The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., June 25, 1910, EDUCATIONAL SPECIAL, Page 459, Image 15

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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WHAT ARKANSAS IS DOING.
Steady Progress Along All Educational Lines With Some New
Features of the Work That Promise Much for the Future.
By Hon. George B. Cook, State Superintendent of Ed .ion
THE FIRST compulsory attend
ance laws enacted In Arkansas
became effective with the be
ginning of the school year for 1909
Two acts were passed by the
last tleneral As
sembly. One re
quires a minimum
attendance of one
half the school
term, between the
ages of 8 and 16
years, and is ef
fective In thirty
one counties. The
other places Clio
nos. cko u cook. age limit 8 to 14
years, effective in nine counties. This
lenves thirty-five counties without
compulsory law. A marked increase
in the attendance in both the town
and rural schools is reported from
all sections where these new laws
apply.
The last tleneral Assembly appro
nrltili.il t 1 (.11 non fm* I hii notahlluh.
ment of four agricultural schools in
tbe State, one in each of the four
districts Into which the State was
divided.
Systematized Work, consolidation
an<l filiform Text Hooks.
In June, 1909, B. W. Toreysou was
appointed Professor of Secondary
Education in Arkansas. Splendid re
sults are already apparent In corre
lating the courses of the village and
ity high schools and adding to the
ours** of study in many schools. The
unification of the school system is
being rapidly popularized and the
courses of study harmonized In ele
mentary, secondary and advanced
schools. The sentiment favoring
Stale aid to high schools Is gaining
ground.
Consolidation of school districts
ban been made possible by an enact
ment of the last General Assembly,
which permits patronB of auy rural
territory to petition the county court
for the organization of a special
school district having all the rights
and privileges previously allowed
’ » s liools in Incorporated towns and
cities.
Out of the 7 5 counties In the State
St have adopted uniform text kooks
for all tlie schools In the county.
The uniform texts apply only to
tbe common school districts and do
not arr«*ct towns and cities.
County Supervision.
The General Assembly of 1907
passed an act making the office of
county superintendent of schools op
tional in each county, the question to
bw voted upon at the annual school
election on the years preceding the
general State election. The first
vote for and against creating the
office of county superintendent re
sulted in favor of this office in Gar
land, Jackson, Crawford, Miller and
Mississippi counties. There is a
growing sentiment In favor of coun
ly supervision that indicates many
more counties will vote in favor of
,Uils office In 1911 and very probably
ii bill will be submitted to the Gen
eral Assembly in 1911 to make this
act mandatory.
The Arkansas State Normal School
:‘t Conway had last September an en
rollment of over two hundred. An
appropriation from the Feabody Edu
cational Fund is being applied in the
establishment of a model farm to be
used in conjunction with the Agri
cultural Department of the Normal.
Special Courses for Teachers.
The State Normal School at Con
way and the Normal Department of
the University at Fayetteville, will
each offer a six-weeks’ summer term
for teachers. The courses will be so
arranged that the teachers attending
may receive credits for their work at
the summer schools to be applied on
the regular normal course, the com
pletion of which gives the teacher a
professional license for six years and
is convertible at the end of that time,
under certain conditions, into a State
life license.
Farmers’ Institutes, Hoys’ Clubs, anti
School Improvement Associations.
The local farmers’ institutes, con
ducted by the College of Agricul
ture, have proved directly profitable
to the farmers of the State and have
done much to popularize agricultural
education and to give a wider appre
ciation of the practical value of such
training.
Boys’ corn clubs were organized
in thirty-one counties last year, with
over 3,000 boys enrolled. The first
State contest was held at the State
Fair with a very creditable showing
of exhibits.
The work is being advanced this
year by the State committee with the
assistance of Mr. H. S. Mobley, who
has been placed in Arkansas as an
organizer of boys' corn clubs and
school extension work by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture
Organizations will be effected in
every county in the State and an en
rollment of 3 5,000 boys is expected
for 1910 with a contest in every
county and a State contest with con
gressional district prize lists as well
us State-wide prizes.
School Improvement Association
work has now reached fifty-three
counties and will be rapidly extend
ed to every county in Arkansas. A
School Improvement Section has be
come a permanent feature of the
State Teachers’ Association. This
.. . . _ 1 - 1 .. >1 .. t •• m nil
W 4 IO U WIUQ U4UVU ww»
childreu and Its receiving the popular
endorsement of patrons and teachers.
Better school conditions are being
urged throughout the State and the
School Improvement Association
campaign has exerted an appreciable
Influence In the increased expendi
ture for new buildings and equip
ment, amounting to a half million
dollars in 1909.
Statistics Relating to I<ast Year’s
Work.
The roveuues for support of pub
lic schools In 1909 were $3,363,830
.37. The expenditures for support
of public schools for year ending
June 30, 1909, were $3,110,164.60.
Appropriations by General Assem
bly for biennial term, 1909-10, were
as follows: University of Arkansas,
$220,915; Agricultural Experiment
Station, $39,000; State Normal
School, $95,900; Blind School, $62
040; Deaf-Mute School, $130,146;
Reform School, $26,505; Branch
Normal (colored), $11,600; four ag
ricultural schools, $160,000.
The permanent school fund of the
State is $1,134,500, and the total
value of school property, $6,067,342
.60. Last year 299 new school
houses were built.
Of the total school population of
557,464, 374,154 were enrolled in
the public schools. The average
daily attendance was 243,232. The
uverage length of term was 98.2
days, against 93.9 in 1908. The
average salary of the 9,164 teachers
was $55.77 per month.
Substantial Progress in Tennessee.
Messrs. Editors: The schools of
Tennessee have made substantial
progress during the past year. The
term has been lengthened and the
teachers’ salary increased, and 200
good, substantial schoolhouses were
erected. During this year three nor
mal schools will be established, at a
cost of $1,000,000. Three hundred
rural libraries have been established
and $15,000 worth of library books
have been purchased.
R. L. JONES,
State Supt. of Education.
HKK KEEPING FOR FARMERS.
XI.—A Talk to Correspondents.
1 am delighted to find so much
interest in bee keeping among the
farmers of the South. Of late, my
time has been largely taken up with
answering inquiries for information
by private letter as well as through
The Progressive Farmer and Gazette.
Both men and women write to know
how they shall start the work or
where they can get hives and other
materials. I have a letter from a
prominent teacher who thinks of in
troducing bee keeping as one of the
practical arts in his industrial school.
Still another comes from a Govern
ment expert engaged in demonstra
tion work for Southern farmers. He
says he is plied with numerous ques
tions about bee keeping and he
wants to know where he can get
more information on the subject.
Now a few words about corre
spondence. I am glad to get all the
letters you will write, because it
shows interest, but if you will pre
serve all the numbers of the paper
containing our articles it will often
save both you and me trouble, by re
ferring to them for your answers in
stead of writing. 1 am trying to
give, from time, the fundamental
principles that will cover most of the
ground and many correspondents re
peat questions that have already
been answered in these columns. We
can’t, of course, afford to print the
same answer over and over again.
As I said before, every bee keeper
should have a good manual or bee
keeper’s guide. In this he will find
answers at once for most of his ques
tions by running over the table of
contents. If one is not willing to de
vote some time to the task of study
ing up the subject, it is scarcely
worth while for him to attempt to
become a bee keeper in the modern
sense of the term.
Don’t understand that there is any
great difficulty in the art, for there
is not. It is a delightful and highly
intellectual work, and suited to both
sexes and all classes of society. Both
the young and the old find interest
and profit in it. Modern bee keep
ing should become a special feature
on all our Southern farms.
T. C. KARNS.
Powell Station, Teun.
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