anciano-decastro correspondence

BAMBOO AND RATTAN FURNITURE FOR PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE GRADES

By JOSEPH A. COCANNOUER and LEROY R. SAWYER

The Philippine Crafstman - July 1913

UNDER the existing course of study, work in bamboo and rattan has a recognized place as one of the optional industrial subjects in the third and fourth grades of the primary course and in the fifth grade of the General Course and Course for Teaching. Up to the present time it has not been developed as rapidly as could be expected, nor has it been given the attention in these grades that the character of this work and its bearing upon the home conditions of the Filipino people would appear to necessitate. This may be, and probably is, [ e l due in part to the fact that a manual suitable for instruction purposes on the subject has only been recently available. This is in the form of a short course in bamboo and rattan work, presented in the October number of Volume I of THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN

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INDANG FARM SCHOOL 1911

EXCERPT FROM THE LIFE SKETCH OF MRS. ROSA G. ACUŇA (1902-1969)

EMA (refers to Eulogio G. Acuňa) and I are from the same town (Alfonso, Cavite) but not very familiar with each other till we met in the Indang Rural High School where we were both teaching, We were married in June 13, 1929 and after the marriage we left for Bunawan, Agusan because Ema was transferred to as principal in Bunawan Agri. School.

My happiest days were my married days and they were spent in Bunawan, Agusan.

We were happy after marriage because of the following: Compatibility, mutual understanding, consideration and highest respect for each other.

Even after marriage we continued admiring each other. Here are some of the traits that I admire in him: Loving and kind winning and strong personality, high mental capacity, thoughtfulness, courage and firmness. He also admired most of the desirable traits that I possessed. Here are some of them: common sense, simplicity, and humbleness, industry, strong, honest pride, foresight and economy.

We stayed in Bunawan, Agusan for 8 years. Both of us were teaching, Ema was the principal and I was a classroom teacher in the elementary grades. I tried to be simple and humble and the help of God we were able to save a little.

It was also during our stay in Bunawan that Ema was able to pass the Teacher’s Examination with a rating of 76+. He was the third highest.

Four of our children were born in Agusan; two in Butuan Public Hospital.

After 8 years stay in Bunawan, Agusan, Ema was transferred to Bukidnon Agricultural High School. Bukidnon was a nice place but I did not enjoy much there as I did in Bunawan, Agusan. The nearest school where I taught was 6 kilometers from the Agricultural High School. I have to rent a house near that school and stay there for a week with the children who were schooling. I suffered much in Bukidnon. Ema kept the small kids with him in the Agri School. He had two nieces with him.

Ema worked hard to improve the Bukidnon Agri. High School. Two and half years after the director of Education, Salvador visited the school. After his visit B.A.H.S. bacame an insular school Dr. Felipe Cevallos became the superintendent.

Just after the assignment of Dr. Caballos, Ema was transferred to Catarman Agri. High School. It was the middle of school year when Ema was transferred.

Catarman was a nice place, transportation was easy, food stuff was cheap and I was near Manila. Nearly all daily needs were available.

Principal’s cottage was very spacious and the yard was big enough to have a poultry house, a pig pen, and vegetable garden.

There was electric light in the house; the artesian well was just near the kitchen. We enjoyed much during our first year in Catarman.

During our second year stay an Agri Fair was held in the school campus. The division personnel as well as officials from different towns went to Catarman. There were exhibits from the different schools of the province. Many different towns participated in this fair. I was just a sort of the small carnival.

Teachers, students and visitors enjoyed during the fair. There was auditorium and dance was held for three successive nights.

The principal cottage was just a small dormitory. The two bedrooms were both occupied and the porch which quite spacious was filled up with beds, all occupied too.

We had visitors for nearly a week. We really enjoyed much during those days. My brother and sister in-law were also there enjoying with us.

But now I began to realize that when there is enjoyment lamentation will follow.

The war broke out on Dec. 8, 1924. All teachers with their families evacuated to the farm houses. We stayed in the evacuation place for nearly six months.

When the Japanese landed in Catarman, the division superintendent ordered all the teachers and their families to surrender. While we were in the campus, the commander of the Japanese Imperial force in Catarman asked palay. Ema being the head of the school have to give the palay. Ema was going to granary with three students and one house boy to get the palay, when he was captured by several men. Some said they were member of the USAFE (USAFFE - anciano) although it was no longer existing at that time. It happened on August 7, 1942.

I was left alone in the school campus with my seven children ad two nieces of Ema. All the other teachers left the campus. My suffering was more than I can bear. I have never experienced that in all my life.

Our clothes and other belongings and several cavans of our palay were stolen.

We stayed in the barrio of Cawayan, one kilometer away from the campus after we have been left alone.

