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schools from over thirteen thousand in number to something over eight thousand by the erection of 439 consolidated schools, while Indiana lias over one thousand of them. .1 was assured that the erection of a consolidated school at once added to the value of the land in the district. To get some further evidence on this point I called at the office of v real-estate agent in Cedar Falls, lowa, and, explaining the reason for my inquiry, asked if what 1 had been told was correct. " Sure tiling," was the reply, " You're a stranger here or yon wouldn't ask that. Why, a consolidated school puts five or six dollars an acre extra value on to land right away." In confirmation of his statement he showed me some posters announcing farms for sale. Where these were in a consolidated school district the fact was announced in large type. It was evidently an important factor in selling. The following is a summary of the special advantages claimed for the consolidated school : (I) There are pupils enough and taxable property enough to make it practicable to build and to equip a good school ; (2) the better salaries and the improved living conditions make it possible to secure well-trained and experienced teachers ; (3) a much-improved attendance ; (4) an up-to-date four-year high-school course without leaving home ; (5) the pupils advance faster and stay in school longer; (6) better sanitary conditions : (7) better libraries ; (8) better vocational instruction : (9) better play and playgrounds, better athletics; (10) better community activities; (II) fewer changes in teachers; (12) greater enthusiasm and school spirit; (13) better supervision, better leadership; (14) larger vision and perspective; (15) wider opportunities for making acquaintances and forming friendships; (16) better opportunities for team-work; (17) greater training in cooperation ; (18) better returns for money spent. From what I saw of the work that these schools are doing, I should say that the claims mentioned above are fully justified. lam sure that, could our own settlers see a consolidated school in operation, there would be an insistent demand for the institution of similar schools in New Zealand. Two important factors in making a consolidated school a success are; (a) Good roads, (/;) reliable persons to act as drivers. When one of these schools has been established in the States in a district where the roads were not good an improvement in the roading conditions has soon been made. The people have too much money invested in their school to allow its efficiency to be impaired in that way. Consequently, a consolidated school, if not preceded is always quickly followed by good roads. It has been found in the schools that 1 visited that the most satisfactory drivers of the school-buses were either the teachers (who were in residence at the school) or the older boys in the high school. The drivers were paid from £6 . r )s. per month for their services. The Training ok Teachers, There is no pupil-teacher or probationer system in Ontario, or, as far as I could learn, in the. United States. Candidates for entry to the teaching profession in Ontario are expected to have passed the Matriculation Examination (this examination, by the way, is conducted by a. Matriculation Hoard on which the Department of Education is strongly represented, and the papers are prepared under the direct supervision of the Department). This Matriculation Examination covers English (literature and composition), British history, ancient history, algebra, geometry and Latin, plus two subjects selected from the following ; Greek, French, German, Italian, or Spanish, and physics and chemistry, or agriculture and horticulture. Candidates may obtain a simple pass or may puss vith " honours. , ' In addition to passing the Matriculation Examination, candidates for admission to the normal school (t,his=our training college) must obtain from their high school a certificate to show that they have passed their school examination in arithmetic, Knglish, grammar, art, physiography, Canadian history and civics, plus either botany and zoology or agriculture and horticulture. Candidates who intend to teach in a secondary school must hold a university degree, and the subjects they have taken must bear on the high-school course. The normal-school course is one year for both primary- and secondary-school students : the whole time is spent in studying the theory and practice of teaching. For training in the practice of teaching, the usual thing is for each student to give two lessons per week before a critic teacher. The critic teachers are selected in much the same way as with us. The Department pays £75 per annum extra to the critic teacher, and £100 extra to the headmaster of the school. A successful year's work entitles those who entered with an " honours " pass in matriculation to a teacher's certificate of the first class, while those who had only a pass for matriculation receive a certificate of the second class. In each of the States that I visited there are several normal schools, and one or more State teachers' training colleges. The course at the former is for one or sometimes for two years, and good work entitles the student on leaving to a teachers' certificate ; at the latter the course is a four-year one. These State Teachers' training colleges hold University rank and are entitled to grant degrees. They are attended by very large numbers. At both Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo, two State colleges that J visited in Michigan, there are some one thousand five hundred students in attendance. 1 need hardly say that it is impossible to provide adequate practice in teaching for such numbers. Tuition in the normal schools is free, but no money allowance is made to students while in training. Most of the normal schools and training colleges provide " special courses " : thus, the Trenton Normal School provides the following courses : (a) General, (l>) kindergarten, (c) commercial, (<l) domestic science, (c) manual training, (/) music, (g) physical training, (A) treatment of the subnormal, (?) training of the deaf. Most of the universities and training colleges take advantage of the long vacation to provide special courses. These are attended by hundreds, sometimes by thousands, of teachers. In my opinion, the course, in all the training institutions that I visited, was weak in regard to the amount of practical experience that was given. I saw very little to equal, and nothing to surpass, the training now being given at the Auckland Training College.

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