The problem of supervision is a serious one, especially when complicated with politics as is often true of the county or state superintendency. Professor H. W. Foght significantly suggests: "The man who supervises the schools should have at least as good an academic and professional preparation as the teacher working under him. _This is seldom the case._" The incompetency of the school board, and the unwillingness of competent men to serve, still further complicates the problem. In many a community less earnest attention is given to the school which must train the boys and girls for life than is given to the problem of breeding horses and cattle. In most rural communities the school building is still the little building of the "box-car type," unattractive without and bare within, and as devoid of practical utility in equipment as of aesthetic charm. Equipment is less essential than personality, but to accomplish results with such a handicap is heartbreaking work. Slowly the modern type of rural school is making its appearance along the country-side; and by its sheer attractiveness is winning back to the school something of local pride. The great problem of what to teach, in order best to fit the pupils for a satisfying and successful country life, is only beginning to be faced frankly by many rural schools. In the past six years, however, the idea has been slowly gaining attention that the country school does not need the city curriculum, but requires a special program of its own. This involves much more than the technical study of rudimentary agriculture, but it must include that. By giving the reasons underlying the ordinary processes of farming and introducing the boys to the elements of the science as well as stimulating them to become proficient in the oldest of the arts, the school is able to arouse a real ambition to remain in country life and be a successful farmer on modern lines. II. Modern Plans for School Improvement. _Arguments for and Against Consolidation_ The centralization of country schools has been forced by the logic of circumstances. "Suppose you start to a creamery with 100 pounds of milk, and 45 pounds leak out on the way, could you make your business pay?" asks Dr. J. W. Robertson, a Canadian leader. "And still, of every 100 children in the elementary schools, 45 of them fall out by the way,--in other words, the average attendance is but 55%. But the consolidated schools in the five eastern provinces, with their gardens, manual training and domestic economy, now bring 97 of 100 children to school every day, and with no additional expense."