"Die news in this publica
tion is releeised for the press on
the date indicated below.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
lor its Bureau of Extension.
DECEMBER 15,1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. II, NO. 5
Editorial Boardi K. O. Branson, J. G. d«B, Hamlltou, 1m R Wilwn, t*. A. Williamfl, B. H. Thornton. (^. M. MeKio. Entered as t^onoud-olass matter Kovember 14,1914, at the pasfeofflce at Chapel Hill, N. C., onder the act of August 24,1913.
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
SECOND ANNUAL BASKET
BALL CONTEST
The University committet; on high
school athletics consisting of N. W. Walk
er, Chairman; Pj. K. Rankin, Secretary;
T. Q. Trenchani and C. E. Ervin, has
made announcement of the second an
nual state championship contest in bas
ketball ainons; the high schools of North
Carolina.
The regxilations governinf: the contest
this year are in the main similar to those
'which governed last year’s contest. The
state chaaipiomhip game will be played
in Chapel Hill early in March, between
the champion team of the East and the
champion team of the West. As is usual,
a cup will be prest^nted to the winning
team.
This animal contest was inaugurated
one year ago by the University commit
tee and Wits received with much favor by
the high schools. Kifty schools took part
in the contest laat year. The Winston-
Salem High School won the champion
ship and was awarded the cup. Indi
cations are that the enrollment this year
will bf larger than ever.
year in North Carolina educational prog
ress!
A HELPFUL BULLETIN
The State.« Relations Service of the
Feleral government has just issued a bul
letin, I^essons oji (>>tron for the Kural
Common Schools.
ft is a very suggestive pamphletl’of
fourteen lessons discussing the various
phases of cotton production.
Teachers in the country schools^will
find it very helpful.
Write to the U, S. Department of Ag
riculture. Washington, D. C., for bulle
tin, No. 294,
260 SCHOOLS ENROLLED
Two hundred and sixty high schools
have txi date enrolled as members of the
High School Debating Union of North
Carolina. The enrollment has not yet
closed and itis expected that a great many
more .schools will enter.
Taking it all in all. the prospects for a
mammoth spring debate in North Caro
lina are brighter now than tliey have ever
been in previous years.
From 1200 to 1500 liigh school students
will speak on the same date in March, in
their respective communities, on the same
subject, naaiely, the Enlargement of the
Navy. The final'contest for the Aycock
Memorial Cup will be held at the Uni
versity ?>arly in April.
OUR CORN CLUB KING IN
ORANGE
His name is Willie Perry. His record
this year is 74.8 bushels on an acre of
ground, at a cost of 14 cents a bushel.
Thirteen of his competitors raised more
than 50 bushels to the acre, and seven of
them 60 bushels or more.
If all the farmers of Orange are as good
farmers as this lad and raise as much corn
to the acre, w'e shall have all the corn
that can be consum^ in this county this
year, and 1,100,000 bushels to sell.,
Or l)etter still, we shall be compelled to
have livestock to consume it. Livestock
farming everywhere begins in surplus
feed crops.
WINNING ECONOMIC
FREEDOM
All Uie Southern States this yetir have
made gre^t strides toward economic inde-;
pendence in the farm regions. That is to
say, our livestK'k gains and larger food
and feed crops will enable us to hold down
in the Sotith some 1300,000,000 of
cotton and tobacco money that hereto
fore has gone into the purses of the bread-
and-meat farmers of the Middte West
More than $900,000,000 went out of tlie
South by this route in ^910.
And North Carolina is leading in many
or most particulars, says Major W. A.
Graham, our Commissioner of Agricul
ture. The newspaper accounts of his
recent annual report sound a jubilee
note.
The North Carolina Club at the Uni
versity has written for Hie copies of the
report in full, for thoughtful reading and
study. Doubtless a large number of
similar requests will go into Raleigh from
every- quarter of the State.
Our wonderful increases of late in farni
animals and food crops have been noted
in these columns from time to time.
Major Graham’s showing of increased
acreage in winter cover crops'touclies up
on a fundamental mattef in our agricul
ture; also the high-bred animals imported
for breeding purposes—130 dairy cattle,
252 beef cattle, 128 horses, 826 swine, and
726 sheep. Our increase in silos is simi
larly important.
