Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1869-04-24
SHALL WE ENCOURAGE BOYS TO
STAY on THE FARM?

BY all means, if they want to stay;
if they have taste for farm life, and
take to it more kindly than to any
other pursuit. If a boy takes an hon.
est pride in turning straight furrow,
rearing fine calves and building fine
hay stacks, doubtless the farm is the
place for him. If he prefers to 90
10 the country fair TO attending Dan
Rice circus, if he selects the Prairie
Farmer that came in the same mail
with the New York Ledger, that boy
has taste for farming that it will do
well to encourage.
But how about the other boys to
whom farming is an uncongenial en-
ployment, and whose only lively step
in. the field is taken when the trumpet
calls to dinnerY Shall we encourage
them to stay on the farm, with the
fact staring in the face that they have
no natural aptitude for the business,
and consequently will never become
good farmers Much as we respect
and honor the pursuit of agriculture,
we think we should not. We cannot
see how either the farm or the boys
are to benefited by this procedure.
The fact is, we have too many poor
farmers to hold out inducements for
increasing them.
1t would be much wiser course,
every way, to find out what boy is
good for, if, indeed he is good for
anything in particular, before you
encourage him to adopt any particu-
lar calling. IF the only good boy
ever did about the farm was to repair
the pumps; hang gates, make mole
traps, put in rake teeth, file the saw,
and hang the grind-stone, and he did
these things well, obviously the farm
is not the place for him, but a ina
chine shop is.
If a boy will walk half dozen
miles, after the days work is done,
to hear political speech, if he takes
time from his play to attend trials
before n justice Of the peace, and
sits up half the night, when he is
going TO school, to learn declamations
which bring down the house at spell
ling school, most likely he will do the
world more good if you put law
book and not a manure fork into his
hand.
IF he cams more money trading
jackknives mna fish lines on rainey
days, than I've does hoeing potatoes
and emitting grain in fair weather,
give him a chance to h;,ndle yard
stick, and not have him round troub-
ling other boys who Me handling
horse rakes and pitch-forl,s, and like
the employment.
t.gain, If boy is skillful in skin
ming small animals and stufimg birds,
if he practised making pills of mud
when. he was child and extracted
teetl from she jaws of dead horses
with pincers when he got lder; if he
read physiologies when his brothers
are engaged IN perusing Robinson
Crus Zoe, he will be far more likely to
succ eed with ~ lancet than with
scyt he.
l. has become very fashionable
late ly to cxhUrt farmers to encourage
the il boys to stay on the farm ire
up, ctivo of their ability or taste to
be come good farmers; but we cannot
sec the propricty of is. On the other
hand, we see many good reasons why
boys who do not promise to become
good farmers should be encouraged
to try their hands at something else
while they are still Young. Becarlse
boy was born on farm it i, no
reason why he should always STAY
there if nature gave him 81 its for
something else, brt denied him the
inherent faculties for becow ing a sue
cessful farmer. In India persons are
born into a Caste but an never get
out of it. In ancient Egypt children
were obliged to follow the occupation
ofEhcir parents TO the latest time
But we have never heard of any
good, but great doal of evil coming
it, The farm is u good place for boys
to stay GA unless they have an aver,
sion to farm life, and have, at the
same tame, strong inclination to &C
into some other kind Of business that
is moro congonial to them; in which
case we think they had better go theil
way, and the sooner the bettcr.--Prai
RTE Farmer.