Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-02-06
Tie Better Education Of Farmers.

We are apt to take too much Of dol
lar-and-cent view of the question OF ag-
ricultural education. In so many years
a young man could earn so much money:
will it pay him to give this up in order
that he may get an education which will
enable him in later life to make more
money than he could without it Will
any education that can be gained ut
school make better money-getter OF
boy than would the same amount OF
time and attention given to learning
the practical operations of the farm ?
Without stopping to answer these
propositions-which are foreign to our
purpose-we desire to call attention to
other considerations that must have
weight with all thoughtful persons.
The greatest prosperity of farmers, as a
class and individually, Must come from
causes which will advance farming as
an occupation. No permanent and sat
isfactory prosperity can attend any
calling which is not held in good re-
pute, and no calling in these modern
days can be in good repute which is not
represented by at least fair proportion
of men of education and intelligence.
In the so-called professions" in me-
chanics, and in trade, the tendency is
toward better and better education and
a more cultivated intelligence, and the
degree of respect in which they are sew
orally held is in all cases proportionate
to the intelligence of its representative
men.
In the future allotment Of honor and
influence, and consequently of prosper
ity, that calling will take the lead whose
representative men are the most dis
tinguished for education and cultiva-
ton, and that will fall to the rear in
which there has been the least progress
in these respects. The road of the fu-
ture is On ascending one, and progress
over it is to be secured much more by
the aid of mind than by the aid of mat
ter. Those who take care and keep the
lead in the race will do 80 because Of
their brains rather than of their bodies,
and the leadership will imply control
over those who are behind land there
fore beneath) them. How far their rule
will be merciful will depend on condi-
tions which we cannot now foresee, but
that they will rule is as certain as that
mind has always ruled over brute force.
If farmers can take the lead, farming
will be favored and fortunate occupa-
ton. If they must fall to the rear, it
will be degraded and IN unfortunate
one. Whether it is one or the other,
depends on the extent to which farmers
are educated and enabled to stand fair
chance in the struggle for the lead" "
aud our successors will be the lords of
the land or a down-trodden peasantry,
according rs they are educated or not.
We assume, of course, that prosperity
and intelligence will go hand in hand,
and that as we gain in education we
shall gain in wealth. At the same time,
we believe that the best chance for the
future of our craft lies in the ability of
it's representatives to take high stand
for education and intelligence. Believ-
ing this, We long for the better general
education of farmers: not of those of
the farmers sons who are destined for
other occupations, but especially for
those who are to stay on the farm. Let
us bring better-trained brains to the
performance of our work, and shed the
light of cultivation and refinement over
our hearthstones, and we may conf
dently look for o success which mere
wealth could not secure. --American Ag-
TiculturiSt