BOOK FIVE BY LAWTON B. EVANS, A.M., SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, RICHMOND COUNTY AND THE CITY OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA LUTHER N. DUNCAN, M.S., PROFESSOR OF SCHOOL AGRICULTURE, ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, GEORGE W. DUNCAN, M.S., FORMERLY PRINCIPAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FLORENCE AND AUBURN, PREFACE THERE is a persistent and pertinent criticism of the textbooks used in the schools of America that the viewpoint and content is too restricted and that the objects and interests of the life on the farm and in the country are not sufficiently emphasized. In Farm Life Readers proportionate emphasis is given to the objects and interests of life on the farm and in the great outdoors. These books are inspirational rather than technical and informational in content and are as well suited for use in the town and city schools as in the rural schools. City children are keenly interested in life on the farm and in the country. A new interest and meaning is given to the reading lessons in Farm Life Readers. In preparation of this series of readers, the authors had three definite objects: 1. To furnish to grammar school pupils good literature for practice in reading. 2. To enlarge the reader's ideas of country life, to open his eyes to the dignity of farm labor and to show the freedom, health, and prosperity that may come to those who live in the country and pursue the business of farming with intelligence and energy. The material which the authors have gathered to serve these ends may be classified in three groups: 1. A series of articles prepared exclusively for Farm Life Readers are coördinated with the selections of classical literature. These original articles explain and interpret the selections and have the additional value over the notes of explanation included in many series of readers in that they are good literature. 2. A large number of prose selections, bearing on country life, the farm, and the home. These selections from real literature were all made with the definite purpose of giving the child a larger and better appreciation of the home in the country and of the great business of farming. 3. Poems relating to almost every phase of country life. In selecting these the authors were careful to choose only real poetry. These poems are arranged so as to correlate with the original lessons and with the prose selections. In the faith that the ancient vocation of agriculture deserves to be restored to its former high place in the esteem of the people, and that this calling, pursued in the light of modern scientific methods, will solve for us some of the most important problems of personal and social economy, these Farm Life Readers are offered to a discriminating public. The authors express grateful appreciation to Professor W. K. Tate, Professor of Rural Education in George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee, for the preparation of suggestions and questions for this New Edition of Farm Life Readers, and to Professor Z. V. Judd, formerly Professor of Rural Education, University of North Carolina, now head of the Department of Education in the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and to Mrs. Judd for critical reading of the manuscript of this edition and for many valuable suggestions. |