Here go our congratulations to the
State Department of Agriculture, the
State Experiment Station, and the A. &
M. College for the results of their vari.
ous activities in behalf of agricultural
prosperity in North Carolina.
THE MASSACHUSETTS
CHILD AND THE NORTH
CAROLINA CHILD
The lady president of the Teachers’
Assembly, Miss Mary Owen Graham
of Charlotte, pointt-il out that in Mass-
achus«^t.ts $25 is allowed each child, in
the educiitional expenditure, whereas
in the southern state.s the amount
ranges from $3 to $10.
In 1912, there were enrolled in the
common .schools of Massachusetts a
little more than 70 per cerjt of the
school population; in North'Carolina
nearly 72 per cent. The percentage
of enrollment in average attendanc.e
was 83 in Mas-sachuHetts and in North
(iarolina 63. The cost per capital of
average attendance in Massachuaetb*
was 1149.13; in Nortli (Jarolina, $11.36;
and for this the Massachusetts child
go( 186 school days and the North
Carolina child 109 days.
The Massachusetts child is not
worth that much more, nor any more,
than the North Carolina child.—
Greensboro News.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO 55
THE LIFE OF THE HIGH
SCHOOL
The High School Problem
then is the holding of its boys and
RE-DIRECTED COUNTRY
SCHOOLS
Country teachers have long known that
country schools should be better adjusted
to country life. JBut wise and simple
guidance has been lacking, and they have
everyw'here blundered along in conscious
failure.
For those who have struggled bravely
with a difficult problem, the new bulletin
of the Federal Department of Agriculture
will bring help and hope. It is nun\ber
305, and the title of it is lixercises with
Plants and Animals for Southern Kural
Schools, by E. A. Miller, Specialist in
-Agricultural Education.
It is simple, specific, practicai)le. Write
for H.
THE TEACHERS’ ASSEMBLY
It was a good meeting. I* rom start to
finish the keynote was,—better schools.
In all the meetings there was evident the
desire to make teaching a profession and
a willingness to do everything possible
which would bring it about.
The program was so full of good things
we could not get to hear them all, but
there was an excellent spirit of harmony
and co-operation which made the occa
sion memorable.
The address of the president was op
timistic, suggestive and forward-looking.
Every section had its clearly-defined,
problems to discuss and consider. The
visiting speakers brought good cheer and
stimulation.
North Carolina may well be proud of
her common school workers. The field is
white for tlie harvest and tlie laborers
are at hand-
Now let’s all get together for a banner
your family, and your neighbors. There
is little time to lose if you are to get the
full benefit of such inspiring reading this
winter.
t)ur State High Schools are fast be-1 girls until they complete the full four
coming more and more efficient as the j course.
pars go by and the organisation and; LosS of Students
inspection become more and more eflec- ;
tive. No form of educational effort in i from ye.ar to year, l)eginning vi-ith the
the state has been more popular or more j second grade and continuing on through
productive of good results with individ- { college is as pronounced and as appalling
uals or with the public-at-large than our j '*• i* the first year at the high school
high schools, ; but the question just here is. Why do so
_ _ i many high school students.
The Course of Study
is steadily veering around to tliose Almost Half of Them
studies which appeal to the interests of j Stop sihool by the end of the first
the students and meet the approval of; yc®r i* High school teachers attend Sum-
practical people i schools, read professional books on
In Every Day Life ' teaching during the term, and even
But in the high school, as in the ele- i Keep In BftcKw&rd Pupils
mentary school and colle^ie, the gre.at | after school in tteir efforts to do suc-
and disturbing fact is cessful work. If the c«use of failure to
The Enormous Waste ■ “p
I the teacher, is it Ijecause of lack of ability
Are these
of the human
material; that is, the j
continual dropping out of gUKlents who, ;
for one c-ause or another, Heeni not to; Young People Dull?
care wliether they complete the course or i their
not. To illustrate, there were, in 1910
A NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY
Dr. L. K. Wilson, Librarian and Chief
of the Extension Bureau at the Universi
ty, gives the readers of the Progressive
Farmer the following suggestions in a
recent issue.
