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b. Bark separating in thick flakes, gray or whitish..... . Sycamores c. Bark separating in thin sheets, gray or whitish.

Birches Several species are grown, as the White Birch, with white bark, and Cut-Leaved Birch, with the leaves cut into narrow lobes. Here may be mentioned the various kinds of Mulberries.

3. Leaves compound; that is, a row of leaflets on each side of the midrib.

a. Leaflets large, 5 to 15; pith solid...

. Hickories

The several species are best distinguished by their nuts, as the Shellbark Hickory, with small edible nuts; Big Hickory, with large edible nuts; Pignut Hickory, with small bitter nuts.

b. Leaflets large, 9 to 23; pith in transverse plates........ Walnuts There are two species, Black Walnuts, with round nuts, and White Walnuts ("Butternuts"), with long nuts.

c. Leaflets large, very many; twigs very stout; seed pods 6 to 10 inches long and 2 inches wide, like big beans.

.....

..Kentucky Coffee Tree

d. Leaflets large, very many; twigs very stout; seed pods small, 1 to 2 inches long, thin. .Ailanthus

e. Leaflets medium sized, 7 to 9; twigs slender; seed pods 3 to 4 inches long, narrow; tree thorny.. .Black Locust

f. Leaflets small, very many; twigs slender; seed pods 6 to 12 inches long, narrow; tree very thorny...

.Honey Locust

THE PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS.

BY CHARLES E. BESSEY.

In the Nebraska Rural Life Commission one important line of work that has been assigned to one of the sections is that pertaining to agricultural schools; that is, the schools that are in the country as distinguished from the schools in the towns and cities. As I am the chairman of this section, I wish here to call the attention of the readers of this report to the problem as it is now outlined. In printing this preliminary statement of the problem in this form it must be understood that my purpose is to call attention to it, and to invite suggestions and friendly criticisms. The bulk of what is here printed has been presented to a full public meeting of the commission, and again to an educational conference in connection with the commencement exercises of the University of Nebraska, 1911.

The Committee on Agricultural Schools of the Nebraska Rural Life Commission will have to consider the whole subject of agricultural education; that is, education for the rural community, but it will give more attention to the second group of schools as outlined below: I. Elementary. II. Intermediate (or secondary). III. Advanced (colleges). We propose to make an extended investigation as to the present efficiency of the schools; their deficiencies; the condition of buildings and surroundings; their appliances; the subject matter taught; attendance; quality of teachers; school terms, etc. We propose to suggest such modifications of the foregoing as will in our opinion improve the work and the results of the rural schools and to submit these suggestions to a large number of thoughtful men and women in the country; that is, on the farms or who are in touch with farm life. From the foregoing we hope to be able to make suggestions to country school boards that will enable them to improve the efficiency of the schools in their charge.

The general outline of the subject may be presented in tabular form, as follows:

A. ELEMENTARY COUNTRY SCHOOLS.

1. The districts. How large are they? How large should they be? Are present conditions favorable or unfavorable?

2. The buildings-present and future. The question of efficiency. The question of cost. The question of use.

3. The surroundings (groves, gardens, etc.): There should be no more bare buildings. Need of attractive surroundings, so as to compete with town schools.

4. The appliances-present and future: Must not be meagre and niggardly. The best is not too good.

5. The subject matter taught: Is it what it should be? We must take up anew the question of the proper course of study.

6. The attendance: Should it be adjusted to the parents' needs? Should it be made flexible? How can it be done without injury to the pupil?

7. The school terms (time of year): Is the present practice the best? Theoretically, the school should be open all the year, just as the church is, or the store, or the blacksmith shop, and eventually it will be. But under present conditions this can not be done. What shall we do in the meantime?

8. The quality of teachers; personality; preparation: Personally they must be in sympathy with rural life. They must be prepared to teach rural topics.

B. INTERMEDIATE

TURE").

COUNTRY SCHOOLS (including "SCHOOLS OF AGRICUL

1. Location: Where in the counties? Where in the state? A hard matter to decide. How best decide?

2. Buildings: Must be for greatest efficiency. Mere sheds or barns will not do. Must be well planned for the special work.

3. Grounds (farm, gardens, groves, etc.): These must be different from those of ordinary high schools. There must be land enough for the out-of-door practice in the growing of plants.

4. Illustrations (crops, stock, machinery, etc.): These must be available. How can this be done most efficiently?

5. Subject matter taught: Here we must have Culture as well as Agriculture. We must not omit either one.

6. The school terms (time of year): Is the six-month plan (November to April) the best? It has been found to be so for our Agricultural School at Lincoln. Will it prove so elsewhere?

