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4. HORTICULTURE.

Aim.-The specific aim of the work in horticulture is to enable young people to obtain such a knowledge of the characteristics, propagation, culture, improvement. harvesting, storage, marketing, and use of the principal local vegetable and fruit crops as will prepare them for success in vegetable and fruit raising.

Content and methods.-The field of horticulture is so rich in material that is interesting to high-school students and so valuable as training for a vocation or an avocation that it is difficult to determine what to teach during the year or half year usually allotted to this subject. The subject matter varies widely, according to climatic conditions, and the relative importance of the subject in different localities is an important factor in determining the choice of material. The high-school course in horticulture should include concrete work adapted to local conditions in each of the following general lines:

(a) PLANT PROPAGATION AND VEGETABLE GARDENING.

This should stress the home garden. Vegetables adapted to the local home gardens should be studied; also the preparation of seedbed, seeding and transplanting, cultivation and harvesting, insects and diseases. In special truck regions market and truck gardening should be given due consideration.

(b) FRUIT GROWING.

This is a very comprehensive subject and should include methods of propagation, planting, cultivation, pruning, enemies and their control, harvesting, marketing, etc. Only those fruits should be selected that can be grown in the community.

The small fruits and orchard fruits adapted to the farm should receive chief emphasis, but commercial fruit growing should be studied in those communities adapted to the industry.

(c) IMPROVEMENT OF HOME GROUNDS.

This division of the subject should include a study of trees, shrubs, vines and flowers adapted to landscape use in the community (especially the native landscape material); the fundamental principles of choice and arrangement of material for landscape effect; the propagation and care of this material; the making and care of lawns; and planning and arrangement of driveways, fences, outbuildings, etc. Individual home grounds should be assigned for improvement plans. Use of illustrative material.-Carefully selected and preserved materials should be kept to illustrate all points for which fresh material may not be available. Examples of such material are:

Insects showing stages in life history, samples of diseased fruits showing characteristic effects of disease, and representative samples of fruits and vegetables to show types and varieties. The various tools and implements suitable for use in the community, with the price of each and the address of the manufacturers, should be included in the equipment for illustrative use. Among these are pruning implements, spraying equipment, garden tools, budding knives. There should be lantern slides and photographs showing orchard management, landscape effects, methods of pruning trees, tomatoes, and grapes, containers for shipping horticultural products, etc. Such collections as vegetable seeds, nuts, and specimens showing effects of pests and diseases should be kept for use in the class. Charts of various kinds will be useful.

Correlations. The subject matter of horticulture can be presented in a variety of sequences. The sequence as to the years in which the subject matter is taught is not so important as the seasonal sequence. Actual gardening should always be a part of the vegetable gardening course. Usually spring and summer are the ideal time for this work. Fruit growing and landscape work are adapted to every season, but winter and spring are especially desirable for study of these subjects. The correlations of horticultural work with biology should be emphasized. The propagation of plants and the pruning of trees and shrubs may be closely correlated with botany, while the study of insects and methods of combating them may be correlated with zoology and entomology. There is an advantage if the biological sciences accompany or precede the work in horticulture.

Laboratory and field exercises.-The following general suggestions are given to guide in the selection of laboratory and field exercises:

1. Vegetable Gardening.

(1) Plan and grow a demonstration home garden.

(2) Construct hotbeds and cold frames.

(3) Give practice in transplanting.

(4) Study and use spraying materials and equipment.

(5) Give practice in preparation and packing of vegetables

for market.

(6) Give practice in canning vegetables.

(7) Give practice in harvesting and storing vegetables.

2. Fruit Growing.

(1) Grow seedling apples, peaches, etc.

(2) Propagate, by the best adapted method, each of the fruits

adapted to the locality.

(3) Give practice in planting, pruning, and spraying fruit trees and bushes.

(4) Give practice in planting, pruning, training, and spraying grapes.

(5) Study different types of smudge pots.

(6) Study different fruits for types of containers for packing. (7) Give practice in fruit grading, packing, and storing. 3. Improving Home Grounds.

(1) Study excellent examples of landscape work in the community.

(2) Study landscape material adapted to the locality.

(3) Use lantern slides for good examples of materials and effects when community does not furnish examples.

(4) Study catalogues of landscape material.

(5) Give practice in propagating, planting, pruning, and care of ornamental bushes and trees.

(6) Give practice in managing hotbed and greenhouse.

(7) Plan individual home-ground planting.

(8) Make and execute design for ornamenting school grounds. Home projects.-There are numerous valuable horticultural projects that can be carried on at home. Among them are: Vegetable gardening; growing tree fruits; growing small fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, dewberries, currants, grapes; planning and planting of home grounds.

