herefore been turned to consolidation as one of the possible means of
improvement.

=The Process.=--As the name implies, the process is simply the bringing
together and the fusing of two or more schools into one. If two or more
communities, each having a small school of a few children, conclude that
their schools are becoming ineffective and that it would be advantageous
to unite, each may sell its own schoolhouse, and a new one may be built
large enough for all and more centrally located with regard to the whole
territory. They thus "consolidate" the schools of the several districts
and establish a single large one. In many portions of the country the
rural schools have, from various causes, grown smaller and smaller,
until they have ceased to be places of interest, of activity, and of
life. Now, a school, if it means anything, means a place where minds
are stimulated and awakened as well as where knowledge is communicated.
There can be but little stimulation in a school of only a few children.
The pupils feel it and so does the teacher. Life, activity, mental
aspiration are always found where large numbers of persons congregate.
For these reasons the idea of consolidating the small schools into
important centers, or units, is forcing itself upon the people of the
country. Where the schools are small and the roads are good, everything
favors the bringing of the children to a larger and more stimulating
social and educational center.

=When Not Necessary.=--It might happen, as it frequently does, that a
school is already sufficiently large, active, and enthusiastic to make
it inadvisable to give up its identity and become merged in the larger
consolidated school. If there are twenty or thirty children and an
efficient teacher we have the essential factors of a good school.
Furthermore, it is rather difficult to transport, for several miles, a
larger number than this.

=The District System.=--There are two different kinds of country school
organization. In some states, what is known as the district system is
the prevailing one. This means that a school district, more or less
irregular in shape and containing probably six to ten square miles, is
organized into a corporation for school purposes. The schoolhouse is
situated somewhere near the center of this district and is usually a
small, boxlike affair, often located in a desolate place without trees
or other attractive environment. This school may be under the
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