If yours has not t>ecn a reading com
munity, if yon have neither a school nor
a traveling, library, call a meeting in the
local schoolhouse at an early date and co
operate with the committeemen, or other
members of your community, in securing
a permanent library for your school, or a
traveling library from the proper agency
at the statecapital. Set about the matter
in earnest so that you may have at your
command during the rest of the winter
books sunilar to the following 32-volume
collection, for example, taken at random
from our school and library lists:
riction—Page, Red Kock; Twain, Tom
Sawyer; Harris. Uncle Remus; Gable,
The C^vaher; Harrison, Queed ; Dickens,
David Copperfield; Reed, I.^vender and
Old Lace; Connor, Sky Pilot.
Non-fiction—Riis, Making of an Ameri
can: Poe, Where Half the World is Wak
ing Up; Beveridge, Russian Advance;
Amicis, Holland and Its People; Field,
Poems; Scudder, Washington; Hilty,
Happiness; Clement, Modern Japan.
Children’s BooKs—Kipling, .1 u n g 1 e
Book; Page, Two Little Confederates;
Pearson, Stories of Bird Life; Richards,
Captain January; Dodge, Hans Brinker;
Stevenson, Treasure Island; Anderson,
Fairy Tales; Alcott, Little Women.
Country Life—-Poe, How Farmer’s Co
operate and Double Profits; Holt, Com
plete Housekeeper; McKeever, Farm
Boys and Girls; Dodd, The Healthful
Farmhouse; Roberts, The Farmstead;
Bailey, Garden Making; Earle, Southern
Agriculture; Kem, Among our Country
Schools.
This list furnishes a good sample of the
sort of books you can get for yourself,
ALIVE AT OAK LEVEL
An excellent and stimulating commun
ity fair was held the other day at Oak Ix-vel
in Niish county one mile out in the coun
try from Westray. .\bout a month airo
the principal of the public school began
to work up sentiment for a community
fair and the people pf this little country
district, just like the. people of any com
munity when a leader calls to them,
came forward in hearty support of the
idea and made a display of which any
larger comimmity might well be proud.
Tbr more than five hundred articles on
exhibition included almost every thing
that could be found in the best country
homes, from cows and pigs and poultry
til all sorts of canned goods, needlework,
and everything raised on the best Nash
county farms. The fair was a great suc
cess.
AVe are apt to think that manufactured
goods have about displact^d home-made
products, and yet down at this commu
nity fair there was a fine display of home
made toilet soap and it was good soap at
that. No money sent from one home for
soap. It looks like a “slick” way to
keep money at home.
The editor of the county weekly paper
is a live Wire when he connects up with
what the ^people are doing and thinking
about. Editor Linke of the Nashville
Graphic was on hand with pencil and
camera making notes and taking pictures
of the farmers, their wives and Uttleones,
the exhibits and school building so as to
make cute for his paper, and thus to
show his readers just what the poople
of a wide-awake school district are doing
along the line of progress.
3982 Boys And Girls
in the freshman classes of the State I
High Schools, and of this number
1884 Dropped Out
of school by Uie end of the year. Why?
Think of it! Nearly half of the nimiber
who entenKi the freshman class failed to
return at the beginning of the second
year. And the loss of the sophomores
who should go on into the junior class is
also very gre;at; and so too with the jun
iors who should become seniors.
successful classmates they
I come up from the lower schools with cer-
' tificates entitling them to enter, and
i surely they are
Neither Ill-Prepared Nor
mentally deficient for doing high school
work. Our high schools have Iieen run
ning now for about three months, and
maybe the teachers are beginning to see
in their pupils some signs of giving up
and stopping school. Why? Certainly
it is a vital question one asks when he
wants to know why so many beginners in
.the high school fail to reiu'h the sopho
more class.
the Study and Prevention of Tnberculosis
whose sale of Red Cross Seals last year
made available nearly $10,000 for the
anti-tuberculosis campaign in this state.
As the average daily cost j)er capita for
treatment at the North Carolina Sanitor-
ium is 11.71, the above amount, if so
expended, would care for 30 patients for
six months, There are about 7500 deaths ;
annually from this disease in North Caro-:
The total investment capital for the
United States as a whole in the public
school business is over $2,000,000,000.
These figures do not in . any of the cases
cited above include the operative capital
but only the permanent funds, buildings,
sites, etc. The maintenance funds are
over and aVjove the figures given.
