This form of instruction is, of course, quite in place in the strictly technical school, but, however good training of this kind would be there, it is not suited to the elementary school, and would be out of joint with the remainder of a lad's school work. Slöjd is distinctive in its character, and in its details shares little of the features of any other system.

Most foreign systems other than the Slöjd are really a kind of carpentry, though some of the courses of instruction, notably at the Ecole Municipale Diderot, Paris, and at the Manual Training School, Chicago, will be found almost unexceptionable, when their particular requirements are considered.

Most of the boys at these institutions receive a large amount of instruction, and they are able to accomplish a full and comprehensive course, which, with the limited time available for instruction in manual training in the public elementary schools of this country, could not possibly be attempted here.

To compare Slöjd with what may be called, in general terms, carpentry, in a sentence: Slöjd has good gradation and easy exercises executed by undesirable methods, and carpentry has ill-graded models which are often too difficult, though they are performed on a good plan, but, owing to their difficulty, inefficiently.

Wood-carving is in some respects a good form of manual training, but the work does not allow of a sufficient variety of tools being used.

All sizes of the chisel and gouge are required, but very few other tools; which, moreover, cannot be kept in such good order as is necessary, by young children.

The first attempts at carving are likely to be dispiriting and the difficulty of properly grading the exercises makes this subject one fit only for exceptional boys, and for the distinctly technical workshop.

The cramped position of the pupil is injurious, and the work does not compare favourably in this respect with the free health-giving exercise afforded by ordinary woodwork. Some carvers' tools might, however, be used in connection with the usual carpenters' tools required in manual training. The great length of time required for most exercises in carving renders the gradation of a course difficult, and the fact that only art drawing, and of that but a small amount, is involved, makes it difficult to teach anything else than the mere work in hand.

Having endeavoured to point out what appear to be failings in the various methods of instruction discussed, it becomes necessary to lay down the main principles of a course of woodwork manual training.

In the first place, no work should be done of which a drawing, either full size or to scale, has not previously been made.

Perhaps it is not necessary here to enlarge on the educational value of the 'shortest of shorthands,' as drawing has been so appropriately called, for its great value as a form of hand, eye, and mental training is now generally recognised. In its relation to woodwork, however, drawing is often very useful, and frequently indispensable, in giving an impression of the internal appearance of a finished exercise or model which may not perhaps exist in reality.

Opportunity is afforded the pupil in drawing to become thoroughly familiar with the general aspect of his work. But the greatest benefit of the drawing is that the child's appreciation of what is required is more stimulated when he has to create, as it were, under the guidance of his teacher, first his drawing, and then his model from the drawing, instead of merely copying the dimensions of a completed model directly on to his wood, and from this making a precise copy of the model. A very dull lad may perhaps receive a little assistance in this way to illustrate his drawing lesson, but a clever one, on the other hand, should work entirely from a drawing, to scale, of the exercise or model required, and this will be found most valuable as a mental training, involving constant thought and close attention.

Some exercises, indeed, could not possibly be made either by man or boy, experienced or inexperienced, without first drawing them, on the wood at any rate - e.g., a regular pentagon would defy the powers of the most experienced workman. A paper drawing might appear superfluous in this case, when the surface of the wood can be made to take its place, but boys frequently have to be taught a geometrical problem of this kind before the drawing on the wood can be thought of, and, owing to the decided objection to making false lines on the wood, it is always desirable, even when a boy can draw well, for him to make a paper drawing first. The argument in favour of working drawings is really quite overwhelming, and the tyro will at once recognise this.

With a view to assisting in the teaching of drawing given in the ordinary school hours, the exercises in woodwork should each involve a good useful drawing lesson.

The usual size of the exercises and models should be as large as, but no larger than, the boys can easily perform. There are three important considerations which limit the dimensions of an exercise: