, and will
cultivate and care for same as may be directed by the proper
authorities, and will keep a careful record of the returns
therefrom and report same on or before Oct. 20, 1911. I will do
the additional agricultural work that may be directed as
indicated above.

................................. Applicant.

Endorsed by ........................ Parent or Guardian."

The form carried on its opposite side statements showing the character
of crop and its value, the amount paid for seeds and an itemized
statement of the returns. The school gardens proved an admirable
success. The children had learned the details of a great historical
event in their own state--the giving out of free land; the boys had
conducted a miniature survey; rivalry had been developed in the
competition over plots; the gardens, laid out side by side, served as a
splendid object lesson in quality of work; no boy or girl could allege a
teacher's unfairness from an untilled, weedy plot; the parents were made
to feel that the school was doing something practical for their
children; the children were taught a simple form of accounting and
cost-keeping; and, best of all, they were made to feel their citizenship
in the school.

The Department of Agriculture has, in addition to its experimental farm,
a well-equipped laboratory, in which tests and experiments are carried
on. Sleepy Eye is located in a dairy section; therefore one of the chief
functions of this laboratory has been the testing of milk. Any farmer
may bring milk samples and have the Babcock test applied to determine
the percentage of butter fat which an individual cow is yielding.

IV A Short Course for Busy People

In the neighborhood of Sleepy Eye, as in many other places, there are
many boys and girls who cannot attend school throughout the year, but
who would welcome a chance to go to school in the winter months.
Agricultural colleges have recognized this need by the organization of
"short courses" during the winter months. Only a few children can go to
college, however. Lack of preparation and lack of funds compel them to
remain at home. It was for them that the school at Sleepy Eye organized
a short course like that given in the agricultural colleges, extending
from the end of November to the middle of March. Of the pupils attending
this course, some of the boys are as old as thirty-seven, and some of
the girls as young as fifteen; yet a