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curriculum of the schools for training teachers has first been similarly enlarged. No sooner does the German Emperor complain, for instance, that he finds that the curriculum of the German public schools in the past has given him no aid in combatting the socialistic theories so prevalent in his Kingdom of Prussia, and straightway the subject of political ec nomy is introduced into the Prussian schools for training teachers; and so has it been with the subject of agriculture in France. Though the French revolution decided that agriculture should be placed upon the programmes, it was not until 1851, however, that instruction in agriculture was in roduced as a part of the programme of the last year of the course of the schools for training teachers.

In 1860 the majority of 6,000 teachers to whom the French minister of public instruction had applied for suggestions as to the ameliorations to be made in elementary instruction responded that agriculture should be added to the course of the public schools. Shortly afterwards the symptoms of an agricultural crisis began to appear, and an investigation was made into the matter for the purpose of remedying the evil. The commission were unanimous in calling attention to the powerful influence that elementary instruction would exert in favor of agriculture, the greatest national industry of France, if introduced as a subject of study in the public schools. The manner in which this instruction should be introduced was given under three heads: First, the instruction that should be given in the schools for training elementary-school teachers; second, the instruction that should be given to the children in the district schools; third, the instruction that should be given to the adults in special courses which were appropriate to the needs of agriculture. By the law of 1879 it was enacted that every department that had not yet established a departmental professor of agriculture should be obliged to provide for one within three years. At the close of 1888 instruction in agriculture was completely organized in almost all the schools for training elementary-school teachers. But in the elementary schools instruction in agriculture has been unsatisfactory. "It is to the teacher that a good book on agriculture is indispensable; in the hands of the child it is more hurtful than helpful," says the report of the professor of agriculture of the Department of the Gironde.

But above the district school, and frequently in connection with it, there are higher elementary schools, which are of two kinds-professional and nonprofessional. In the city of Paris the course of these schools is as follows

Theoretical branches.

The subjects of this programme are apportioned over the three years' course, so as to apply in the best way to the requirements of professional instruction.

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WRITING.-Principles and practice of running-hand, round-hand, and commercial handwriting.

HISTORY.-Principal characters of antiqui ty, history of France up to the present day, development of national institutions, chief epochs of general history (ancient, middle ages, and modern).

GEOGRAPHY.-Physical and political geography of the world, special geography of France (comprising the divisions for administrative purposes), economic geography, map drawing.

MODERN LANGUAGES.-One modern language at least.

MATHEMATICS.-First year: Theoretical and practical arithmetic, first elements of ordinary geometry. Second year: Advanced arithmetic, elements of algebra, plane geometry and its applications. Third year: Principles

of algebra as applied to the solution of simple equations, the elementary principles of rectilinear trigonometry as applied to the estimation of triangles, elementary principles of solid geometry and their application, the common

curves.

ACCOUNTS.-First principles of commerce and account keeping, book-keeping, current accounts bearing interest.

PHYSICS.-The most important phenomena and the principal theories of physics, modern discoveries, and the application of science to daily life.

CHEMISTRY.-Exercises involving the observation and examination of some of the familiar facts introductory to the study of chemistry, the metalloids and the most useful metals, the laws of chemistry, the elements of organic chemistry.

NATURAL HISTORY.-Organs and functions of men and animals, practical study of the principal groups of animals and vegetables, application of hygiene to the local industries, principal facts of geology, and examination of the best-known minerals.

SINGING.-Choir, with three parts.

GYMNASTICS. -Exercises with apparatus and military drill.

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. Make rectangular 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

Second Year-Continued.

thicknesses of stuff, stepped in mortise and tenon, square joint of two cylinders, oblique joint of two cylinders, a pair of screw clamps. (Fourth period)-Working in iron: Bit pincers, screw-wrench, exercise with the lathe, exercise with the cold chisel.

Third Year.

[Five hours daily the first six months, seven hours the last six.]

DRAWING AND MODELING.-Elements of architecture, orders and styles, ornaments of the different orders and styles.

Industrial drawing: Theoretical principles of composition and of the arrangement of colors.

General principles of the application of drawing to pottery, to fret-cutting in wood and metel, to artistic Iccksmith'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 g ane-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 demonstation, 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:

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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, zoology, 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 pcor 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 agriculture).

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, sylviculture. (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.

ZOOTECHNICS.

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.

Animal physi1. General zootechnics.-Food, importance of knowledge of. ol 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 aw, 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 ca.eless cultivation. Vege able husk and pulp and other industrial refuse as food. Salt, its physiologic action, and the manner of fee ing it.

Tempe ature. Precautions to be taken in winter, especially for cows. Qualities that the water should have. Ponds and drinking places.

Watering. Necessity. Quantity necessary.

Feeding. 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 com osition, 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. Sericulture. Acclimatization.

RURAL ECONOMY.

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

BOOKKEEPING FOR FARMERS.

Necessity of keeping a record of the details and results of cultivation. The necessity of r ducing the writing to the smallest amount possible; for the cultivator from the nature of his occupation is not fond of office work. By order and method it is possible to accomplishing this by noting in a pocket notebook the facts as they occur, and giving an hour or two on Sunday to their study. Above all the farmer should know the capital that has been sunk in his enterprise. His inventory should consist of the value of the property and buildings, the capital used in carrying on farming (animals, instruments, manure, etc.), and cash on hand. A farmer should study in advance his plan of action and regulate his expenditure thereby. In addition the farmer should keep a cash book.

PRACTICAL WORK.

Within doors.-Study of seeds-determination of the nature of the seeds of cultivated plants and of weeds. Dodder seeds-determination of the purity of the sowing and its germinating power. Study of soils, their composition and analysis. Rocks found in the locality. Soil formed by the disintegration of Appearance of rocks, and alluvial soils. Soil and subsoil. Study of manures.

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