The Columbus journal., 1884-02-27
Rural Education.

Rural Education.
.
There is no working man whose con-
teniences and facilities for self-educa-
ton are better than those of the farmer.
By using the term education we do not
have any reference to the curriculum Of
the schools. Acquaintance with the dead
languages and with the literature Of
Greece and Rome are not worth as
much on q farm as expertness in
handling wheat, corn, hogs and horses.
To know how to calculate an eclipse
of the sun is an accomplishment. but
it is not worth as much to farmer as
know how to make good hay. 1t is
not to the learning of the schools we
refer, but to that more substantial and
serviceable training which fits a man
for successful agriculture. This in
cludes some knowledge of soils and
manures, of grains, animals and the
art of feeding, of climate, and its ef-
fects on animal and vegetable life.
Then he needs to have knowledge Of
political affairs, of history, of econom-
ic questions which affect public inter-,
eSts.
And all these things we say the farmer
has better opportunities for learning
than any other class of workingmen.
and among working men we include
all workers, without regard to their
particular avocation. Mechanics, mer-
chants, clerks, have little time for rest.
because they work SO many hours of
the day. and when relief comes, temp
tations lie on every side to lure them in
to idle pleasures or dissipation. The
farmer works hard and long in the
growing season, and in harvest time;
but all along through the winter months
he has many spare hours after the sun
has set. These he may improve as he
will. The theatre, the dramshop, the
bowling alley is not next door to him,
within whose influence he goes every
time he steps outside his door. The
pure air of heaven surrounds his dwell
ing; he lives in an atmosphere OF health
and sobriety, where children grow
strong in good qualities of head and
heart, and where families are trained in
all the virtues. When the shadows
grow long and night comes, the noise,
din and hustle of the town are not near
to disturb the quiet of his home. His
surrounding are all favorable for study
and repose. ~ E.
Under such encouraging conditions
the farmer has good time to study. II
he does not improve his opportunities,
he alone is to blame. We have often
wondered why so many young men in
the country have come to believe they
have no time to study. During five
months of the year, even here in Kan
sas, two and half to three hours may
be had every day after sunset. Take
out two evenings of every week for bus
mess or pleasure, and there still remain
twelve to fifteen hours for study. In
these twelve to fifteen hours three hum
dred pages of an ordinary sized book
may be read. In one hour a good lecture
may be heard; in two and half hours
the programme of good lyceum may
be completed. In the five working
nights of one week, an earnest student
may learn a great deal that will be USE
full to him. .-....
There are so many ways in which rural
education may prosper that it seems
strange our farmers are not generally
better informed than they are. Our
readers know that this paper advocates
education of the masses, and we have
taught self education to the people. We
don't believe in sending every boy to
college Nine ont of every ten would
be no better off for the training uni
versity could give them. We believe in
schools and in students attending them,
but these great educational endowments
are not intended for all All men can
not grow up in the schooi-room, and
there is no good in such a thing if it
were possible. What we urge is self
education, whether you 60 to school or
not. We hold that any smart boy may
climb to heights occupied by others that
have gone up before him. The living
teacher is a great help, a sustaining pow
er, but he is not absolutely necessary to
the acquisition of knowledge. When one
can read understandingly the world of
knowledge is open to him the same as to
any other person. The dead have left
their thoughts to us. Achievement of
mind in former years and ages are the
proper ty of all who read. The worlds
knowledge is the common inheritance of
HAL. NO Cullu IS cACluOCu tuO
feasts to be had from these exhaustless
stores. Let the young mans ambition
urge him on to achievements where 9TH
ers no better than he succeeded.
Every boy and girl on the farm onght
to cultivate habit of reading and study,
reading something useful, and by that
we mean instructive. There is more
useful information in Dicks four vol.
umes than there is in Dickens fifteen.
Let every leisure hour be made profita-
BILE in the crop of learning it yields. A
reading habit once acquired never needs
renewing. 1t has staying qualities of
wonderful teaacity. Parents ought to
encourage their children in habits Of
study. 1t is most profitable employ
ment. These long, cheerful evenings
may be made the most profitable of the
year in everything that relates to our
intellectual growth.
Farmers must educate themselves and
their children largely by methods Of
their own, and within the influences Of
home life. The district school is good
assistant. Some day it may be better
than it is now-we hope SO; but it does
not do much toward fitting man or
woman for the active duties of real life.
What we all need in this matter is energy
in the direction of learning. Every
farmers dwelling ought to be q school
house where every memberof the fam
ily is constant student. Rural educa-
ton would thus become SO common and
so easy that the schools would be shad-
owed in comparison.-Kansas Farmer.
Fashion Items.
Cherry red and ochre yellow are the
leading colors in millinery just now.