appreciation.

One man told of the many things that his daughter had done, whereupon it was suggested that she might do so much that her health would be in danger. A pleasant smile flitted across the face of the father as he said, "Daughter, stand and let these men see if they think you are injuring your health." A bright, buxom, rosy-cheeked girl—the very picture of health and happiness—arose while we laughed and cheered.

To the question, "Does this work interfere with the work of the school?" the teacher pointed to the record of the school in a spelling contest that is being conducted in this county, and read "100 per cent for this month; 98.12 per cent for last," and said, "No, I find that the children have taken more interest in their work and are making more progress than before."

When alone, after time for reflection, I thought, "One swallow does not make a summer" and one school does not prove that this is a good plan. In Spring Valley the conditions are ideal,—a board of directors who do their duty, a citizenship that is far above the average, girls and boys from well-ordered homes of a prosperous people, a teacher who would succeed anywhere with half a chance, a wide-awake, sympathetic county school superintendent,—and yet I thought if this is good for the Spring Valley School, might it not be a good thing for all our schools? I have not reached a conclusion, but have had much food for thought, and am more than pleased with my experience and observation.

What do you think about it, gentle reader? Is it a passing fancy? A fad, if you please? Or is it a means for training boys and girls to habits of industry and to a wholesome respect for honest toil? Will it bring the home and the school into closer relation? And will it cause the country boys and girls to love their homes, to love the country with its singing birds, its babbling brooks, its broad fields and friendly hills?

There was not a school in the State that responded better to any movement initiated by the State or county than the one in Spring Valley. Every pupil was greatly interested in the boys' and girls' industrial and agricultural contest which Oregon carried on that year for the first time. The children raised cabbage plants at school, protected from the cold by a tent that Mr. O'Reilly provided. They planned to sell them to the neighbors in order to get money for seeds, but were sadly disappointed, when they came to school one morning, to find that a cow had broken in during the night and destroyed almost every plant. The owner of the cow paid them the value of the plants, but they were never quite so happy over the fund as they would have been if the plants had been allowed to grow.

Six weeks before the end of the school year Mr. O'Reilly began making Saturday trips to Salem to arrange for the fair with which he intended to close the school. The merchants subscribed liberally for prizes both for the children's work and for the athletic events which Mr. O'Reilly had planned for the afternoon. A local piano house sent out a piano for the occasion, and an amusement company put up a merry-go-round, and stands for lemonade, ice-cream, and all the rest that goes with a first-class picnic. The picnic was held in the grove a short distance from the schoolhouse. Mr. O'Reilly and the neighbors had made a platform for which the children's work formed the background,—dresses, bird houses, fancy work, cakes, bread, and other articles,—and had made seats of rough lumber for the crowd. And a crowd it was, for the whole county was interested in the Spring Valley School. This was one of the first local fairs in connection with the county school fairs which were held throughout the State, and the awards were also to be made to the children who had earned the most credits in the home credit contest.

PICNIC LUNCHEON COOKED AND SERVED BY SPRING VALLEY CHILDREN

We drove out from Salem in automobiles. On reaching the grove we found it filled with teams tied everywhere, and many automobiles standing about. Promptly at ten o'clock the school children marched down from the schoolhouse in an industrial parade, carrying things that they had made or raised in the garden. A pretty sight they were, as they took their places on the reserved benches in front, all in their best clothes, most of the girls in white dresses of their own making.

The Governor of Oregon was there, and made the first address. At the close of his talk, the Spring Valley children sang in voices as clear as the birds, "There is no Land Like Oregon," and were most heartily cheered. After the remainder of the addresses and songs came the most breathless part of the day, the awarding of the school-credit prizes for the year's work. A member of the school board read the list of winners, and took occasion to express the appreciation that the district felt for Mr. O'Reilly's work. He assured the audience that the people of the district considered the plan one of the very finest that they had ever known, for it put the children in the right attitude toward their work, and gave the parents the feeling that they were assisting in the work of the school. Never in the history of the community had there been such a year.

The judging of the industrial work was then carried on, while the Spring Valley home-credit girls set the long tables for the luncheon, which they had prepared without assistance from their mothers. We all envied the three women up on the platform tasting the cakes, and were glad when the ribbons were pinned on, for we knew then that the dinner would begin. The blue ribbon for cake-making by children under thirteen was awarded to a boy, Arthur Z——. The governor and I placed this lad between us at the head of the table, and he gave us very generous portions of the prize cake.

This was Mr. O'Reilly's last day with the Spring Valley School. The next year he was chosen one of the rural school supervisors in Lane County, and he is still there making an excellent record. A recent letter from him briefly takes up the later history of his Spring Valley winners in the home credit contest. He says:—

Evangeline J—— was one of the winners. She is doing finely in high school, and still winning prizes at fairs. She leads her class in domestic science in the Eugene High School. She has eighty dollars in the bank, sixty-one dollars and fifty cents earned from prizes. You know the home credit started her bank account with three dollars. Golda B—— is another. She is attending the high school at Sheridan. Her standings are fine. She very seldom has to take examinations. She has about seventy-five dollars in the bank. Jack S—— has finished the eighth grade, and is going to attend high school in Eugene this year. His bank account is thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. Mabel S—— has finished the grades and will go to high school in Hopewell this year. Her bank account is thirty-eight dollars. She has a piano her father got her, and is doing well in music. Verda R—— attends high school in Eugene this year. The other winners are still little ones, and are attending school in Spring Valley.

IV

WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE ALGEBRA?

Present interest is the grand motive power.—Rousseau.

An objection to