Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-01-07
whose portraits have been so admirably
drawn by Dickens and Goldsmith:

| The days disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laughed with counterfeited
| glee
At all his jokes, for many joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper. circling round,
Conveyed the dismal tidings when he
frowned;
The village ell declared how much he knew;
Twas certain he could write and cipher too.
In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill,
For cen though vanquished, he could argue
still;
While words of learned length and thunder
ing sound
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,
And still they gazed, and still the wonder
grew
That one small head could carry all he knew"
The successful farmer Of the future
will find it necessary to know not only
something of the nature and adaptabili+
| ty of soils, but also Of the best methods
of cultivation.
The proper education Of the farmer
boys in the art and science Of agriculture
will be the most effective means Of re-
tanning them upon the farm.
1t is deplorable fact that there now
exists smeng the youth of the farm a
remarkable tendency to seek wat, to
their perverted imagination, seems to be
an easier and more honorable. if not
more lucrative. means of livelihood in
the shops and Offices of the city.
Many young man has left q comfort
able and happy home in the country to
seek honor and fame and competence
amid the gayeties and busy bustling tur>
moil of the city. only to meet with shame
and dishonor, disappointed hopes, fnan~
cial ruin and moral degradation.
There are-but few young msa, reared
amid the quiet and peaceful scenes of
country life, who are able to Withstand
the temptations and snares and pitfalls
of city life and fashion.
As already intimated, this tendency
will be most effectually overcome by
thorough training in not only the art of
| farming, but also in all those sciences
which pertain to animal and vegetable
/ life and account fOr>the various natural
phenomena. The application of the
science of chemistry to farming is daily
becoming of more and more Importance
to the farmers of this section, where, in
many localities, the once fertile soil has
been impoverished by too rapid sue
cession Of crops, and lack of such a
knowledge of the nature of soils as will
enable the farmer to determine their
adaptability to the different kinds Of
crops and the best means of fsrtiliz~
alton and keeping the soil up to its max
I imum capacity of production.
! A knowledge of the subject Of botany
will belp him to determine many points
in regard to the cultivation and rsta-
tion of crops and the planting and pre-
servation of grain and fruit
| Physiology and Zoology will furnish
many facts of value in the care and
management of live stock, as well as in
the care and preservation of bis own
health There are also many principles
of natural philosophy that are useful to
the farmer. if not absolutely necessary
to the highest success in his vocation
This is especially true of the mschani-
cal powers and the principles of hydran-
lieSand hydrostatics.
/ Now, would not be understood as
| saying that the farmer cannot be sue
cessful without knowledge Of these
subjects; but that such knowledge would
be to him of inestimable value.
Most of the farming, in its present
state of development, is purely expert
mental, and emily those who have served
an apprenticeship upon the farm are at
all qualified to manage the planting and
cultivation of crop. And yet do not
mean to say that the knowledge of
which have spoken would enable one
to engage successfully in the business
without period of actual training upon
the farm. No amount of theory with
out practice will secure success iG any
calling. But these su6jscts are Of vastly
greater value to the farmer than q
knowledge of language, literaturs or
| mathematics. Yet, notwithstanding
this fact, the instruction of our country
schools is chiefly in the line of literature
ana mathematics.
Besides the utility Of the sciences they
bring man into a closer Relationship
] with the beauties of nature and the
goodness of the Creator.
"The works of God are fair for naught,
Unless our eyes, in seeing,
| See hidden IN the thing the thought
That animates its being"
The farmer is the stay and support Of
the nation; be contributes the bulk Of
the revenue as well as tbs bulk of the
ballots that make or mar its prosperity.
| How important, then, inasmueh as the
great mass of the voters of our land are
in some way connected with its farming
interests, that we should have an intelli-
gent and an educated body of husband
men. The destiny of the nation is in
their hands; and it is theirs, in a large
measure. to say what shall be the sduca-
tional facilities Of the land. And espe-
cially is this the case in our OWE State,
where the educational interests Of the
farming community is left in their own
hands. They are at liberty to say how
long the schools shall be in session, and
| Just what kind of school they shall
have. 1t is theirs to say whether the
school shall be good or poor one;
whether their children shall have only
the rudiments of an education, OF shall
have the highest education that our best
schools can give them. The facilities of
the high school are within the reach Of
every farming community in the State.
But the establishment of such schools
depends upon the enterprise of the
community. Every township may have
high school, if it wants it, and will
take the proper steps to secure 1t. In q
number of the townships of the Stats
they have already been established. But
the chief difficulty now to be encoun-
tered in the establishment OF such
schools lies in the disagreement OF the
school officers of the township, which
naturally arises from the many-headed-
ness of our school system.
There are, on an average, no less than
thirty school officers in each township.
| (Richlsad township has y. making q
total of 10000 in the State-an army
four times as large as that with which
Gen. Scott conquered the Republic OF
Mexico, and almost twice as large as the
standing army of the United States. It
Is believed that the only remedy for the
innamerabls evils arising from this
source is to be found in a revision Of
our present school system.
One of the remedies, and. in my iudg-
ment, the best that has been offered,
is the adoption of what is termed
the "township system" This does away