After a few weeks stay in Cawayan, I managed to come home to our native town with my children and two nieces of Ema. My youngest child was five month old when we left Catarman. We rode on the Parao from Catarman to Guiniangan, Tayabas. We were twenty one days on the sea. Our trip was nearly a month. I was a very lonely trip; there was not a night when I did not shade tears. We stayed in Guiniangan for two days. From there we took the truck for Manila. With the help of God we arrived home safely.

THE DUTY OF THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE[1]

By H. J. WATERS

President of the Kansas State Agricultural College

TAKE THE COLLEGE TO THE PEOPLE

While it is of paramount importance that the college gives thoroughly sound instruction to the young men and young women in residence, it is equally true that its activity must not end here. More and more must the college be carried to the people. At best but a small proportion of those who should avail themselves of its advantages can leave home.

Farmers' institute. - This phase of the college work, as it affects the farmer, is already well organized and bringing splendid results. Through the farmers' institutes, farmers' conventions, instruction trains, demonstration farms, etc., the whole State is being reached. It is expected that the representatives of the college will this year come into personal touch with fully 75,000 farmers and farmers' wives, or more than one out of every three farmers in Kansas. It is possible that it will soon be found necessary to offer courses in agriculture and home economics of varying lengths in different parts of the State to accommodate the increasing demand for instruction in these subjects on the part of those who can not leave home.

Outlying experiments. - It is not sufficient to conduct experiments at Manhattan and Fort Hays and call the problems finally settled, in accordance with the teachings of these results. Kansas is a large State, with a great variety of soils, and great variation in rainfall and in plant and animal adaptation. As soon as funds for this purpose can be provided and the work so organized that it may proceed in each case along lines that are fairly certain to yield profitable results, there should be instituted systematic tests or experiments in every county in the State. This will be found profitable not only because of the exact information secured, but by reason of the greater confidence which the farmers will have in the results, because they were secured under conditions which they recognize as identical with their own.

Then, these experimental fields may also serve an exceedingly valuable educational purpose, by being so planned that they demonstrate some point in agricultural practice of especial importance to the community in which they are established.

Farm practice is developing at so rapid a rate and so many methods are being found to succeed well under one set of conditions and not under another, that for the individual farmer to try, at his own expense, all that good judgment indicated might be worth trying, would mean that his farm must become an experiment station instead of a business enterprise. It is therefore the business of the State and Federal Government to put these things to the test for him, and under conditions closely approximating his own.

State surveys. - For the first time in our history, we have become interested in the conservation of our resources. A young nation, like a young person, is proverbially profligate of its resources. Ours has been a waste of the resources of soil and forest and stream that is without parallel in the history of the world. This waste has been largely due to improper systems of farming, and can not continue another century without bringing ruin to America's basic industry. Under the teachings of institutions like this, larger returns may be secured without depleting the soil than are now secured under a system-of land spoliation. This is a matter of concern not only to the landowner, but to the whole of society, since the future welfare of our cities and factories and churches and schools is directly dependent upon the returns from the farm.

We are not in a frame of mind to consider methods of checking this waste. The first step is to take account of stock. The Kansas landowner needs to know what types of soil he has, what amount of plant food each contains, to what each is best adapted, and how it may be managed to yield the largest return without having its productiveness diminished. The college should at once organize a State soil survey, and push it toward completion as rapidly as the facilities provided by the State and Federal Government will permit. This is fundamental to all agricultural progress. Later, surveys of special industries or crops should be instituted, to determine upon what types of soil and under what conditions they are succeeding and under what conditions they fail, that it may form the basis of researches to point out the way to make them successful under all conditions.

A corn and forage plant survey, to extend the boundary of successful farming still further westward, is an enterprise in which this State can well afford to engage.

Conserving water power - These efforts should not be limited to agriculture. A series of investigations and experiments looking toward the conservation and utilization of the water supply of the State, for the purposes of both irrigation and power, is a duty which the college owes to the public. There are doubtless many localities in which sufficient power could in this way be developed to supply the needs of farm and village within the radius of 20 or more miles. In many other places hydraulic power could be developed sufficient to furnish light and power for from one to a dozen farms.

The loss to crops from improperly distributed rainfall in this State is enormous. In many places water could be economically stored during the wet seasons, to be used for irrigation purposes when the rains fail. In other localities, the underground supply of water might be profitably utilized by a proper method of pumping.

The protection of life and property against floods is a matter of serious importance, and commends itself to our favorable consideration. Water purification and sewage disposal are as yet unsolved problems for the greater proportion of the State.

Tests should be carried on to determine the draft and efficiency of farm implements with the expectation of establishing standard designs for the different conditions of soil.

Kansas produces gas, oil, and coal in large quantities. Much of this has been wasted in the past and is being wasted under present conditions. A series of tests conducted on a commercial scale will do much toward establishing standard methods for the preparation and use of these materials.

