; salts of ammonia, of potash; ashes; nitrate of soda, salt, plaster, chalk, shells, etc. Practical experiments with these manures. Valuing the quantity of carbonate of lime in a marl. Theory of chemical manures and estimation of the relative value of manures. Precautions that the farmer should take to prevent his being imposed upon when buying commercial manures. Law touching the subject. Laboratories and stations of experimental research.

Irrigation.-Object is to supply water to enable the plants to grow, and also to carry in fertilizing matter. Kind of water required; its collection and distribution. Reservoirs, machines, canals, systems of irrigation, and preparation of the land. Increased value of the land. Lands adapted to the purpose. Quantity of water required. Time of distribution, precautions, cost, sediment. Means of using the local advantages for irrigation in the country in which the school is located.

Reclaiming land.-Difficulty of working wet soils and bad effects of water, especially in the early spring, when in the furrows. Means employed to remove the surface water. Open ditches. Influence of draining on clay lands as to temperature. Aereation of the soil. Absorption of atmospheric gases. Manure. Partial and complete drainage. Expense. Enhanced value of land. Loans by the state to enable the farmer to drain his land; law of May 28, 1858. Servitudes of draining; law of June 10, 1854. How valueless lands of the locality of the school which might be reclaimed.

Mechanical means of modifying the physical properties of the soil.-Conditions under which good tillage is possible. Proper time. The effects. Subsoiling. Clearing and breaking up land. Nonlifting subsoiling. Plowing. Various kinds of plows, and the qualities of an ideal instrument. The use of steam and animals as power. Cost. Harrowing, rolling, etc. Indications of the improvements which might be introduced in the vicinity of the school in these respects.

3.-SPECIAL CULTURE.

1. Study of the plant considered as an instrument (outil) by the aid of which the cul tivator produces vegetable matter by using the nutriment contained in the atmosphere and in the soil.-Composition of plants. How they grow and feed. Influence of latitude and altitude. The farmer should accommodate his crops to these conditions. Qualities of the various kinds of plants cultivated. (Syllabus abridged.) 2. Study of the principal vegetables cultivated in the locality of the school or which may be introduced there with profit.-Cereals, legumens, forage and pastures, plants of industry (sugar beet, tobacco, etc.). Rotation of crops, viticulture, sylvicul ture. (Syllabus abridged.)

Horticulture (including the kitchen garden):

1. General ideas.-Situation of the garden. Proper soil. Preparation of the soil. Grafting. Improvements possible in the environment of the school.

2. Arboriculture.-Table grapes, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, pears, and apples; the soil in which they should be grown, the manner in which the trees should be trimmed, etc. Conservation of fruit. Flower garden. Improvement possible in these respects in the vicinity of the school.

3. Kitchen garden.-1. General remarks. The usual kinds grown. Seed beds and resetting. 2. Cultivation of the usual vegetables. Cultivation of ornamental plants by slipping, etc. Possible improvements to be made in these respects in the locality of the school.

ZOÖTECHNICS.

Study of the use of animals in agriculture. The animal a machine which transforms the food it receives into power, flesh, milk, wool, etc. The course is divided into three parts-general, hygienic, and special zootechnics.

1. General zoñechnics.—Food, importance of knowledge of. Animal physiol gy. Comparison of the chemical structure of the organs of animals with that of the food they eat. Organic and mineral matters. Different methods of determining nutritive equivalents. Cured and green food leaves, branches. roots, st w, grain. Influence of the time of year (l'époque) upon the harvest, and of the method of culture upon its nutritive value. Good cultivation and good manuring, poor cultivation and careless cultivation. Vege able husk and pulp and other industrial refuse as food. Salt, its physiologic action, and the manner of fee ing it.

Watering. Necessity. Quantity necessary. Temperature. Precautions to be taken in winter, especially for cows. Qualities that the water should have. Ponds and drinking places.

Foeding. Regularity. Changing from green to cured food and the precautions that should be taken; preparing hay, cutting hay, grinding grain, warming roots and grain. Fe mentation. Effect of these preparations upon the ass milation of the food. Importance of the matter. Study of the instruments and machines employed. Feeding during the different seasons, pasture, and stable. Amount to be fed daily and the influence which race and individual peculiarities should exercise upon it.

2. Products.-Milk, its comrosition, secretion, food proper to produce. Type of a milch cow, general and special characteristics, and Guénon's system. Sale of milk and utilization of that unsoid. Butter and cheese making. Dairy-keeping. Reforms that should be introduced. Production of flesh, strength, and

manure.

3. Reproduction.-Selection of stock for breeding, heredity, and atavism. Rearing. Castration. 4. Hygiene.-General principies. Currying and rubbing down. Construction of stables, etc. Care and treatment of disease.

5. Zootechnie Spéciale.-Species and races and the improvement of the latter. Special study upon the horse and other domestic animals. General study of the animals useful to the farmer. Pisciculture in fresh, brackish. and salt waters. Culture of oysters and salt-water mussels (moules). Useful insects. Apiculture. Soriculture. Acclimatization.