Use of reference material.—It is usually best to have the pupils buy books which include both vegetable gardening and fruit growing. The reference books and bulletins should be adequate for supplementary work. The bulletins from the local agricultural college and other agencies should be made use of to insure adaptation to local conditions. Catalogs of local nurseries will usually give valuable information on types and varieties of horticultural products and ornamentals adapted to the locality.

5. FARM ENGINEERING.

Aim.-The specific aim in the work of farm engineering is to prepare young people so to plan, locate, construct, and maintain farm buildings, fences, roads, and drainage (or irrigation) systems; and so to select, operate, and maintain farm machinery and mechanical equipment as to contribute most highly to the profit and pleasure of farming.

Content and methods.-A half-year course in rural engineering will meet the needs of most secondary schools, although a full year may be spent profitably upon the subject if the time is available and there is opportunity for a large amount of practical work. If but a half-year course is given it may be necessary to allow extra credit for projects. The course should cover in a general and fundamental way the following phases of the subject: (a) Farm machinery and

equipment and farm power, (b) farm structures, (c) farm sanitation, (d) agricultural surveying, (e) farm drainage, (f) irrigation, (g) roads. (See also following topics.)

Correlation.-Farm engineering may be taught as a special subject, or phases of the subject may be taught in an elementary manner in connection with other courses. It is recommended by the committee that farm engineering be taught as a separate subject in schools which give three or four years of agricultural instruction. have suitable equipment, and have a teacher with special training for the work. In case no special course is given, more attention should be given to simple phases of farm engineering in connection with other courses. Although farm engineering may be considered in a special course, there are phases of the subject which, if these subjects are to be made practical, are inseparable from other phases of agriculture. In such cases the more technical phases of the subject involving engineering problems should be reserved for the course in farm engineering or the work should be done by the two classes in cooperation.

Laboratory and field exercises.-In connection with this course the students should have practice at the school in as much of the following work as time and equipment will allow: (a) Setting up, use, and repair of farm motors and machinery, (b) concrete construction, (c) planning farm structures, (d) construction of minor farm buildings, (e) construction of fences, gates, and other farm equipment, (f) installation of water, sewerage, and lighting systems, (g) elementary surveying, (h) laying out drainage and irrigation systems, (i) construction and use of terrace level and road drag, (1) belt lapping, harness repair, making knots and splices, and such handicraft work as may fit the needs of the students and the community and has not been provided in earlier courses.

A survey of the community with regard to its sanitary conditions and needs, its roads, water supply, drainage, and irrigation needs will be of great benefit to the teacher and the class in connection with classroom work. It may also be made a basis for general community service along the lines most needed and in which the school is best able to serve.

Home projects.-Any of the lines of work suggested below may be either group projects carried on by the class or by a number of the students at the school or upon neighboring farms, or individual projects conducted upon the home farms:

Construction of farm buildings.

Laying out irrigation and drainage systems.

Road making and maintenance.

Equipment. Schools owning a well-equipped farm have a distinct advantage in giving a course in rural engineering. There is a special

advantage where a school is improving its farm and equipment if the organization is such that the students may perform a large share of the work. On some school farms, which are highly successful from an educational point of view, the students, under competent supervision, erect the farm buildings, install all improvements, such as the water, sewage, heating, and lighting systems, set up and operate all new machinery and implements, and have the greater part of the care and repair of the equipment of the school as well as the school farm. Schools not having a farm should take advantage of the equipment and improvement needed at the school, on neighboring farms, and on the home farms of the students.

One of the most important features of equipment for rural engineering is a shop or workroom equipped for both woodworking and ironworking. Such a shop should have the tools and equipment essential to a well-managed farm. The farm equipment made, if it has not been made for a specific purpose at the school, should be such that the students may take it home and use it. As a rule, the making of models is not to be encouraged, when useful articles. may be made. The home farms of the students and surrounding farms will furnish an abundance of equipment needing repair. Near-by implement dealers are often willing to furnish opportunity for study and practice in connection with farm machinery.

6. FARM MANAGEMENT.

Aim. The specific aim of the work in farm management is to enable young people to obtain such a knowledge of sound principles and correct practices essential in the proper selection, organization, equipment, and operation of a farm as a business enterprise as will prepare them for financial success in farming.

Content and methods.-A half-year course in farm management will meet the needs of most secondary schools, although a full year may be spent profitably upon the subject if the time is available and there is opportunity for a large amount of practical work. The course should cover in a general and fundamental way the following phases of the subject: (a) Relation of farming as a business to other industries and to rural life, (b) opportunities in farming, (c) capital, credit, and land tenure in relation to agriculture, (d) types of farms and systems of farming, (e) planning and replanning the farm and farmstead, (f) farm equipment and improvements, (g) maintaining the fertility of the land, (h) cropping systems and crop management, (i) farm labor, (j) management of live stock, (k) farm records and accounts, (7) marketing farm products and (m) cooperation in agriculture.

Classroom instruction.-Although it will prove profitable to base the classroom instruction upon a textbook, the course should be

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