Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1858-08-05
FARMERS HIGH SCHOOL.
10 the People of PENNSYLVANIA.


Farmers High School of PENNSYLVANIA.
anxious to interest you in the importan
trus6--tor your beneft-committed to thei
'care, propose to present for your C c,nsidera
uon the objects, present condition. and nres
ent wants of the Institution.
An object steadily and prominently in
view, is to add dignity to manual labor Inv
associating manual labor with the acouisi,
ton of scientific knowledge. Cast YOUR ewes
over the length and breadth of our Common,
wealth. Observe various pursuits, profes.
slons and occupations. Note the estimation
IN which they are respectively held, aud the
influence they severally exert upon the com.
munlty, and say whether their standing and
influence are not mainly dependant upon
the relative intelligence of those who fill
| them. How trite, and yet how true, that
knowledge is Power
Associate labor with ignorance, and you
| degrade your sons and your daughters are
led to eschew ito look upon all who earn
their bread by the labor of their hands as
unworthy of their companionship. Associate
1t with intelligence, and you raise it to that
high and elevated stand which it should ocr
cupy as the handspring of human happiness
and the grand source ofman's comfort
Another oblect-to many of no less i'm
portance-is to afford the farmer. the me-
chanic, the merchant, and others, an oppor-
tunity of giving their sons thorough,
scientific, practical education, at a compare.
lively moderate expense,-an expense with
in the means of the great mass of our farm
ers and business men. This is to be effected
by requiring Of every student, irrespective
of his own or his fathers wealth, to labor
portion Of every day in the field, the barn,
the garden, OF the shop as season or circum'
stances may require.
Manual, as we'll as intellectual labor, will
! be required Of all to excel in both, being
equally honorable, and alike necessary to the
stitution, the student, as well in the field as
in the study, will press forward with high
hopes and joyous expectations.
In boyhood, there is no stimulus so
great, no incentive so powerful, as ambition.
Manual labor schools have failed, and always
will fail OF success, where labor is associated
with the necessities of poverty, in contrast
| with the immunities and privileges Of wealth;
where one class labor because their parents
are poor, and another class do not labor, be-
cause their parents are rich. To insure
success, all must start together on terms of
perfect equality, with no standard but skill
in labor, and attachments in labor to elevate
or degrade. The boy must be able to feel
that he is the architect of his own fame. as
1T is well that he should be Of his own for
tune: lesson which lies at the very foun-
datlon Of success throughout the whole
voyage of life,
m actual distaste for manual labor the
low repute in which it is held ;h@Jits Of idle
ness from thiScause dissipation arising
from lack Of excitement ignorance of the
applications of science to the business Of
fa th4a l. Cf
tenn Of collegiate education-evils which this
Institution purposes greatly to lessen, if not
remove. The education is to be practical as
well as scientific. 1t is designed to make
business men. How many students pass
through the whole routine of q collegiate
course acquiring little else than abstract
ideas. knowledge eff it deserve the name
the use Of which in its application to the
every day wants Of life, they neUeJ. learn.
From the study Of the philosophy of the
mechanical powers, we propose TO lead the
class, for Illustration, to their actual appli-
cation in the various operations of the farm:
from their recitations in Geology, not on
ly to carefully arranged cabinet, but to
the actual collecting Of the numerous speci
mems with which the varied strata in the VII
cirity of the Farmer High School abound
from their lessons in Botany, to the cultivat-
ed fields, the nursery, and the botanical garr
den through the fertile valleys to the
neighborlng forest and mountain ranges
and even in their rambles for pleasure thro'
! the arboretum we would introduce them to
an actual, personal and practical knowl.
! edge of every tree which this climate can be
made produce. Such acquaintances with
| the productions of Nature will make them
! feel, wherever on earth's surface their lot
! may be cast, not as among strangers, but
/ amid the friends of their youth
The farm consists of 400 acres-360 Of
which have been cleared. The soil is fresh
and susceptible of the very highest degree
of culture and productiveness. A comfort
| able farmhouse, a large and well arranged
barn, cOrn'cribs, workshop, tool-rooms
| boiler'shed, with apparatus for steaming food
| for cattle, and other farm buildings have
been erected. An extensive, carefully SCI
lected, and wellarranged nursery has been
| prepared, orchard and vineyard planted. and
| garden grounds arranged The College
! buildings, sufficiently large for the accom-
modation of nearly 400 Students, Professors
| and their families. are under contract One
wing, capable of accommodating from seven,
/ ty-fve to one hundred students, is so far ad,
vanced as to afford assurance that the first
| class can be admitted during the coming
winter. The residue of the entire building,
the contractors hope to be able to place un,
der roof the present season.
Boys of l6 years old and upwards, quail
iied by a good common school education,
will be received from every county in the
proportion of its taxable inhabitants, if ap'
plication be made in accordance with the
regulations which will be shortly adopted
and published. Vacancies, arising from
failure of applications from any county, will
be filled from the surplus applications from
other counties. The charges for tuition
boarding, fuel, light, washing, and books
have been fixed for the first year at one hun
dred dollars. The Trustees hope that the
time is not far distant when they can greatly
lessen this comparatively moderate charge
The entire course will be four years. One