The gasoline engine will, for some time to come, be the principal prime mover for small units in this State. The cost of gasoline is constantly increasing. Under present conditions denatured alcohol can not be used economically. Investigations that will lead to methods of manufacture of denatured alcohol at a low price, and to methods of producing gas from Kansas coal successfully, will do much to extend the use of this type of engine and to cheapen the cost of power.

THE COUNTRY ROAD

Of more importance than all of these is the country highway. We have, through long use, worn out the natural roads, and have not yet found a successful substitute. Through the recently created department of public highways of the college, however, it is expected that we shall be able to educate the people concerning the importance of this matter. Moreover, through this means the college is now pointing out the most satisfactory way of maintaining earth roads, imparting information in regard to the best systems of permanent culverts and bridges, and as rapidly as the people of a community will assume the cost, will supervise the construction of permanent roads.

At all times the people have been found ready to pay taxes for permanent public improvements, if they are confident that the money will be judiciously expended. It is through careful supervision by the experts of the college that the ordinary mistakes of the planning and construction of these highways and bridges will be avoided.

PRODUCTION AND DISSEMINATION

OF IMPROVED PLANTS AND ANIMALS

The colleges of agriculture must lead in plant and animal improvement. A plan of improvement instituted by an individual is seldom carried beyond his lifetime. In a college, if well managed, a program of improvement may be carried forward without interruption for many generations, indeed indefinitely. It will be highly profitable for the State to encourage the more general use of better farm crops and live stock, by disseminating these improved strains, through the college. Already a large impress has been made upon the agriculture of Kansas, in both plants and animals, and experiments are now in progress which it is confidently expected will yield even more important economic results.

THE EXPERIMENT STATION

The primary function of the experiment station is to extend the domain of human knowledge. It has been the chief factor in creating agricultural knowledge. It was the experiment station which won back to the college the confidence of the farmer, which confidence had been forfeited for lack of ability to lead him.

It is the experiment station which has supplied the teacher with accurate and well-organized knowledge to impart in the class room. It has been the experiment station which has provided the way for these institutions to become real leaders in the realm of agriculture and has exerted an influence upon agricultural practice that is epoch making.

It is an admirable work to turn out young men trained for leadership on the farm and capable of going among farmers as teachers of correct systems of agriculture, or to lead young men who come to the college to a better knowledge of the subject; but, after all, the greatest work these colleges have to do is to equip men with the proper knowledge and the necessary inspiration to advance the world's knowledge and to supply these thousands of teachers with something to teach.

It is, therefore, a fundamental mistake to assume that the duty of the experiment station is solely or even principally to benefit the farmer directly. A larger responsibility rests upon it-that of making an exact science of agriculture, so that it may be successfully taught in the colleges, the high school, the graded school, the farmers' institutes, and on demonstration farms.

The value of research is not limited to the industries. It is the very life of a teaching institution such as this. It gives point to the instruction. The teacher who is an investigator is a live teacher; no man can long keep alive as a teacher and not conduct researches.

RESEARCH TO ENCOURAGE MANUFACTURE

But research in these institutions has been restricted to too narrow a field. Little attention has been given to problems other than production problems. The effort has all been in the direction of making two blades of grass grow where one grew before; or of increasing man's efficiency with this or that machine. The time has come when its influence should be materially extended. The wastes of a rural community are not all to be found in the processes incident to production. An equal waste occurs in the marketing and utilization of the materials produced.

The investigations should, therefore, include agricultural manufactures and the utilization of the wastes on the farm. Factories should be developed in the country, near the sources of production, for the preparation for final consumption of the materials grown on the farm. Such factories are necessary for the highest degree of economy in the production of food and to give the laboring man an opportunity to gain a livelihood outside of the congested city. Foodstuffs are already too high to stand the strain of the additional cost of transporting the raw materials long distances in order that they may be manufactured into edible form, then shipped back to the consumer in the very community in which they were grown, and where their manufacture might have been accomplished to better advantage. In countries where the raw materials of our foodstuffs are chiefly grown, there they should be chiefly manufactured. Kansas wheat should be milled in Kansas. Just as the experiment station has made a profound impress upon the methods of farming, so may it improve the methods of manufacturing the products of the farm. The millers of the State need just such scientific assistance as the station can provide, all with a view not so much to helping the miller directly as to improving the quantity and quality of the foodstuffs garnered from the Kansas wheat fields.

THE ECONOMICS OF MARKETING

Such vital questions as how to dispose of the products that they may yield the largest returns, or how to spend the income so as to bring the best results in the highest sense, have been practically neglected.

To correct this one-sided development and meet this larger demand, the department of history of the college should be so strengthened and enlarged as to cover, both by instruction and by research, the industries of our country. The department of economics should be prepared to fully cover the range of transportation, manufactures, marketing, etc., as they relate to the farming and industrial classes. The department of sociology should deal with the life of the people in the open country and in the districts supported by the industries, and be able to suggest plans for their immediate and permanent improvement.

