Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 152, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1911 — TO TEACH FARMING [ARTICLE]

TO TEACH FARMING

Commissioner of Massachusetts Board of Education Approves. Hoped to Disseminate Principles Broadcast Throughout Commonwealth and Bring About Reclamation of Abandoned Farms. Boston,—After many years of discussion a definite program, arranged by David Snedden, commissioner of the state board of education, has been submitted to the legislature whereby it is proposed to have scientific farming taught in the public schools and its principles disseminated broadcast throughout the entire state. By, his program the commissioner hopes to bring about the reclamation of abandoned farms and a general development of agriculture along expert lines. His recommendations call for the establishment of six state agricultural schools and an agricultural de partment in every high school in the state. * Not only is this sweeping addition to the system of the state approved by the educational authorities, but it is supported as-a thoroughly practical measure by Secretary J. Lewis Ellbworth, of the state board of agriculture, whose knowledge of farming conditions and possibilities is unquestioned. That the farrhing population will be increased and that the “back to the land” impulse will be gratified with a certainty of success by the city bred high school graduates of the next few years are results to be expected. Also, It is the most practical step toward utilizing small plots of land in in-' tensive farming. On this point Secretary Ellsworth says: "From the agricultural standpoint the recommendations of the state board of education are very welcome, and they bear out the conclusions that progressive farmers have arrived at. The scientific instruction in farming as a life work is needed just as much as the vocational instruction in other lines. “The farmer today knows this, and with .the teaching of boys in high schools or separate agricultural schools we will receive recruits for the farm work of the future. “General instruction in agriculture will be of special value in fitting the studentß for working profitably small plots near our large cities where there is a ready market. This calls for intensive fanning to achieve the fullest profits, and the graduates of these schools will be fitted for such work.” The importance of his recommendations is dwelt upon by Dr. Snedden, who has spent the last year in investigating the special needs of agricultural education. One of the most Important of these as it is set forth in the carefully considered report of the board, is: "The growing commercial and industrial school facilities open to boys and girls fourteen years of age and older tend to lure away from the land and into congested centers, In the absence of competent and attractive agricultural education, many young pe& pie whose natural aptitude would make them, If properly trained, better and more prosperous citizens in the oountry.'

“Financial aid for agricultural education suitable for adults and for college students has for a half century been furnished by the commonwealth and by the federal government. State aid for vocational training of the secondary grade in agriculture is, moreover, entirely In keeping with state aid for independent industrial school work and to some extent has been provided for. , "The slow development of secondary agricultural schools, the testimony of farmers throughout the state, and the demand for the investigation which was made by the legislature of

1910 are evidence of the need of addir tional legislation providing for this kind of agricultural education.” HEDGEHOG FIT FOR EPICURE Maine Advocates Say Bounties Caused Great Waste of Good Food—Preferred to Bkunk or Muskrat. Machias, Me. —“It Is a shame,” says a lover of hedgehog meat, “that the people of Maine have remained in ignorance regarding the delights of eating roasted hedgehog for so long. If they had been utilized as food those 150,000 dead hedgehogs for which Maine has paid out $38,000 In bounties would have kept two regiments of soldiers In meat for six weeks. It was a cruel and wanton waste of pre-' clous food.” The advocates of hedgehog meat as part of the regular bill of fare assert that in England the average poacher prefers a hedgehog to a hare for breakfast. In Michigan the legislature has placed a perpetual close time on hedgehogs, so that persons lost In the woods and without food may Arid meat to satisfy their hunger and kill It without the aid of shotgun or rifle. It is asserted on good authority that more than 20 men are saved from starving in Michigan every year because hedgehogs are abundant and easy to capture. 1 When a Maine Indian has his choice of a hedgehog, a skunk, a woodchuck and a muskrat for dinner, he will select the first named Invariably, and take the skunk as second choice, leav-

ing the woodchuck, which is the only one of the lot a Maine white man will taste, to the last. Unlike the skunk and the woodchick, which are lean and unsavory except set a few months in the fall, or the muskkat, which is never fat, and which has a strong flavor is spite of parboiling, the hedgehog is always in an edible condition, and has meat that is as tender and white as that of a spring chicken. The method of coqking a hedgehog is so simple that a novice can learn in one short lesson. When the eptoure is permitted to make choice he should shun the large, old males, which at times weigh 30. or 40 pounds. The preparation consists in removing the viscera, washing out the interior and filling the cavity with slices of fat pork, peeled raw potatoes, sprigs of spearmint and wild celery from the brook. Then, without removing the quills of skinning, the body is plastered thickly with wet clay, from the nearest bank. The muddy, bulky mass is thrust into live coals and covered with blazing fagots, to be roasted for two hours. - * jj> On removal from the coals, the clay is found to have been baked into a hard and solid mass, which must be broken open with an ax or a heavy stone, whereupon the skin and quills of the animal cling to the clay wrapping and fall away, leaving the clean, white meat ready to be eaten. Ten years ago the Maine legislature passed a law providing for a bounty of 25 cents a head on all dead hedgehogs brought to the town clerks. An appropriation of SSOO for each of the years 1901 and 1902 was made, but when the total for the two bounty years reached $38,000, the legislature quickly repealed the law.