Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-06-26

how can childrch's services be made profit.
able, it their education is not neglected.
No one who values the future Of his child
can Tor a moment advocate that work should
take the precedence of study. The word
education is very comprehensive in its
meaning, and that of farmers sons should
be emphatically Of practical nature. 1t
should be ever impressed on the minds Of
youth that an essential part of their educa-
tion Is in learning to work, and that some
thing is to be learned in the mechanical man
ual labor Of farming.
IL is an old adage that Everybody has to
rough it at one time or another" Now Il
the roughing comes in boyhood, it does good
If later, when habits are formed, it is
equally tough, but not being educational is
generally useless. If any of us had choice
tree that we wanted to grow and flourish
and become a tree of promise, able to with
stand the storms and tempests and bear fruit
in Its season, we should select the best soil
and location that we possibly could and then
give it all the artificial protection in our
power that it might grow and become a
goOdIy tree. SO we believe II to be essen.
tial TO the mind and bodies of men, that
they should in youth grow up and come in
contact with the natural elements Of nature !;
and no better place can be selected than the
broad acres Of the farm.
Mr.. j. Wilkinson once remarked in an
address before the Board Of Agriculture at
Amherst, that "with his experience with
life in the country aud the city, if he had a
dozen sons 10 locate in business he certainly
would settle twelve Of them on farm, and
the other one, too, if it were bakers doz-
en-. Not one Of them would come TO the
city with his consent, to take the one in one
hundred chances Of success there offered"
country could only see behind the tinse cur
tain that conceals SO much gentcel misery in
the city, he would shun it as he would shun
a viper, and would return to the country
with the firm resolution to make it his place
Of abode and Geld of labor for life. Men
outside Of our ranks are in the habit Of
looking upon the employment of farmers as
having tendency to dwarf and belittle a
man, and hence farmers themselves have
been regarded as not quite on the same
social level with men in other branches of
business. Farmers must respect themselves
and their calling, thus making themselves
worthy the regard of all other men. They
should instruct their sons to farm on scieu.
tifc principles and then the monotony Of the
general round of farming is at once broken
How evident it is that a state of labor is
natural and healthy to man. We doubt il
ever person was fairly worn out with hard
labor. Bad hours and bad habits often do
the mischief for which hard work gets the
credit.
But nature must have reposc, relaxation
and change. We believe children should
join reform societies, that by minglng with
their fellows they may gain selfknowledge
Self knowledge and wisdom are tho same
so said the Greeks. When men live in iso.
lated conditions they drift back toward bar.
barism, and so when the world does not
know a man and a man does not know him
solf, their mutul ignorance is not an igno
rance that is blissiul. A man should always
I number himself and the world among hi.
acquaintance. Strong of purpose and in
flexible of will should be the man who ex
poets to achieve great ends.
There is no velvet turf on tho road thai
leads To fame and fortune | was reading q
short story in paper not long ago which
pleased me not a little, which l will her,
quote "A well-known Ohio congressman
once visited his friend, well-to-do farmer
Said the congressman, there is a vacant
cadetship at West Point, and there is alsC
a midshipman to be appointed at Annapolis
both from our district, l will give YOU
son his choice OF the two. The generou!
offer was warmly made and accompanied
with many friendly expressions and thank
for services rendered him in n political cam
paign, but, on the farmers part, without the
slightest expectation of any return. Thc
offer, therefore, was a surprise, and seemed
so much to require consideration, that it wa
a minute before the farmer could answer
him at all.
During that minute the farmer had tint
to call up memories of his own carly strug
giles, fighting his way up through wear,
years of toll and waiting and patient self
denial, into the possession of busines!
without any friendly aid. His boy wa
seventeen years old, and could doubles,
pass the necessary examination at eithel
place. But then, he was the only boy h
had. He thought of the farm, the broaC
meadows lately underdrained, the driveway
newly graveed, with trees along side of th
orchard and the woods and the cattle on tn,
hillside, and he wondered who would TAX
Misplace in his Robinson Crusoe kingdom
if his boy went away. Then of what us,
had been the pains and labor Of beautify
ing and enriching the farm if his son wa
not to succeed 10 its management and en-
joymentH
The temptation was declined with many
thanks, much to the surprise Of his friend
by simply telling him he was as well able t.
educate his son us Uncle Sam, and though
he could give him fully as honorable a ca
reer" The story went on to say that tive
years passed aud the lad was rapidly grow
ing into manhood; was broad shouldereC
aud muscular as young Hercules. Reg
ular daily labor in plowing and harvesting
and hauling had not interfered with rational
enjoyment, but had given keener relish fol
it and should the time ever come whe
daily labor was no longer necessary for thC
making of livelihood, he will enter ol
middle age with the man well developed
physically, and with the mind stored witt
the practical knowledge of husbandry.
Successful farming must be understood
and become practical to progress, and
progressive farming does not pay, it is quit