The department of architecture should make a large impress upon the homes and public buildings of the State, and upon the location and arrangement of the accessory buildings that they may conserve the strength of the housewife, afford the sanitary conditions essential to health and add to the comfort and pleasure of country life.

AMERICANS LIVE WASTEFULLY

Americans, poor and rich, live wastefully. This can not continue. A new basis must be established which shall, while avoiding the extreme care and economy of Continental Europe, which destroys initiative and kills pride, stop the major wastes in our system of living.

But of more importance than mere economy of living is the influence of the environment and method of living upon the race. Will out of it all in the long run come a strong and virile race of people, a race capable of meeting the complex problems of the future and advancing still further our civilization?

It is especially appropriate to emphasize this point in the institution which, among the land-grant colleges at least, has been a leader in this line, and which to-day boasts the largest and perhaps best equipped department of domestic science and art in America.

As much, however, as has been done in this direction here and elsewhere, and proud as we have a right to be of the record of this college in this direction, real work has been hardly begun and we scarcely realize what this great movement means and what will be its future development. Certain are we, however, that it means something more than the mere teaching of young women how to sew and how to cook. It has involved in it the whole question of home building and the rearing of a strong and virile race of people. The dream of the ancients, a strong mind in a sound body, is thus beginning to be realized. But we have only just come to take this view of the matter and have scarcely begun work on this broad basis. Times are strangely- out of joint when we justify the extensive scientific inquiries into the way to rear a strong and vigorous race of pigs or sheep or colts or cattle, and are content with the very meager knowledge which we possess of the nutrition of men. We have millions for research in the realm of domestic animals, and nothing for the application of science to the rearing of children. Exhaustive studies are made upon the life histories of animals of the lower orders, while vital facts in regard to the life history of our children remain a sealed book. We know how the amoeba develops, but are content to remain in ignorance of what factors contribute to the development of a strong body and a sound mind in mankind. For centuries we have let the injunction "Know thyself" go unheeded, and have forgotten that "The greatest study of mankind is man."

For every dollar that goes into the fitting of a show herd of cattle or hogs or into experiments in feeding domestic animals, there should be a like sum available for fundamental research in feeding men for the greatest efficiency. The Kansas State Agricultural College ought to take advanced ground here, and build up the greatest institute of research in human nutrition in the world. The Federal Government should be interested and cooperate with the State and community in matters of this sort.

THE EXODUS FROM THE FARM

It is common to lament the tendency of the best men and women to leave the farm and go to the city as a modern or present-day tendency, whereas it is as old as civilization itself. Plutarch in his "Praecepta Politica" protested against the threatening invasion of large cities; Cicero thundered against the depopulation of the rural districts through similar attractions to those which draw young men and young women from the farm to-day. Even Justinian, the great lawmaker, was in favor of legislation designed to keep the people on the farm.

The great Roman Emperor Augustus before the Christian era saw that his empire was being undermined and the strength of his people sapped by the exodus from the country to the city, and called to him the poets of the nation and commanded them to sing of the beauties and profits of country life, in order to attract his people back to the land. This trend city ward has been to a great degree due to the half education which has prevailed in the rural districts and which has given the farm boy glimpses of the more attractive city life without teaching him at the same time how he may attain such a life at home.

For the first time in history this situation is sought to be met by making a profession of farming, so that it may be attractive to the intellectually strong, at the same time that the returns are large enough to command the reasonable comforts and luxuries of life. These countervailing influences, however, will be found to be inadequate unless they strike at the very root of the difficulty-the farm home, the country road, the rural school, and the country church.

VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

This means that vocational subjects must be introduced into the courses of study in the grades and in the high schools, as well as in the colleges and in the universities. So rapidly and so fully has instruction in vocational branches been developed, that the best and cheapest places to learn farming or stock raising or dairying is now, not on the farm, but in a college. The horse doctor has been displaced by the college-trained veterinarian. The place to learn to sew and to cook and to build and manage a home is, not in the home, but in a college. The period of apprenticeship of the machinist has been supplanted by a course at college, and the employers of’ engineers no longer look elsewhere than to the colleges for this training. But gratifying as all this is to us, we must realize that at best the problem of bringing industrial education within the reach of the masses, and this is the great problem, is very far from being solved. In the nature of the case, but a small proportion of the people can attend college. It has already been pointed out that less than a dozen of every thousand pupils in the graded schools go to college. When we consider that these twelve are divided among the various courses offered by our colleges and universities, such as academic theology, law, medicine, teaching, journalism, agriculture, engineering, etc., we realize how small a proportion of the boys and girls of the country really come under the influence of this sort of instruction when it is confined to the college. To reach the masses with this work, it will be necessary to introduce it into the high schools and grades the country over. In the city schools, home economics and manual training, with agriculture optional, and in the country schools, home economics and agriculture, with manual training optional.

