problems on mining have a general informational value, but in an agricultural district they need have relatively little attention. Make the textbook your servant, not your master.

As to the outside problems, the best ones are usually brought in by the pupils. It is the fashion to call the more extended of these problems by the more pretentious name of "projects"; but whatever the name, the idea of having the pupils work out the economics of some phase of farming is a valuable one. Let the class figure out the cost and profits of growing an acre of corn, of mining a ton of coal, of a small apple orchard, of building a barn, of running a tractor instead of keeping a team, of putting down a concrete road, or of making some object of local manufacture, and a new life will come into the work in arithmetic. It is this spirit of everyday work with numbers that this series of books seeks to foster, while at the same time insisting upon the accuracy in computing which is essential.

Teachers of arithmetic are urged to bear in mind that the opportunity and privilege are theirs of presenting to their classes much more than the mere art of computation, important as this art is in the life of every citizen. The teachers have the opportunity of seeing to it that the pupils obtain from arithmetic a great deal of valuable information as to the resources of our country and as to the expenses of production. They can stimulate curiosity respecting local industries, household economics, and the demands of everyday life; stimulate originality and independence in the solution of problems; and correlate arithmetic with other subjects of study and with the life of the community. They have an unusual opportunity to teach thrift, to lead the pupils to understand how people can safely invest even small amounts, and to show the dangers of reckless speculation or extravagance. All this can be accomplished without lessening in any degree the scholarly work in arithmetic or neglecting that attention to accuracy, neatness, speed, and intelligence which are essential features in the work which arithmetic offers.