The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1886-11-03
GIVE THE BOYS AND c.,,~
CHANCE. A

1t is fact, and fact to be darl,.
that farm life is not attractive a r'"re1
to the young people and as a n"uSA
quence many of them long for ol ~
day when they can leave the sne
try and find some occupation in V Ut
town. They come to the tnwm n the
take employment at anytime t% b'lu
can get to do, deeming themsr s1ry .
lucky if they can secure nIncnn 'e>
salaries barely sufficient to nav at
their board and clothes. But Sm" %F
Is the compensation is, and hard do" a.
the labor that most of them perf,rn,
they + willing to do it berau-o =.
gives them a change Of lif, 1bo'.
longed for. They. get away from
the m%onotony Of country life as m
seems to them to the hustle Of c;t'.
life with it's imaginary attractionS
Ninety nine out Of a hundred 90
them would be better off in the Ion.
run if they had stuck to the farms
for if they worked as hard and ax
steadily on the farm as they mu<t
do in the town to hold their own
they would succeed better and
accumulate more. We will not bpro
enter into the causes which mako
farm life unattractive to the vounr
but one of the principal causes. We
think, lies in the fact that too few
parents try to interest their bows
and girls in the work Of the farm
There is Il lack of system. too much
drudgery and too little play, a sort
of treadmill which soon tires thp
young, soon discourages and ere
long disguSts.
"All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy" is as true as any,
thing hat ever was written. We
may change the phraseoIogy a little
and say with equal truth that all
work and no pay makes Jack a dull
boy and an unwilling boy besides.
That they get pay in one sense of
the word in the care they receive,
the clothes and food they receive
is true, but they look upon these as
a matter of course and would have
them whether they worked or not;
but as a stimulus to work they
should have more than this. The
boy that goes out early in the morn
ing and fights grass or hoes corn
till the dusk Of evening should be
made to feel that he is doing it not
merely as a task imposed upon him,
but doing it for himself, and that
his toll will bring him reward. Let
a certain proportion of the crops
that he helps to work be his, to be
disposed Of for his benefit and the
proceeds invested for his benefit.
This with the sensible boy would
be stimulus to work which would
make work light and the hours
between dawn and eve short.
The girl who milks" the cows,
churns the butter, looks after the
hens, gathers the eggs and feeds the
chicks should be made to feel, like
her brother in the field, that she has
a personal interest in this work and
the better it is done the more she
will profit by it.
Give the boys a piece Of ground
to cultivate for themselves, show
them how to do it, and let them DO
it. Let them plant what they can
handle best and make the most out
of. Let them do their own work,
make their own plans, and thus
they will begin to do their W
thinking. Let this piece be theirs
and the product little or much be
theirs. Give them a calf, a sheep
two, a pig or two and let them
raise them and thus train them to
the management and care Of stock;
Give the girlsa proportionate partol
the butter made, the chickens ana
eggs sold andse how thrifty they vii
become. Thus make work pleasant to
boy and girl because profitable, ana
thus teach them, too, to calcula'e
and Necome their own tinan-
NThe money they would earn
in this Way would make labor light
give them encouragement and make
them feel that work being also
reward, which, is the stimulus 10
exertion, bot only in the boy ana
girl but iH the man and woman as
well.