To the objection that these subjects, especially home economics and agriculture, of a character suited to the grades and high schools, are not yet teachable, I urge that they are far more teachable than were these same subjects of college grade twenty years ago, and that if we will apply ourselves to the problem of reducing them to pedagogical form with the same zeal and determination that characterized the efforts of the college teacher, equally satisfactory results will be forthcoming. To the objection that the teachers are not prepared, I answer that the demand for teachers so prepared is all that is necessary to fully meet this difficulty.

AGRICULTURE IN TIIE RURAL SCHOOLS

This is the next great educational problem. In fact the rural school to-day, considered broadly, presents the most serious educational problem with which we have to deal. How to shape the instruction in this unorganized, isolated, and poorly equipped school so that the pupils may not lose sight of the farm, its life, its problems, its beauties, and its profits, is the great question now before us. The hope of these schools and of our system of public education lies, not in the abandonment of these country schools, not in the attempt to substitute something else for them, but rather in making them serve their constituency in the best way and contribute most to the development of the boy or girl who is fortunate enough to have been born in the country.

The problem does not consist in the long run wholly or even mainly in finding a suitable teacher, although this is perhaps for the moment the limiting factor in progress.

As Professor Bailey has well said: "If a room or a wing were added to every rural school house, to which children could take their collections and in which they could do work with their hands, it would start a revolution in the ideals of country school teaching, even with our present school-teachers."

In short, our rural school system needs to be so revised that from the very outset the courses, to quote the words of a distinguished English educator, "shall be woven around knowledge of the common phenomena of the world * * *. For it should be the purpose of these elementary schools to assist boys and girls according to their different needs to fit themselves practically as well as intellectually to the work of life."

I do not wish to be understood, in quoting the foregoing approvingly, to advocate the making of the graded or high schools narrow or provincial. Nor would I permit these schools to become in any sense professional-except possibly the last two years of the course in a first-class high school. This might appropriately be made as severely professional as the funds for providing the additional teachers and equipment would permit.

INDUSTRIAL SUBJECTS WILL VITALIZE

The benefits to accrue from the successful introduction of agriculture, home economics, and manual training into the schools will not be confined to the direct influence which this instruction may have upon the industries involved, but this will be found to be the best way to vitalize elementary schools, and especially those in rural communities. Just as these useful subjects gave new life to our college courses, so will they be found capable of vitalizing the elementary courses.

TRAINING THE TEACHER

As before intimated, the lack of suitably trained teachers for this work is temporarily the limiting factor in our progress. Where the teacher shall receive his training, and of more fundamental importance, of what it shall consist, are questions not yet answered. Thus far no very satisfactory place for securing this training has been provided. A number of agricultural colleges of the country are offering courses in agriculture, etc., especially for teachers, and these in the main have been successful.

Congress recently recognized this lack in our educational system, and provided, in the Nelson amendment to the Morrill Act, that a portion of the increased support thereby given the colleges of agriculture might be used for "providing courses for the special preparation of instructors for teaching the elements of agriculture and mechanic arts."

Whether experience will in the end show that the normal school, with agriculture, home economics, and mechanic arts added, or the agricultural colleges, with sound courses in education added, will best meet this situation, or whether it may not indeed become expedient to employ both methods, I will not at this time hazard a guess. We are all, I take it, more interested in having this work done and done well, than in the question of where or by whom it shall be done. Certainly there are many people now teaching who desire to equip themselves to teach agriculture. These naturally would be best served by courses at the agricultural college.

EXPERIMENTS IN TEACHING INDUSTRIAL SUBJECTS

To my mind, there can be no question as to the propriety and profitableness of establishing at the agricultural college, where agriculture, home economics and mechanic arts reach their highest development, and where there is the greatest interest and enthusiasm in these subjects, systematic investigation of the methods of teaching these subjects of a grade suitable to the requirements of high schools and rural schools. A sort of pedagogical experiment station for the systematic study of these and kindred problems is no less important than are agricultural experiment stations, to study questions relating to corn and wheat growing and the raising of live stock, and no less logical than engineering experiments to study questions in relation to bridges, highways, sanitation, etc.

FARMER OR PEASANT

It is not primarily a matter of increased financial return, but has involved in it the future welfare of America's agriculture. Further advancement must be based upon the increased intelligence of the man who is to till the soil, together with his better understanding of the fundamental laws of nature with which he has to deal.

If the American farmer is to prove an exception to the history of the world and remain the independent, thinking, reading, progressive individual that he has thus far been instead of becoming a peasant, as the farmer has been before in all history, it is necessary that he be given the broadest possible training, and be educated most thoroughly in the fundamental principles underlying his profession.

