--There are two processes by which all progress is attained,
namely, imitation and invention. Imitation is found everywhere, in all
spheres of thought and of action. Children are great imitators, and
adults are only children grown up. Imitation, of course, is a necessary
thing. Without it no use could be made of past experience. When it
conserves and propagates the good it is to be commended; but the
worthless and the bad are often imitated also. As imitation is necessary
for the preservation of past experience, so invention is equally
essential in blazing new paths of thought and of action. It is probably
true that all persons are more prone to imitation than to invention.

=The Country Imitates the City.=--The rural schools have always imitated
the city schools, as rural life attempts to imitate city life. Many of
the books used in rural schools have been written largely with city
conditions in mind and by authors who have been city bred or city won.
These books have about them the atmosphere and the flavor of the city.
Their selections as a rule contain references and allusions without
number to city life, and give a cityward bent; their connotation and
attitude tend to direct the mind toward the city. As a consequence even
school textbooks have been potent aids in the urban trend.

=Textbooks.=--It is not urged that the subject matter of textbooks be
made altogether rural in its applications and references. The books
should not be completely _ruralized_; nor should there be two sets of
books, one for the country and one for the city. But there should be a
more even balance between the city aspect and the rural aspect of
textbooks, whether used in the country or in the city. If some of the
texts now used were rewritten with the purpose of attaining that
balance, they would greatly assist the curriculum in both country and
city schools. There is no reason why city children should not have their
minds touched by the life, the thought, and the activities of the
country; and it is granted that country children should be made
conscious and cognizant of the life, the thought, and the activities of
the city. There is no more reason why textbooks should carry the urban
message, than that they should be dominantly ruralizing.

=An Interpreting Core.=--The experiences of country children are of all
kinds; rural life, thought, and aspirations constitute the very
development of their consciousness and minds. In all their practi