animal husbandry course will not be in vain. Good outlines of subject matter in animal husbandry may be found in the textbooks. As several of these are usually found in the libraries of most schools, it is needless to repeat their tables of contents here.

The way in which the topics are to be considered should be decided by the instructor and students after making some local surveys and carefully studying local conditions. It should never be concluded that the consideration of topics should be in the order given in any particular textbook. No author of a textbook can arrange the subject matter to suit the local conditions in all parts of

FIG. 31.-Group of students in animal husbandry being taught to judge farm horses. (H. N. Loomis, Northampton, Mass.)

the country. The instructor should have such intimate knowledge of the local conditions as to be able to decide for himself the topics to be considered first.

Emphasis should be placed on those phases of animal husbandry which are of most vital importance to the region. If horse husbandry is of great importance locally, let that be considered early in the course and let special emphasis be given to it. In some regions mule production might be likewise important. Beef cattle should come up for most important consideration in some sections. In still other places swine husbandry is the most important. The sheep industry is prominent in some regions and not in others. Let the instructor and the class decide together what special phases of animal husbandry need consideration most. In some cases there

EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 111

is an advisory committee, or member, in the community who also should be consulted on this point. When season makes any important difference, remember to make the topic timely.

Equipment for Teaching Animal Husbandry. Schools vary

FIG. 32. Judging and scoring beef cattle. Students should become familiar with all the breeds of the region. Study utility types and show types. (W. V. Longley, Minn., and E. O. Bolender, Ohio.)

widely in their equipment for teaching animal husbandry. When the school owns only a few animals and these are restricted to only a few types, material for instruction must be found in the region. Do not omit teaching concretely for lack of sufficient illustrative equipment.

In the best-equipped schools the different types of horses are kept for the sake of teaching students the nature of all of these types. These schools are likewise equipped with different breeds of beef and dairy cattle, the leading breeds of hogs, several breeds of sheep, and a number of varieties of poultry. Buildings of several types for the housing of each of these kinds of animals are sometimes found (see page 121).

Schools having such superior equipment as this have greater responsibility than others because of the large amount of money invested. From such schools more is usually expected in the way of practical instruction. On the other hand, instructors in schools which have little or almost none of the equipment just mentioned for the teaching of animal husbandry should feel the need of obtaining the use of such equipment in the region. The students may be taken to the animals or the animals may be brought to the school. They should never allow the absence of such equipment to stand in the way of practical instruction. Make contrasts with the good and the bad as they are found in the region.

The cost of maintenance of expensive animals owned by the school is an important consideration. Many high schools have decided not to purchase expensive pure-bred animals because of the cost of maintenance. Unless these are to be kept in large enough numbers to be good sources of income it is perhaps bad management to have them kept at great financial outlay by the school.

In some institutions it is advisable for the school to own purebred sires for improvement of livestock purposes in the community. The school may be the center of a community breeding circle with beef cattle and other types of livestock. In all such cases the maintenance of animals should be provided by the rules of the breeding association. The extra instruction which the students may get because of the presence of these animals will be a clear gain to the school.

Class Work in Animal Husbandry. The suggestion has already been made that the class work in animal husbandry should be practical and concrete by being well illustrated with the use of animals. In making lesson assignments individual students should be given such topics as will cause them to make use of animals in presenting the topics to the class. Of course they should be required to do reading from textbooks, reference books and bulletins in preparing their topics. These should be closely associated with the projects

CLASS WORK IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

113 which some members of the class are pursuing. A wide range of topics closely related to the same general phase of the subject may be assigned to different members of the class. Thus studies and reports from different angles of vision will be developed. Remember that students will always work better, show greater interest, and report with greater enthusiasm if they have been making researches which are not assigned to other members of the class.

FIG. 33.-In home project work the student, father, and instructor meet on the farm to study the details of the enterprise. Animals should be frequently weighed and records kept. (T. G. Brown, Wis., and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.)

The attitude of the instructor in this topic method of recitation is that of a masterful director. He has to exhibit his skill in wise lesson assignments. He will show his knowledge of the literature of the subject by concrete references. He must discriminate closely between good and poor reports on the various topics by students. If, for example, a student gets two breeds of animals confused, or if he gets two points of animals mixed, or two blemishes or diseases confounded, he should be promptly corrected and other students should be called upon to straighten out the difficulty.

Base the class work on the home project work of students enough to keep the interest of the whole class centered on these projects (Figs. 33 and 34).

Review Work.2-All class work should be frequently reviewed. Perhaps a few minutes at the beginning of each recitation should

FIG. 34.-These students are learning to prepare baby beef for market. The calves in the lower view were fed for 110 days as a group project by the animal husbandry class of an Iowa high school and gained three pounds and one pound per day, respectively. (Upper, S. R. S., U. S. D. A. Lower, R. M. Vifquain.)

be used to review the main points of the preceding lesson. This will aid in bringing to the minds of the students the points which 2 See Chapter IV.