Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1867-02-07
Aaritnltnral department.
EDUCATION OF FARMERS.

EDUCATION OF FARMERS.
We remember capital letter that was written
few years ago to the editor Of the Country Gentle,
man, upon the peculiar position OF that SPECIAL
member of society He is said to be in all respects,
moral habits, and a man of business. The country
gentleman is no idle gentleman, no man OF lazy
leisure, no drone; he is, or ought to be, OF the
highest grade of the human family in private Lite
and as general rule, is so. More genuine gentle
men are found in the country on farms and planta-
tions, than in cities and towns Country gentle
men have one failing. 1t is the absence ofa prop
er esprit du corps, and in its place, longing for
other professions The farmers, as a general rule,
look dozen upon their own profession, and ap to
that of the lawyer Doctor divine, merchant and
the noblest of all the professions. An educated
farmer has arrived at the highest position that hu
man ambition can ask for Farmers must aim to
become great in their line instead Of quitting the
profession to reach greatness in the line of the law
or physic. Farmers sons and daughters should
be proud of their fathers calling and recognize a
station and standing high enough to satisfy their
greatest ambition. But how can this be accom-
plished? By proper system Of education AT
present, the end and aim Of ninety nine young men
in hundred is the law, or medicine, or divinity.
The last requires but little real talent, though much
piety; the second, considerable talent and much
mental ability, and none Of the higher attributes OF
the soul The slightest touch of real honesty IN
lawyer, spoils him for that line of business The
bigger his bump of rascaty the better he is fitted tor
Coke and Blackstone Ifhe is born with nice
sense of right and wrong he will make dead fail,
ure in the law. If a farmer have two sons, and
one exhibits medium Of intellectual smartness,
that is, cheats his brother in knife trade, and the
other trounces him for it, the first is sent to Yale
barnyard for his.
Among all that has been written on the subject
of education of farmers sons, the proper idea has
not vet been started 1t is true, we are constantly
furnished with essays recommending the establish
ing of agricultural schools and colleges, but they do
not contain the germ from which the future tree
must grow Legislatures are not to be depended
upon to establish schools. Farmers must do it
themselves. Lawyers, doctors and diyines estab-
lish their own schools; why not farmers? No; they
first put their shoulders to the wheel, and then
call on Hercules to help them. The great and over
looked idea is the responsibility of the profession;
this they must fully appreciate before they can be
induced to take the proper measures to insure
thorough education for their sons They must
hold their own profession the equal OF any other,
once establishing this they will receive that respect
and attention which they justly merit.
Let us sketch plan of education, and as mod
el take the medical profession What does man
do who has a son that he wishes to become doc
tor? He selects some good physician, and puts
his son with him to study two or three years. This
is to give him theoretical knowledge of the rudi-
ments. The physician will instruct him as to the
books he must read, and make him acquainted with
the minor practical duties of the profession, and
give him opportunities for such practice as may be
considered proper. This isapprentlceshlp.. After
proper length of study in the Office he is sent to
the medical college, where he completes his theo-
retical studies and has the advantage Of the cin-
cal practice in the infrmary or hospital, and at
proper time, after sufficient study, he receives his
diploma. Now farmers should do the same with
those of their sons they intend for farmers. They
should instruct them in the principles as well as
the practice of their art they should put books in
to their hands to be studied they should, in fact
be carried through regular apprenticeship. -
When they have gone through with this prelimi-
nary study of theoretical and practical farming,
such as can be given them at home, or with some
respectable farmer, they are prepared for the high
er school studies Every county should have, at
least, one high agricultural school established and
supported by the farmers, both in the science or
the theory and practice of agriculture. Until the
farmers adopt system of this sort, it is impossible
that they can ever attain to that high professional
standing that is enjoyed by other professions But
what is the system now? The boy grows up on the
farm and shirks as much of the farm work as he
possibly can IF he is willing to work, land the
farmer sons who are form exceptions to the rule
no one explains to him the why and wherefore,
of any operation If his parents are able, he is
sent to some country school near his residence,
L. t4o op1 nharc ~
but he also learns to envy the condition of the
school MASTER the clerk in the store, the doctor $
student and the lawyers office boy, and more than
all else, he hates the idea of returning to the work
of plain farmer Here is the root of the evil,
and it is only to be eradicated by radical change
in the school system, and in the minds OF farmers
themselves as to the standing and character Of the
farmers profession IF the young men were in
duced to consider the profession Of farmer as dig
nfed and ''gentce1," as much as any other calling
they would not so readily imbibe dislike for it. -
This can be accomplished by proper systematic
course of instruction at home, and by schools prop
ery managed.
The term ian ignorant farmer has become
stereotvpcd 1t was slur of reproach from some
or all of the socalled Learned professions" The
farmers owe it to themselves to repel this insult by
the proper attention to education. Time 1raS when
the workingman was looked down upon, and the
farmer being one of the working class, came in for
portion Of the sneers of the lazy, proud, non
producers, who were disgrace to the age they
lived in, and are douby so to-day. Thank God,
the time when to labor was to lose caste has passed
away This is the working age. Ignorance IS a
disgrace; the lack of a fair degree of book knowl
edge is disgrace but to work physically till the
sweat rolls from ones brow is honorable; toll is
ennobling but the physical toll Of the educated
farmer stamps him as with a true patent of nobill-
ty. Cincinnatus was specimen Of the agricultu-
rist, which the American farmer should pattern
after. The Roman Senate found him in the field
at work The time will yet come when the Amer
lean Senate will look for another Cincinnatus to
save, by his wisdom, this poor country
How TO Cook A BEEFsTEAK.-A beefsteak
ought always to be broiled and never fried but
the following method Of cooking is recommended
by Mrs. Hutton;
The frying pan being wiped very dry, place it
upon the stove and let it become hot-very hot.
In the mean time, mangle the steak-pepper and
salt it, then lay it in the hot dry pan, which in
stantly cover as tightly as possible When the raw
flesh touches the heated pan, of course it seethes
and adheres to it, but in a few seconds it becomes
, - l,,1e A.