TIIE INDUSTRIAL AND THE CULTURAL

MUST GO TOGETHER.

It is said that an ancient and honorable university once wrote over its portals: "No useful knowledge taught here." I would not go to the opposite extreme and write over the portals of even this institution-the child of a strictly utilitarian age-the legend: "No subject that is not useful taught here." I would make all the courses practical enough to fit men for efficient service in their several professions and pursuits of life, and at the same time liberal enough to prepare them for the highest service as citizens.

The best part of an educational institution is its spirit-is the point of view which it gives its students-the ideals which they carry away from its halls and through life, for of more worth than fine gold is a quickened conscience and a capacity to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. "

A high ideal is the noblest gift man can bestow upon man. Feed a man, and he will hunger again; clothe him, and he will become naked. Give him a noble ideal and that ideal will abide with him through every waking hour, giving him a broader conception of his relation to his fellows. The ideal must be so far above us that it will keep us looking upward all our lives and so far in advance that we shall never overtake it."

Those whom we send out must make a large contribution to the welfare of the world.

GREAT TEACHERS MAKE A GREAT SCHOOL

We point with a pardonable pride to our splendid group of buildings, the broad expanse of fertile soil which constitutes the college farm, the improved plants and animals, boasting of both a distinguished lineage and an honorable career, to the shops and equipment of laboratories and libraries, to the new athletic fields and gymnasium in immediate prospect, and to our other material possessions, and unconsciously make the sum of these, the college.

It is, however, the teacher who determines thy worth of the school. We have no means of measuring the value of a great teacher. It was in the musty law office of John Wythe (George Wythe – itinutuwid ng nagsasaliksik) that Thomas Jefferson studied, as did also one of the greatest judges that ever sat upon the supreme bench, John Marshall, and also the greatest orator that ever electrified an audience in his period of the world's history, Patrick Henry. John Wythe was himself chancellor of Virginia, and a great man, but great chiefly for the men he made.

Given a good teacher, and locate him in a cellar, an attic, or a barn, and the strong students of the institution will beat a path to his door. Given a weak teacher, and surround him with the finest array of equipment that money can buy, and permit the students to choose, as in the elective courses, and his class room will echo its own emptiness.

A poor teacher in a German university, where all subjects are elective, is a matter of comparative indifference, but in an institution such as ours, where the courses of study are fixed, to keep a poor teacher year after year and require hundreds of young men and women to waste their time in his classes, is little short of a crime.

Economy in teachers' salaries is false economy, and will quickly react upon the institution and upon the state. Low salaries mean cheap teachers and low-grade work. The 2,500 or more students who come here annually to secure an education have a right to demand the best. To lose our best teachers the moment we have developed them to a high degree of efficiency, because we can not meet the salary paid in kindred institutions is deplorable in the extreme. Or to secure good teachers and so load them with work that they can not render the most efficient service is an equally poor policy. It should be the business of those entrusted with the administration of a college to secure the best men available, supply them with such facilities as will make them content, and then have the wisdom to let them alone.

---

[1] The Philippine Agricultural Review [Vol. 3, no. 7] JULY, 1910 p. 410

Extracts from the inaugural address of Prof. H. J. Waters, on the occasion of his formal installation as president of the Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas. November 11, 1909.

Ang artikulo ni Dr. Henry J. Waters ay naka-inpluwensiya ng malaki sa kaisipan nina Dean Edwin Copeland at Charles Baker na mga nagtatag ng Kolehiyo ng Agrikultura sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa Los Baños at ang kaniyang ideya ay siya pa rin na sinusundan ng mga sumunod na henerasyon sa nabanggit na pamantasan.

Maging sa pag-aaral ng aklat na Trampling Out the Vintage ay mababakas ang inpluwensiya ng artikulong ito ni Dr. Waters sa mga naging gawain ni Joseph A. Cocannouer sa panahon ng kaniyang pagpapasimula ng pagtuturo ng siyentipikong pagsasaka sa Indang Farm School. Itinuturing ni Cocannouer na isang karangalan na makasama niya si Dr. Waters sa misyong pang-agrikultura sa China noong 1914.

Kung papaanong ang bisyon ni Sekretaryo Moses ang naging sandigan ng bisyonaryong patutunguhan ng intermedia ng Indang. Ang artikulo naman ni Dr. Waters ang intilektwal na pundasyon ng araling pagsasaka ng Indang Farm School hanggang sa kapanahunan na ito ay maging isang agricultural college.

