Proceedings and Report of the 1st-15th Annual Meeting (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1897. Excerpt: ... and built his houses and fences. He raised calves, tanned the hides, and made his own shoes. He raised and sheared sheep, and did the carding, spinning, and weaving at home, and even made the garments. Other domestic industries could be mentioned. That these industries are educational is recognized by the leading educators to-day, and we are finding them taught in the schoolroom. If these fundamental employments are factors in education inside the schoolroom, why are they not so outside the schoolroom'/ In one case they are directed by the teacher and in the other much more educational because they are self-directive. But conditions to-day are different. The lecturer of 15 years ago might be a back number to-day. The lecturer years ago had to teach farmers what they did not know. To-day some of the farmers are as well informed as the lecturer. Bulletins, magazines, books, and papers give him the latest information. The lecturer has mainly to influence the farmer to do what he already knows he ought to do, and probably indicate how it can be done. The old lecturer had to know. The new lecturer has to know how and why. A farmer deals with soils, crops, and stock, but when he takes the platform he is no louger a farmer. He is not dealing with cows and corn and clover and cultivation. He is dealing with living, acting, thinking men and women. The subject of his address is secondary. If he lias not moved his audience to look on agriculture from a higher plane and influenced his hearers to a better life, he is a failure no matter how entertaining he may have been. Colleges should prepare to train lecturers. Such training may be crude and inefficient at first, but time suggests improvements. Neither the farm nor the college can properly train a lecturer, but bot...