7. The quality of teachers: The need of great breadth is far greater here than in the ordinary high school.

C. ADVANCED SCHOOLS (including "COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE”). 1. Relation of the schools of agriculture:

There must be entrance

through the latter as well as through ordinary high schools.

2. Subject matter taught: We must have the sciences and the other subjects in which agriculture rests.

3. The time of the year occupied: In my opinion, these colleges should be open all the year, so that a pupil may enter at any time.

To the Reader. You can help in this investigation. Do not think present conditions perfect. Do not be afraid of making changes. I shall welcome your suggestions which are based upon experience, however radical they may be. Only let your suggestions be workable under present conditions. Then help make better conditions, so that still broader and better work may be done in our schools.

GEOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF

NEBRASKA.

BY G. E. CONDRA, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA.

The salient cultural features in the development of Nebraska are as follows:

1. Settlement began in the eastern part of the state (then a territory), extended west, first along valleys, and later onto the intervening uplands.

2. Development, though rapid as a whole, has been by periods of progress and depression, especially in the western part.

3. Development has been largely agricultural, varying considerably in each of the well-defined regions.

4. The state is very unevenly developed.

5. The state has one small coal mine, several sand dredges, brick yards, and quarries, but no gold, silver, or iron mines.

6. The state ranks high in the production of corn, oats, wheat, alfalfa, prairie hay, horses, cattle, butter, and meats.

7. Most of the people and the largest cities are in the eastern and southern counties.

8. The smallest counties are in the eastern part and the largest in the northwest.

9. The southeast half of the state is well supplied with local-use railroads. There are four trans-continental railroads in Nebraska.

10. In politics the state often separates into north and south divisions, and there is more or less misunderstanding between the eastern and western parts.

How are the above facts explained? To use a common expression in geography, how are they accounted for? Do they have any definite relation to physical features? If so, what are the geographic influences in Nebraska? I will briefly describe the position, climate, topography, and soils as the influencing conditions and point out a few of their consequences.

POSITION OF THE STATE.

Such a

Nebraska is centrally located in the mainland of the United States, being a part of the long slope of the High Plains Regions, slanting eastward from the Rocky Mountains. It is alongside the Missouri-Mississippi highway, and in the path of the well-known overland routes. position and the advantages coming from it have advertised the state and made its products readily accessible to eastern, southern, and foreign markets. The position with respect to boundaries, climatic belts, etc., need not be recited in this connection.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT.

The state was occupied by Indians before whites. The Indians are said to have entered from the east, by way of the water courses at various periods, beginning about the time of the discovery of America by Columbus. They lived mostly in the eastern part of the state, their crude homes being in valleys, near trees and water. They cultivated small fields, and made regular pilgrimages to unoccupied valleys, upland plains, and table lands to hunt elk, bison, and antelopes, which were their principal sources of food and clothing. Certain nomadic tribes finally occupied the open plains nearly exclusively, and warred against those who came to this country only for hunting. Indians did not strongly resist the advent of whites.

The first white people to reach Nebraska were trappers and traders. They entered from the southeast, by way of the Missouri river. Next came a few "squatters," or settlers, from the same direction, and across Iowa. By this time navigation on the Missouri had grown to considerable importance.

At this stage of Nebraska's development came the discovery of gold in California. The Missouri was navigable to the Nebraska border; beyond was the shallow Platte. Prospectors were here forced to seek freight and stage routes across the land, leading westward from the Missouri-Mississippi gateway up and over the Great Plains to low divides in the Rocky Mountains and beyond. The line of easiest access in the north was, in general, along the Platte Valley. So this natural feature had a marked influence in the movement of early freight, emigrants, and finally in locating the Union Pacific. Upon the completion of the first trans-continental railroad, freight and travel shifted to an east-west route, in favor of Chicago and New York City. This was away from and greatly to the disadvantage of Missouri River transportation and Southern cities along its course. The overland freighters of the Oregon Route were now driven out of business, and stage coaches were forced to routes that supplemented the railroad. The influence of the Platte Valley in locating the Union Pacific is often overlooked, and the importance of that railroad as a political and industrial factor since 1867 is nearly always under-emphasized by geography teachers. Later, three other trans-continental railroads selected routes across the state.

Before the Union Facific was completed many disappointed gold seekers, remembering the broad prairies of Nebraska, returned to them to make homes. Settlement now became more rapid though confined for a while to land near the Missouri River because of transportation facilities which it afforded. Settlements extended westward in valleys near water, stone, trees, and protection from winds. About the time the Union Pacific was completed settlement had reached the uplands, where the soil proved much more fertile than the home-seekers had expected. The western part of the state was then a cattle country, with unlimited free range.

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