THE INDANG FARM SCHOOL

By JOSEPH A. COCANNOUER, Principal

The Philippine Craftsman. February 1914

THE intermediate course at Indang was established in 1905, but, owing to the time necessary to construct the building, no class work was carried on till 1906. The school was originally intended as an agricultural school, and in November, 1906, the Director of Education issued a special order declaring it to be an integral part of the provincial school. Considerable equipment was sent out for the purpose of carrying on the agricultural work. Mules were introduced as work animals, but, owing to the peculiar habits of these animals, the Filipinos could not be induced to work them. A few crops were planted according to American ideas, which, naturally, did not produce flattering results. It seems that those in charge of the school at that time became discouraged, so the agricultural work gave way to the academic course. Practically nothing more was done in the line of agriculture till Mr. Henry Wise came to the school as principal in 1908.

Mr. Wise was in charge of the school for three years, and, though laboring under difficulties, did some very excellent work. A part of the farm was cleared up and some of the land made ready for cultivation. There was no regular agricultural course in operation. What farm work was done was carried on in connection with the regular academic course.

When the present incumbent took charge of the school in June, 1911, the general course was discontinued and the farming course substituted for the boys and the housekeeping and household arts course for the girls. The school became predominatingly industrial rather than academic. There was considerable dissatisfaction on the part of both parents and pupils when the changes were made, but there is at present perfect harmony, and it is believed that the objection would be even greater were an effort made to change back to the original course.

The Indang Farm School is located in a barrio of the municipality of Indang, Cavite Province, and is about 25 kilometers from Naic, the coast town and terminal point of the railroad. The road from Naic to Indang is extremely poor; during the rainy season it is almost impassable even on horseback. During the dryer months carabao carts make regular weekly trips between the two towns, which is the only method of carrying the upland products to the coast. Indang is about 300 meters above sea level. The soil of the entire surrounding country is principally volcanic ash, owing to the proximity to Taal volcano. It is especially rich in potassium, which accounts principally for the excellent quality of abaca produced in the Cavite highlands. The leading crops grown in the locality are abaca, coconuts, upland rice, and corn.

The Indang Farm School is fed from the towns of Indang, Silang, and Alfonso. The school draws very few pupils from the lowlands. The people are energetic and thrifty in a way, yet they are several years behind the coast people in most respects.

Since the farming course was started, the aim has been to make the farm a real help to the farmers in the locality. This has not always been an easy matter, owing to the general mistrust in which the native farmers hold all foreigners. With persistent efforts and a super amount of patience, it has been possible to see some good results even at this date. The work on the farm has been made very practical, with just a sufficient amount of scientific agriculture intermixed to let the boy know what he is doing and why he does it. The aim is always to better the native methods of farming rather than to introduce new methods.

The work of the school is carried on according to the following plan: The fifth-grade, or first-year, boys have their work divided into three distinct divisions-works with native vegetables, work with foreign vegetables known to do well in the tropics, and general cleaning and repair work of the farm. Not only are the boys taught how to grow their plants properly, but also their knowledge of vegetable gardening is judged very largely by what they produce. It has been found that best results are obtained when at least half of the work is carried on by the boys individually rather than by the class in common. Work with native vegetables is handled by the class as a whole, but each boy has his individual garden in which he grows the foreign plants which especially suit his tastes.

The sixth-grade, or second-year, boys devote most of their time to field crops, though each boy possesses his individual garden where he makes a special study of foreign vegetables. The foreign vegetable work is carried on more extensively than it is in the fifth grade. The farm crops consist of upland rice, corn, legumes and other cover crops, and various plants belonging to the sorghum family. Several varieties of rice are worked with, and their characteristics and values carefully studied. Corn is very thoroughly studied from every standpoint. Many field experiments are carried out for the purpose of showing concretely just what methods to use to produce the very best results.

In the second-year class the study of hogs and poultry is taken up. Two good breeds of chickens are being worked on at the school, though the ultimate aim will be to eliminate all but one strong breed. The Chinese poultry seem to be more suited to the Philippines than any other variety. They are easily corralled, are strong layers, and rank especially high as a food chicken.

In the seventh grade, or last year, the work is both scientific and practical. A real effort is made to work out the real causes for all the different results which were noted the other two years. The outside demonstrations consist of work on various field crops, vegetables difficult to grow, forage crops, and various orchard crops. Perhaps the most important work of the last year is the cooperation work with farmers. Each boy is in direct charge of a farm where he instructs the farmer in the various practical lines pertaining to agriculture. The farmer supplies the land and work animals and does most of the work, though the boy in charge is required to lend much assistance in the field. All seeds are supplied from the school farm. The cooperation work is classed under two heads-garden crops and farm crops. In the farmer's garden are grown five or six garden vegetables which he desires. The farmer is allowed to choose his garden plants under certain restrictions. The farm crops consist of two varieties of corn, cow peas, peanuts, and two or three varieties of the sorghum family. Those who are in charge of the co6peration work are greatly encouraged at the interest which the farmers in general take in the work. In fact, more farmers have asked to be placed on the list than the school has been able to handle.