RURAL ECONOMY.

Proporty in land and methods of cultivation. Leases. Salaries. Means of stoppiu, the depopulation of the country. Agricultural loans (crédit agricole). Vicultural societies. Syndicates. Instruction in agriculture. The "Institut Varconomique" (Agricultural University of France). The "national schools of a Ciculture." The "practical schools of agriculture." The "farm schools." The departmental professors of agriculture." Agricultural statistics of France. Production and consumption. Importation and exportation. Importing counteis Countries to which France exports food stuffs. Agricultural statistics of The department in which the school is situated and a general review of its situatrạm from an economic standpoint.

BOOKKEEPING FOR FARMERS.

Mucosity of keeping a record of the details and results of cultivation. The usically of r ducing the writing to the smallest amount possible; for the culHeaton from the nature of his occupation is not fond of office work. By order mod micthod it is possible to accomplishing this by noting in a pocket notebook the bo pods Liky occur, and giving an hour or two on Sunday to their study. Above all the farmor should know the capital that has been sunk in his enter

His inventory should consist of the value of the property and buildings, Apital used in carrying on farming (animals, instruments, manure, etc.), A chou hand. A farmer should study in advance his plan of action and das expenditure thereby. In addition the farmer should keep a cash

PRACTICAL WORK.

D. Study of seeds-determination of the nature of the seeds of A plants and of weeds. Dodder seeds-determination of the purity of and its germinating power. Study of soils, their composition and 1. k found in the locality. Soil formed by the disintegration of kat dlovial soils. Soil and subsoil. Study of manures. Appearance of

commercial fertilizers, their preparation and distribution. Analysis of specimens of commercial fertilizer. Study of agricultural instruments, the work they do, the care they should receive, and their repair. Study of plants, of milk, of the teething and age of animals, the foot of the horse, ox, and ass, and shoeing. Beehives, trellises, etc. Insectides, etc. Buildings and materials. Collecting insects.

Outside work.-Spading, raking, rolling, clipping, grafting, pruning, sowing, replanting, growing, cuttings, weeding, making composts, etc.; applying sulphur, etc., to destroy the fungus on vines and vegetables; gathering and preservation of the crops. Special plates for comparative study of the value of the different kinds of manures and cultivated plants. Visits to hothouses, gardens, etc.

BIOLOGY.

The study of biology has been given the attention its importance deserves in a special study issued by this Bureau as Circular of Information No. 9, 1891. By an inadvertency, however, a notice of the biological departments of the Univer sity of Illinois was omitted from the circular, and the occasion is here taken to insert an account of the biological work of that institution, which has been kindly furnished by Prof. S. A. Forbes, of the State laboratory of natural history of Illinois.

The erection, in 1892, at a cost of $60,000, of a new building for the biological departments of the University of Illinois affords a suitable occasion for a description of their organization and work-in some respects typical for the State universities, and in others unique. These departments are thrown together, by the plan of unive sity organization, forming what is known as the school of natural science, which comprises the departments of botany, zoology, entomology, human physiology, and geology.

The courses in this school are especially intended:

(1) To afford a thorough and liberal education with a basis in science and the modern languages.

(2) To prepare for the pursuit of specialties in zoölogy, entomology, botany, general biology, and geology, as a scientific career.

(3) To lay a liberal foundation in biological work and study for a course of medicine.

(4) To prepare for the teaching of the natural and physical sciences either in the higher schools or as a professional specialty.

The sciences required for admission to the studies of the school are botany, physiology, and physics, with algebra through radicals, and plane and solid geometry. The scheme of requirements for graduation is so constructed as to permit the student either to specialize at the beginning of his sophomore year by the selection of a ma or subject, to be pursued, if desired, for three years continuously, or to distribute his principal effort within certain limits over a small group of related subjects. To this end the studies of this school are divided into three groups: (1) required studies. (-) restricted electives, and (3) open electives. Under the head of restricted electives both major and minor courses are given, the former the maximum offering and the latter the minimum requirement in their respective subjects.

No student may graduate from the school of natural science until he has completed all required courses, and has done at least nine terms' work on one major subject, or twelve terms' work on more than one from the group of restricted electives; and taken at least minor courses in all the other subjects of this group in which such courses are offered. The major courses must be chosen for a year at a time, and may not be changed without special permission.

The required subjects are, on the other hand, general culture studies (mathematics, history, and philosophy) and, on the other, modern languages and drawing, required because necessary to any extensive pursuit of the biological sciences. The minor courses of the "restricted elective" group are all one term courses offered in botany, zoology, physiology, geology, physics, and chemistry respectively.

Major courses of three years are offered at present in botany and zoology only. In geology five terms' work may be had, in entomology two terms, and in general biology a single term, coming as a sequel to the courses in zoology and botany. In botany six courses of instruction are offered - five primarily in ended to meet the wants of students making botanical work more or less a specialty, and

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