There were nine of these schools five years ago in Minnesota.  According to the last report of the Department of Public Instruction, there are 142 now, and the number is increasing constantly.  The state as a state is behind the movement and is giving substantial aid, direction and supervision to these schools.  When the forward movement was planned, plans were also made to train teachers and to give the teachers already in the service special work that would fit them to adjust themselves to the new needs.

The normal schools and the high schools teaching agriculture, manual training and home economics have adjusted their courses to meet this new demand.  Six years ago the work had hardly begun.  Today there are 214 high and graded schools teaching home economics, 177 teaching agriculture, 125 teaching manual training, and of these 121 are preparing teachers especially for the rural schools.

The College of Agriculture and Home Economics of the University of Minnesota is training the teachers in these subjects for the high schools and normal schools, and, in cooperation with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Agriculture has been conducting a summer school for rural teachers, where those already teaching and those planning to teach can get the training required to meet the new conditions and demands.  Similar summer schools have been conducted in cooperation with the agricultural schools at Crookston and Morris.  All together each year there are between 1,800 and 2,000 teachers taking these special courses.  Every effort is made to bring to these teachers the view point of the new country life movement.

This society and the members individually in their home communities should stand squarely behind this movement.  They should become thoroughly informed regarding it.  It is the cornerstone of the new country life.

Finally I wish to call your attention again to the great educational opportunity which you are missing.  If you could come into vital contact each year with more than 4,000 young men and women who are seeking for everything that will help them to be more useful citizens, would you do it?  You could exert in that way an exceedingly great influence on the homes and future welfare of this state and nation.  You can do it if you will come out and live with us the year round at University Farm.  We should have a building there suited to your needs that we could all use as a great horticultural center, open the year round.  You have already taken steps in this direction.  I hope that conditions will be such that we can join hands to get it very soon.

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SAN JOSE SCALE REQUIRES PROMPT ACTION—­ORCHARD SHOULD EITHER BE DESTROYED OR SPRAYED BEFORE BUDS OPEN.—­There are a few orchards in Colorado that are found to be infested with the San Jose scale.

Owners of these orchards should determine upon one of two courses to pursue.  The orchard should either be promptly cut down and destroyed, or the trees should be thoroughly treated with lime-sulphur solution or a good quality of miscible oil for the destruction of the scale before the buds open in the spring.