Mondovi High School - Mirror Yearbook (Mondovi, WI)

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Agriculture. James M. Coyner, Instructor. AGRICULTURE IN THE GRADES. It would hardly seem necessary to argue that such a subject as Agriculture deserves a place in the grades of our public schools. This branch of study is of very vital concern to every child in the school, lie may or may not become a farmer. If he does, then his early instruction is that branch of study should make it easier for him to earn a living. If he does not follow that occupation then it is still important to know something of the ptoducticn of some of the staple necessaries that we eat and wear in order to make him an intelligent citizen. Agriculture means the raising of plants and animals, and unless we actually teach animals in such a course, then it has fallen short of its real mission. A good deal of the Agriculture that is taught in the public schools reallv amounts to very little. One of the most important reasons for this state of affairs is because teachers haven’t been trying to teach any very definite parts of the broad subject. They get tot) far away from the pupil’s own experience. There isn’t enough to practice in it. People are interested in the things which thev know something about. Everybody is more interested in domestic rather than in foreign affairs. Local interest always supersedes that of national scope. School children are no exception to this general principle of interest. They manifest great interest in things that concern their home life. The purchase of the stove or of a new carpet is an event of not small importance. The buying of a buggy, horse or a cow is an epoch in their small lives. Home project work in connection w;il' the class room work has been found to workj well at Mondovi. Each boy of .ie seventh and eighth grades is growing a flowering plant of his own. None of these are expensive plants—they do not need to be so. Most of the plants are slips out from geraniums of foliage plants, or bulbs. The boys all brought their plants to school for inspection. Suggestions were given about decorating the jars with paint or paper. They took them home where they will care for them until Arbor Day. Then they will be brought to school again and at that time they will receive credit for that part of their home project work. In addition to this work of growing flowers, each boy in the seventh and eighth grades is carrying on some home project work. Every boy in the seventh and eighth grades has, or will take up some project of his own. These home projects will vary widely in their diversity. One bov is keeping a feed and milk record of four dairy cows. Another has bought with his own money a few pure bred leghorn chickens. Others are caring for trees, preparing to grow sweet com or alfalfa, feed pigs, etc. All of these home projects must be carried through successfully and completed satisfactorily. There is another important and valuable opportunity for practical Agriculture in the grades. This is the school campus and the play ground. Children

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will take pride and interest in anything that they do themselves. This was tried in the Mondovi Public Schools and it worked surprisingly well. An unsightly spot between Whelan school and the high school was selected for the location of two large flower beds. All sorts of objections were offered. Some said that the children could not be kept off of the flowers long enough for them to come through the ground. Others said that the soil was too poor to grow flowers. The ground was not noted for its fertility. It was a loose, rather sandy soil which had a habit of blowing away when it was disturbed. It was thoroughly saturated with brick and stone—the refuse of an old building that had been long since torn down but whose foundation had never been dug out of the sand. It compared favorably with the piece of ground in the parable of the .Sower—“There was not much ea'th.” The crew of sturdy boys with their spades and hoes made short work of the stones and refuse that had been reposing in the ground for so many years. One boy donated the use of his Shetland Pony team to the cause. Plenty of manure was hauled and thoroughly mixed with the soil. These flower beds of astors. pansies, dahlias, marigolds, with borders of sweet alyssim. calendula, and trochia, with a back ground of giant castor beans and a big bed of cannas for a center piece was all the work of the seventh and eighth grade classes in Agriculture. They did not look upon it as work, but it was a pleasure from start to finish. They were justly proud of their work which proved to be a credit both to the school and to the town. The department of agriculture of the Mondovi High School believes in this sort of agricultural education. It combines experience with study and believes the place to begin it is in the grades of the public schools. LIVE STOCK FARMING. It has been proven many times and in a great variety of ways, that all-gram farming will ultimately end in failure. The fanner who depends upon getting his cash by hauling grain to market, is gradually selling the fertility of the soil. In many cases he may apply commercial fertilizers to even up the drain upon the natural elements of the soil. Such a course is, however, open to many objections. First, it is expensive. Nitrogen costs at the rate of eleven or twelve cents per pound when purchased in this way. Phosphorous and potassium about seven or eight cents per pound. In the second place, the chemical form in which these essential elements may be purchased is somewhat different from the state in which nature prepares them. It must be said, that selling a crop of live stock from a farm occasions absolutely no loss in fertility. The bones and flesh of an animal do contain a considerable amount of the essential elements of plant food. However, if the proper kind of live stock farming should be followed, it is possible to add fertility to the soil so that the total gain in fertility exceeds the total loss. The farmer should grow such crops as legumes. These are commonly called clovers, alfalfa, peas and soy beans. These plants will gather a large amount of nitrogen from the atmosphere. This valuable element becomes a part of the plant tissue. This will lie converted into animal tissue. A part of it re-