At the Indang Farm School certain crops have been given more attention than others, owing to their very special value. Among these more important are sweet potatoes and legumes. Sweet potatoes have been collected from various parts of the Orient and the United States, till it is probable that the school possesses the best collection of these valuable roots now in the Philippines. Cuttings have been scattered throughout the neighborhood and the growing of certain varieties is becoming quite popular among the natives.

For some time the school has been striving to find a bean which would grow and develop similar to some of the pole beans popular in Europe and America. This has at last been accomplished. The bean is hardy and prolific, and it is believed that it will prove to be a great addition to the farmer's small store of vegetables.

One other very important experiment which is now under way at the farm is that of growing good-sized onions from seed. Though this experiment is still incomplete, it has been carried sufficiently far to almost guarantee its success.

Corn has received special consideration on the farm, and several varieties have been carefully experimented with. The experimental stage of corn growing at the farm, however, is practically over, and two or three leading varieties have been permanently chosen. Rice has been handled in the same way as corn, and five varieties have been finally chosen as being worthy of holding a position as permanent crops on the farm.

In general, an effort has been made to secure and grow on the farm all plants which might be distributed among the farmers, with the aim of bettering their food condition. Many plants which are especially valued by the Caucasians have been discarded, owing to there being other native species more suited to the Filipino taste.

Besides the principal, who has general charge of all work, there is one man at the farm who handles most of the class work in agriculture and who has direct supervision of all class and field experiments. Another man has direct charge of garden and repair work and handles all records of the school pertaining to agriculture. A very complete record is kept for every variety of plant grown on the farm. The card system is used; a separate card is being kept for each plant. By means of these records one is able to see at any time just what cultural work is being done at the school. The cooperation work, special class work, and special field experiments are handled exclusively by the principal. A good per cent of the principal's time is spent in visiting and instructing the farmers who have charge of the cooperation farms.

Up to the present time very little effort has been made to sell the products from the school farm. Most garden products go into the homes of the boys, while the grains which are not used on the farm are distributed among the farmers for seed. When the school becomes older and well established, a certain per cent of the produce from the farm should be sold and the proceeds revert to the school fund or to the province. It is believed that the real aim of the farm school should be not only to train the boys in practical lines of agriculture, but also to create a desire for better things by having the people see and try them in their homes. When this end has been well accomplished, the school may then be made, to a certain extent, a revenue-producing institution. However, an agricultural school should never be considered a revenue producer to any great degree.

No one who has done any real work in the agricultural line in the tropics will gainsay that the difficulties met with on every side are almost beyond number. It is practically safe to say that every plant possesses its insect and fungus enemies. There are a very large number for some plants. Then there is the uncertainty of seasons, and a general disinterest and mistrust on the part of people which at times tax the patience of those in charge of the work very severely. On top of all this there is the continual danger from straying animals, thieves, and storms. Most all of these difficulties have been met with at the Indang Farm School in a greater or less degree.

But though the school has seemingly encountered more than its share of difficulties, it has also met with some real success. The people in the community are beginning to see that it is possible after all to learn something about agriculture in the school, and the enmity which formerly existed toward the school has about disappeared. The boys have settled down to the new course, and it is easy to see that the general health of the pupils has been very materially improved through wholesome outdoor exercise. The school has been the means of introducing new plants into the neighborhood, and the favor with which these have been received has made the interest in the school much keener.

The school is becoming a distributing center of plants and seeds for the surrounding country. The Indang Farm School will graduate its first class which has completed the full -course in March, 1914. Though there have as yet been no real graduates from the school, some boys are doing some creditable work along agricultural lines. The agricultural inspector for the Bureau of Agriculture in the uplands of Cavite Province was a student at the Indang Farm School, and he is making good. Another student of the school has just been appointed to a similar position. Some of the former students are attending the College of Agriculture at Los Baños, but the large majority is engaged in teaching or attending school in Manila. As may be expected, some are doing nothing. A few boys are trying to apply practically on the farm some of the things they learned while in the school.

As before stated, the Indang Farm School is now in its third year. Much has been done in a material way to train the boys how to farm properly, though much more remains to be done. All those connected with the school have worked with the determination to make it a success. The Filipino teachers in the school deserve very high commendation for the loyal support and unwavering interest which they have always shown in every project. Without their very valuable help little could have been accomplished.

It may be well to note in closing that the side issues of the school have been in no way neglected. The athletics are well organized and a part of every day is devoted to sports. Every boy in the school is required to take athletic training, and one may see, between the hours of 4 and 5, every day when the weather permits, baseball, volley ball, basket ball, tennis, two games of indoor baseball, and track work all running at the same time. The lesson taught in the old adage, "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," is thoroughly lived up to.

The housekeeping and household arts course, which is given in connection with the farming course, is well managed by the young women in charge, and every effort is made to train the girls in the art of home making. They are especially taught to cook and to use the products grown on the farm.

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