Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-10-22

The New York Tribune Qounded by
Horace GreeleyD says sneeringly; In
dustrial education is now the conduranpC
which is to make everybody healthy anC
wealthy and wise" This is Il sentenc,
that will tickle Brother Tinkham i'm
mensely. The Tribune does not tell Il
whether it is literary education which il
to be held responsible for the bad health
poverty and unwisdom which are now Sc
commonly complained of as prevalent
Not knowing precisely what a " condu
range is, we are yet willing to try one j
it promises amendment in these importan
respects HoSktnS, IN Watchman.
1t is vastly encouraging to find ou
there's one thing the doctor doesn't know
precisely. And again we are not asham-
ed of being found holding ideas similar to
those entertained by the New York
Tribune founded by Horace Greeley.
In the same connection may well come
in Il clip from the RuraJ Neo Yorker,
which bears on the subject:
1t is but few years since the opinion
prevailed in large part of our country
that agriculture required but little Tnforma.
ton and mental training for its successful
conduct; that an educated man ought no,
to waste his talents in so plain and humble
Il calling; and that 1t was compromising
to personal dignity for one TO identify him.
self with the common duties of the tiler
Of the soil. Now it is clear that there Is a
very great demand for brain rs well as
muscle in performing tho duties of the
farm. The difficulty is found 10 be in the
want of sound judgment. of fertile minds
rs well as acres; of power to promptly
and economically utilize discoveries and
improvements. There is now general
desire in the highest educated circles t.,
devise the best methods for preparing oar
young men for the calling that supports all
other calings. Hence cur agricultural
colleges. While the problem is hard t.
solve, it is evident that the extraordinary
attention 10 the higher departments of in
>lruction in industrial pursuits is rapidly
Strengthening. enlarging and enrchine
The minds of those who are entering the
occupation Of the farmer. The farmel
has long been working for the world I'm.
appreciated; bat now the world is turning
to the most careful work for the farmer
SO far from the educated man feeling him.
self above the grand old calling, he is now
in multitudes of instances, toilng with his
mighty talents to give more success tc
hose who pursue that avocation.
Through all these and kindred utter
ances runs the idea of the farmers igno
rance of his business, general lack of men
tai capacity and ability, ms generally nc
cepted, and that education, agriculture
education, is The one thing useful. What
then, has agriculture, in its ignorance, its
lack of mental training, its muscle with
out much brain, accomplished
A little more than two hundred and fifty
years ago the Pilgrims. landing on
Plymouth rock, found stretching west
ward before them the unbroken wilderness
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From
then till now has progress been made NJ
to the average of the world? Think o.
the forests felled, the acres plowed, the
homes made. the manufactures supported
the railroads built; of the unbroker
stretch of farms and homes from Maine te
Minnesota, and the great empire on the
Pacific and the territories east of the
Rocky mountains, almost clasping hands
over tho heights.
The old fashioned virtues of industry
economy and good hard work deserve
some respect from us, and il i'll becomes
US, in view of such marvellous results
achieved by their labors. to speak slight
ingly of their work or abilities, who have
conquered all these fruits from sayaoe
masters, by such abilities as they had; and
when we shall have accomplished half as
much (instead of reaping the fruits of
their labors, commiserating them the
while as poor Ignorant beings, low down
in the social scale), it will be time then to
look well to see how we have accomplish.
ed it, and compare with them the means
by which it has been gained.
Education is good, for the farmer rs
everybody else, but there are other things
just as needful, and a farmer may know
as much as an editor, even, or be walk
ing cyclopedia of knowledge. and if he is
in debt for his farm, and sits down con-
templating his high mental attachments
and social standing, he will sooner or
later see his farm bought by some possibly
less highly educated but more industrious
fellow citizen ai.'
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