The Following suggestions to teachers are intended to give a broad conception of the underlying principles upon which this text is founded, and to offer means by which it can be made most effective in the hands of the students. It is not the intention to curtail the possibilities, nor any of the originality or initiative of the teacher, but rather to relieve him as much as possible of the drudgery and minor detail which falls to the lot of one who must be a constant source of information and advice to his classes.

In practically all other school subjects the teacher has the advantage of placing in the hands of his students some sort 'of literature from which they may gather the essential facts of the subject-matter. In proper justice to the industrial instructors, as well as to the students, these classes should be provided with some means by which they may gather pertinent information and direct these activities by their own powers of research. This will conserve the teacher's time and energy, allowing it to be devoted to the more important function of studying the case of each individual student, and then prescribing work suitable to serve his need.

This book is arbitrarily divided into six sections and each section presents ten projects in detail and offers suggestions for three or four times as many more. It is not the idea that any one student should be required to make every project in each section, but rather to set forth an abundance of work from which the teacher may direct the choice of the student after considering his personal taste and individual needs. But little attempt is made to grade the projects of each section and present them in the order of the sequence of processes, but rather to offer a series of projects which present kindred principles or which offer an opportunity of appealing to the varying tastes of the students. The sections, however, are sequential from the standpoint of difficulty. When a student has completed one project, by careful consideration of the finished product and the capability of the student, the teacher should advise him regarding what project he is next to undertake. In making this selection the wishes of the student should have careful consideration and also the selection should be made in such a way as to give him further training on the particular processes which he did not do satisfactorily in his last lesson. For illustration: if in making the matchbox the student has not shown sufficient ability in the use of the coping saw or in planing parallel edges, he might be given the whiskbroom holder for his second lesson and be encouraged to undertake a design which would reemploy these principles.

It will be observed that in each section there are offered projects of such a nature as to appeal to the interest of any boy, whether of the city or of the country. There are also projects of purely boyish interest from the standpoint of amusement, as well as some things which will be of value to him in his room.

The introduction to each section should be carefully perused so the instructor may have a fairly clear idea of what it embodies. He should also acquaint himself with the processes involved in each project before allowing a student to begin it. A student who has not sufficiently mastered the work of one section should not be allowed to pass to the next, but should be given further work either from the regular lessons set forth or from the "suggestions employing similar principles" until he has proven his capability of undertaking the more advanced section. It is not absolutely necessary that all the students of the class be working on projects from the same section at the same time; in fact, too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the matter of giving to each student the work best adapted to his personal development regardless of what the other members of the class may be doing at that time.

On the opening page of each lesson is given a halftone illustration to enable the student to visualize the essential points of the thing which he is about to make. The illustrations will also be found valuable in guiding the students and the teacher in making selection of lessons to be undertaken. The bill of material is given in detail on the same page with the cut, so that as the student thinks of each piece on the bill he may glance at the illustration and thus see its exact application in the finished product. This does not necessarily mean that the stock must be furnished to the student in the number and dimension of pieces given in the bill. It may sometimes be convenient and desirable to furnish the stock in bulk, from which the student is to cut the necessary bill. No definite instructions can be given on this point because of the widely varying conditions in different schools.

The kind of wood suggested for each lesson is not necessarily the only kind which is suitable, but in most of the projects considerable latitude is possible, and such material as is available may be used. But if a substitution is made the student should be told, so he may familiarize himself with whatever kind he is using. In order that the student may have an opportunity of knowing about the tree, its characteristics, nature, function, etc., and may also have certain guiding points in its identification, the references to the supplement are given in each lesson. Students should be required to turn to this supplement and read the discussion of the particular kind of wood which they are using. This reading may be done outside of the shop period or at any other time which the teacher may dictate. It should not, however, be allowed to go by unobserved.

On this same page of each lesson will be found an "introductory statement." The purpose of the introductory statement is to help the student to realize that there is a great community problem in which he should be interested, and that the project which he is about to undertake is a means toward the solution of this problem. Any student will approach his work with greater enthusiasm, wiser judgment and consequently better educational value if he sees that it is a reality, or that it is typical of some of the activities which are going on about him. It is not the purpose of the introductory statement to do anything more than to arouse an interest by suggesting that the community problems exist, as but little space can be devoted to a general discussion of these problems. However, references are given to government bulletins, text-books, magazines and other sources of information to which the student may turn for broader information on the subject. It is urgently advised that these references be followed as far as at all possible, because they will thus unfold a vast field of practical industrial information to the students. Many of these publications can be had without expense and the others can be purchased at a reasonable price; they should therefore be secured for the . library and made the nucleus of the equipment for industrial research. It will be found an excellent plan to assign various topics to different students for special reports. This will also supply material for supplementary reading and furnish themes for composition work.