acters were no doubt engaged
in the schools of surrounding neighborhoods. What rural school of to-day
in any state can boast of the uplifting presence of so many men teaching
in one decade?

A. V. Storm, of the Minnesota Agricultural College, says:

"But we lack one thing nowadays that these old schools possessed.
Twenty or thirty years ago the country schools were taught for the
most part by men. Such men as Shaw and Dolliver, and a great many
other leading men of to-day, were at one time country school
teachers. They exercised a great influence upon the pupils. They
were the angels who put the coals of fire upon the lips of the
young men, giving them the ambition that made for future greatness.
The country schools now are not so good as they were twenty years
ago. The chief reason is that their teachers are not so capable."

=More Men Needed.=--To secure the best results, there should be fully as
many men as women teaching in the rural schools. One hundred years ago
both city and country schools were taught by men alone. Now the rural
schools and most of the city schools are taught by women alone. There is
probably as much reason against all teachers being women as there is
against all teachers being men.

=Low Standard Now.=--Thirty or forty years ago about half of the
teachers were men and half women, both sexes representing the strong and
the weak. Very many of the schools of to-day are under the charge of
young girls from eighteen to twenty years of age who have had little
more than a common elementary education. Some have just finished the
eighth grade and have had a smattering of pedagogy or what is sometimes
called "the theory and practice of teaching." This they could have
secured in a six weeks' summer school, while reviewing the so-called
"common branches." These teachers are holders merely of a second grade
elementary, or county, certificate, which requires very little
education. Almost any person who has taken the required course in
reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, and
hygiene of the elementary school can pass the usual examination and
obtain a certificate to teach. In some states the matter is made still
easier by the issuing of third grade county certificates, and even, in
some cases, by the giving of special permits. Indeed, the standards are
usually so low that the supply of teachers is far beyond the demand.

=The Su