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Show REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INbIAN SCHOOLS. 393 Accompanying the outlines referred to were some "su f gestious to class-room teachers," the nature of which can be seen rom the following extract: The Offioe desires that instruction in nature study be taken up when pupils first enter school. The subject should be used in connection with teaching them to speak English, and made tho basis for writing, language, and number work. Teaohors must exercise discretion in formulating lessons, adapting them to meet the requirements of the class, md should hsoe them carefully pre red snd outlined before going to the class room. Experiments should be conducted witk8wds grownin the neighborhoodor those with which class is familiar. Children's intewt will be more easily %roused and better results seoured byhsndling and sprouting seed than by only looking st picturesof thissort inhooks. Mmy of the suggestions contcned in the aocompanying outlines have been given by workers in the field who hsvo been eminently successful. Instruction in natura study should comprise facts and principles that will be useful to pupils on the farm and in the home garden. It should include the mination of seeds the impartsnt parts of isnts, and the use of these plants to msn; E w plsnts grow snd develop; the names e !otf veget%blelesi n the loodity; the relatition of soil, water, air, he& end plmt food to plant gmwth; snd the means thst may he employed to check the ravages of injurious insects. Experiments with a variety of seed should be carried on in the elas room in order that pupils m%y better understand the conditions necessary to produce the best results when taking up the actual work of raising vegetables in their ind~viduagl ar-den plots. While there has been steady improvement, the training is still far from being as effective as we should like to see it, and much remains to be done. During the past school year we haqe made special efforts to unify and systematize instructlon m agriculture, and have emphasized the importance of having school gardens at a11 of the schools, with the exception of the few so located as to make this impracticable. In order to encouraee class-room teachers to take UD this work. and as a means of aroukg their interest in what many 6f them were inclined to regard in the light of a fad, their attention has been drawn to the qo-g ~entiment'thfou~houtht e countr K in favor of teach- ing n.mculture in the public schools, and to t e fact that many Sta~ahsa ve passed laws providing that such instruction be made part of the regular school course and requirin teachers to pass an exami-nation in the elements of a culture. ennsylvania provides com- Y 5 ete courses in nature stu y for use in the public schools of the ?! tate. Massachusetts has lon recognized the importance of agri-cultural training for its schoofchildren, and the school gardens of Boston are models of their kind. In New Jersey the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural and Industrial School has been remarkabl successful. New York State has for a number of years been exteng iug the stud of agriculture in the public schools, and both city and rural schoo 7 gardens have been established. In New York City vacant buildine lots and tracts intended for .a rk. s have been utilized for gardens for-the school children. In the Missouri State Normal School at Kirkville agriculture has been taught for several years to rospective teachers, and the work has been systemetically organizes in ublic schools throughout the State, the establishment of school garins being a prominent feature of the system. In fact this work has been taken up in ublic schools all over the country, and if agricultural instruction f~a s been con-sidered advisable for white children it would seem to be &dispensa-ble for Indian children, whose future support may depend upon their ability to make a profitable use of their allotments. |