ThinK It Over
With so much real money at stake is it
lina and the ca,ses needing treatment are i have the business jeopardized so
many time.s more. Last year the State
Sanitorium treated 258 cases but owing to
its limited funds was obliged to decline
admission to several hundrel other ap
plicants.
BIG BUSINESS
According to the last Report of the U.
S. Commissioner of Education, the State
of North Carolina has over !?9,000,000 of
investment capital on which to do public
school business.
In this particular she ranks 39th among
the states of the United States. Minne
sota leads with over 1240,000,000 and
Arizona is last with a little over $2,525,-
000.
often by the injection of party politics in
to it?
Would any big concern with an invest
ed capital of $9,000,000 or $240,000,000
allow the party politicians to tinker with
the funds?
Schools and politics must be kept sepa
rate if the business is to yield adequate
dividends!
THE PROFESSOR SAYS
Diversified fanning and rotation of
crops are good principles for the farm but
mighty poor when applied to the teach
ing force in public schools.
Some men would rather ride in a Ford
automobile than pay an extra forty cents
on their school tax.
A GOOD SAMARITAN DIES
The recent death of Dr. E. L. Trudeau
deprives this country of one of its moat
valuable citizens. After a short period
of practice in New York City he was
forced to give up liis work on account of
pulmonary tuberculosis. His belief in
the efficiency of fresh air induced him to
seek health in the Adirondacks. There,
in 1884, he establi.shed the Cottage Sani
torium at Saranac Lake, the first insti
tution in this country devoted to the open
air treatment of tubercu'osis. The results
obtained in this institution and Dr. Tru
deau’s able advocacy of this method of
treatment are largely responsible for the
successful development of the anti-tuber
culosis work of the past thirty years.
‘ ‘Now there are approximately 575 sana-
toriums and hospitals with a capacity
of 35,000 beds, 450 tuberculosis dispen
saries, more than 1000 physitiSns and
over 4000 nurses devoted wholly to the
treatment and study of tuberculosis.”
Red Cross Seab in North
Carolina
Dr, Trudeau was one of the chief or
ganizers of the National Association for
CROP YIELDS PER ACRE IN 1914
North Carolina Ranks 20th in the 12 Standard Crops
in 1914; But 9th in All Crops in 1909
FEDERAL FARMERS’ BULLETIN, March 20, 1915.
12 Standard All (5ro}>s
12 Standard* All Crops
Crops 1914
1909
Crops 1914
1909
United States
$16.34
$16.30
25
Wyoming
$18.54
$12.45
1
Connecticut
41.50
35.84
26
W’isconsin
18.53
15.77
2
Massachusetts
36.20
41.33
27
California
18.40
20.39
3
Rhode Island
32.07
40.50
28
Montana
18.23
15.40
4
Nevada
29.70
14.73
29
Virginia
18.12
20.31
5
Arizona
29.34
25.97
30
Iowa
17.92
14.94
6
New Jersey
28.76
33.19
31
South Carolina
17.88
26.45
7
Washington
23.96
20.63
32
Florida
17.39
21.54
8
New Mexico
23.58
12.76
33
Indiana
17.27
17.07
9
Maryland
23.25
20.54
34
Tennessee
16.75
17.05
10
Utah
22.72
23.15
35
Illinois
16.25
17.88
11
New Hampshire 22.58
19.29
36
Kansas
15.66
10.63
12
Delaware
22.43
19.36
37
Louisiana
15.40
20.36
13
Maine
22.15
19.80
38
Georgia
14.69
22.20
14
Pennsylvania
22.13
18.90
39
Nebraska
14.19
11.19
15
New York
21.06
20.80
40
Alabama
14.16
18.87
16
Idaho
20.90
19.53
41
Arkansas
14.01
20.34
17
West Virginia
20.61
17.67
42
Missouri
13.96
14.25
18
Kentucky
20.22
20.82
43
Mississippi
13.68
22.59
19
Vermont
20.20
18.17
44
Texas
13.48
15.62
20
North Carolina
20.18
22.28
45
Minnesota
13.19
12.61
21
Oregon
19.87
18.54
46
Oklahoma
12.21
10.95
22
Ohio
19.79
18.83
47
North Dakota
11.10
11.35
23
Colorado
18.97
17.52
48
South Dakota
10.79
10.17
24
Michigaa '
18.96
17.32