sibilities of team-work in rural education, but it cannot detract
from the wonderful work which has been done, and is still being done, by
the one-room rural school. Always there will be districts so sparsely
settled that the consolidated school is not feasible. In such localities
the one-room school, transformed as it may be by enlightened effort,
must still be relied upon to provide education. Nor is this outcome
undesirable. The one-room country school bristles with educational
possibilities. Under intelligent direction, even its cumbersome
organization may yield a plenteous harvest of useful knowledge and
awakened interest.

The droning reading lesson and the sing-song multiplication table are
heard no more in the progressive country school. In their place are
English work, which reflects the spirit of rural things, and the
arithmetic of the farm. Here is a boy of thirteen, in a one-room country
school, writing an essay on "Selecting, Sowing and Testing Seed Corn,"
an essay amply illustrated by pen and ink drawings of growing corn, corn
in the ear and individual corn kernels. Mabel Gorman asks, "Does it pay
the farmer to protect the birds?" After describing the services of birds
in destroying weed seeds and dangerous insects and emphasizing their
beauty and cheerfulness, she concludes: "The question is, does it pay
the farmer to protect the birds?" The only answer is that anything that
adds to the attractiveness of the farm is worthy of cultivation. Happily
a farmer who protects the birds secures a double return--increased
profit from his crop and increased pleasure of living. Viola Lawson,
writing on the subject, "How to Dust and Sweep," makes some pertinent
comments. "I think if a house is very dirty, a carpet sweeper is not a
very good thing. A broom is best, because you can't get around the
corners with a sweeper." Note this hint to the school board: "We spend
about one-third of our time in the school house, so it is very important
to keep the dust down. The directors ought to let the school have
dustless chalk. If they did there wouldn't be so much throat trouble
among teachers and children. Then so many children are so careless about
cleaning their feet, boys especially. They go out and curry the horses,
and clean out the stables, and get their feet all nasty. Then they come
to school and bring that dust into the schoolroom. Isn't that awful?"
Viola is thirteen.

Over in eastern Wisconsin Miss Ellen B. McDona