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Show H BEET CULTURE IN THE SCHOOLS. M The Weber Academy in Ogden has scpured the services of Pro- B fessor Ilogenson of the Agricultural College in the establishing of a H course in beet culture as a part of the Academy's offering to young H men seeking an education, and one of Ogden 's most 'prominent bus- H iness men, who had been highly instrumental in "developing the beet M industry in Utah, impressed with the action 'taken by the Academy, H i puts this question : H "Why would it not be a good thing to advocate the taking up B of such a course in the public schools in the county generally? It B surely must be of more advantage to the young men of our country H schools, where beet cultureiplays an important part in the lives of Bn the people, to receive information upon this subject, than to be H taught higher jflgcbra and other subjects they will never use." g Wc join in asking, "Why would it not be a good thing?" Here H wc are in a region adapted to beet culture, where the saccharine Hl tubers arc being successfully produced, and yet the subject is al- V most foreign to our schools. - V This paper has quoted from a,gdvenunent report showing that H our fatmcrs produce only half asmuch grain to an acre as do Ger- H man farmers working on land which has been producing crops for H centuries. What is the secret of the German success? Nothing more H than this, that the Germans have learned scientific farming as H taught in the schools and as practiced on the farm. Beet growing is H scientific farming; it has done much for the old-country farmers, and H can do much for our farmers if the country children of today, who H are to be our farmers of the future, are trained while in school, to! H' an understanding of beet culture. Hl There is no more fascinating reading than the story of the de- H1' 'velopment of the beet industry, how the beet, low in sugar contents, H; was gradually made by seed selection and by cultivation to yield H ' from 12 per cent to 20 per cent in sugar. This peep into the nature H of plants is a revelation, to men well read in other lines, and we are H persuaded the subject could be made equally as inviting and pleas- H ing to young people, while preparing them for the sterner duties of H Plant life, particularly beet culture, should be taught in all our H schools, even to the extent of practical demonstrations in farming. H If Utah school trustees will grasp this suggestion and by do- Hj ing so bring the schools of the state closer to nature, our school IHI system will begin to attract the attention of those on the outside who are eager to follow in the footsteps of a Veal leader, and the state will gain an enviable name in educational circles. |