14. Townshend Hall, Ohio State University_ 15. New York State College of Agriculture, central group. 225 227 232 17. Class in farm crops studying grain sorghums, Kansas Agricul- 242 24. Minnesota School of Agriculture, home building for boys, 1888_. 325 25. D. M. Hughes.. 369 IX Part 1. THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION INTRODUCTION With the close of the Revolutionary War and the assured independence of the United States of America the leaders of enterprise and public opinion in this country began more definitely to make plans for the promotion of the agricultural, industrial, commercial, political, and social interests of the new Nation. This was chiefly a country of agricultural and rural communities. Farming included not only the production and sale of crops and livestock, but also cutting of wood for fuel and lumber, weaving and making of clothes, tanning of leather, and the manufacture of household furniture and farm implements. Such artisans as were needed to construct and repair buildings and vehicles, shoe horses, and grind grain were often partly engaged in farming. This was also true of the storekeepers who distributed the few articles brought in from the cities and the men who had small mills and factories, many of which depended on the water power from the small streams adjacent to the farms. Even the commercial and professional people of the comparatively few cities of that period invested their surplus funds largely in land speculation and agricultural enterprises. Many of the soldiers of the Revolution, when relieved of their military duties, together with other adventurous spirits, took advantage of the grants of land or even without this incentive pushed out into the unoccupied regions of the original Colonies and even beyond the Alleghenies to clear the land and make homes on virgin soils. Thus was begun a vast expansion of American agriculture and the building up of rural communities largely unhampered by traditions and willing to undertake experiments in agriculture, education, and social organization. Meanwhile the older settlements along the Atlantic coast had followed a crude and exhausting practice of agriculture and were seeking means of increasing the fertility of their lands. The movement of population called strongly for improved methods of communication, and there was great activity in building roads, bridges, and canals, as well as ships and boats for inland and coastwise navigation. The dispersion of farm laborers and the increasing size of farm operations made the necessity for improved farm implements more and more apparent. Under such circumstances it was natural for political and social leaders to take a deep interest in the promotion of agriculture and to connect this closely with the promotion of commerce, manufactures, and the arts. To understand the movement in the United States which has resulted in our nation-wide system of agricultural research and education it is necessary to know how its beginnings were related to the 1 history and progress of science and education in both Europe and North America. While the States had withdrawn from their colonial and political relations with Great Britain, their people renewed in large measure after the war the varied intercourse with individuals and institutions in the mother country and were very largely influenced by the movements in thought and action there with reference to agricultural, industrial, and social affairs. They also took great interest in similar movements on the Continent of Europe, particularly those in France, whose timely and effective assistance had done so much to make their political independence possible, and to a less extent in those of Germany and Switzerland. These private foreign relations were stimulated and enlarged by increased correspondence, interchange of publications, travel, and residence abroad for education, business, health, or pleasure. The public embassies and consular offices established after the Revolution, as well as the visits of naval officers on official business, resulted in increase of information regarding European affairs, and this was disseminated widely in this country through the press and otherwise. All this happened at a time when there were already in western Europe a considerable literature on agriculture and quite a number of organizations and institutions devoted to the promotion of agriculture. The natural sciences were also taking more definite shape, their relations to agriculture were becoming more apparent, and there was a growing hope that their future developments would greatly promote agricultural advancement. The peoples and their governments were beginning to realize that the diversification and strengthening of agriculture to meet the needs of increasing populations and a more complex civilization were very important objects to be promoted. There was therefore a search for new crops, better livestock, and improved farm implements and cultural methods. The eighteenth century in Europe had been marked by the establishment of a number of agricultural societies and schools, in connection with which agriculture was taught and practiced. Books and pamphlets on agricultural subjects were quite numerous. Knowledge of these things was available in North America and greatly influenced the origin and progress of the movement for agricultural advancement in the United States. To understand this movement it is necessary to keep in mind the similar movement in the old world. DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN EUROPE From the time of the Renaissance there was a tendency to relate education to the actual needs of human life and to give attention to nature and its relation to practical affairs. With the beginnings of modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a desire to use the new knowledge in education soon appeared. Among those who influenced this movement was Rabelais (1483-1553), who would have pupils study nature as well as books and use their knowledge in their daily occupations. John Amos Comenius (1592-1670) aspired to have "the complete reorganization of human knowledge along Baconian lines." His teaching and textbooks were based on "presenting the object or idea directly to the child" and making whatever was taught "of practical application in everyday life" (48). Samuel Hartlib (c. 1600-c. 1670) introduced the writings of Comenius to England and in 1651 published a little book entitled "An Essay for Advancement of Husbandry-Learning; or Propositions for the Erecting Colledge of Husbandry; and, in order thereunto, for the taking in of Pupills or Apprentices. And also Friends or Fellowes of the Same Colledge or Society" (70). This contains a detailed statement of the subject to be taught and the means to be used in securing financial support for the institution. In the Tractate of Education, published in 1644 and addressed to Hartlib, Milton followed very largely the plan of education suggested by Rabelais, which involved a very broad study of classical literature, including agriculture, as described by Cato, Columella, and Varro. Here is found also the definition of "a complete and generous education" as "that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices both private and public of peace and war. Out of this came the academies in England, which often included in their curriculum studies having a practical bearing. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1770) held "that the educational material should be the facts and phenomena of nature" and dwelt much on the importance of manual and industrial activities in education. Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1826), being influenced by Rousseau, entered on an agricultural life, and from his experience with his own children developed a more positive and practical scheme of education. From 1775 for several years he conducted a school for poor children in which part of their time was spent in raising farm products, spinning and weaving of cotton, etc. Philip Emanuel von Fellenberg (1771-1844) conducted very successfully from 1806 to 1844, at Hofwyl, Switzerland, two manuallabor schools, which had considerable influence in the United States. (See p. 34.) These schools were for the upper classes and peasants, respectively. They were located on an estate of 600 acres, and the boys in both schools had gardens and were expected to do farm work. There was also instruction in science related to agriculture, a printing press, and workshops for making clothing and agricultural and scientific instruments. Subsequently there was a school for girls and a normal school. EARLY AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS Ferdinand Kindermann (1740-1801), a Bohemian, sometimes called "father of industrial education," under the patronage of Maria Theresa, founded an elementary school in which agriculture, music, and religion were taught along with the three R's. This plan was also followed in other schools. In Bohemia an agricultural school was opened at Tirnova in 1791. In Hungary agricultural schools were established at Zarvas in 1779; at Nagy-Micklós in 1786; the Georgicon Academy at Kezthely, founded in 1797, was for 50 years "the model agricultural college of Europe" (3). |