Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1892-05-27
PRACTICAL EDUCATION
FOR THE FARMER
An Address before Windham County
Pomona Grange.
Delivered Mt BrattlebOrO, April III. by
u. o. Lee of Vernon. StRte Lecturer.

Delivered at BrattlebOrO, April II, by
Il. q. Lee Of Vernon, state Lecturer.
There was a time when education for the farm
er was regarded as of little practical importance.
All that was really necessary for the farmer to
know. more than was naturally acquired by the
daily routine Of labor with the rude tools nissan
cestors had provided, was how to read his Bible
and his almanac, to write his name and do all the
sums in Adams 5 arithmetic from notation to the
rule of three If one attended school other than
what the district afforded he was at once set
down as a candidate for the ministry or some
other profession. He wouldn't be so foolish as to
spend his time in that way if he was only intend
ing to follow farming. The "boOkish" boys. If
any, were sent to the academy or college partly.
perhaps, because they were not generally worth
so much OH the farm lazy, the more sturdy ac-
tive workers would say, not being able to appre-
ciate any labor except the hardest manual kind.
hardly willing to admit that there could be- any
real work except with the hands The more for
tunate brothers Of the academy were looked up
on by the farmer bows with IA bit of envy or ieal-
ousy. while the former, with naughty airs regard
ed the latter as beneath them in rank ana scarce
~ worthy of notice. out of the ranks Of the
professionals thus selected, especially the class
making profession of law a shrewd scheming
willy set of men, in numbers all out of proportion
with the real need Of the people. came the major
ity of the lawmakers Of the land The farmers
too closely confined to the regular work each
day required of them to give much attention to
anything else and they had no practical educa-
ton for anything else 50, knowledge giving pow
/ er the lawyers made the laws to suit their bust
ness and the farmers paid the bills Later, with
increasing population, came greater demand for
the products of the soil and the loom. The child
of necessity. hitherto but little known came To- h.
more active and wrought ont machinery whereby
tlt iI lan a.
products of the farm must find more distant
market and means of transportation must bp pro
vded. Thu hand loom being suppantrtl hy the.
power loom also added To the demand for better
means of transportation, and the railroad was
necessary to supply the demand and furnish the
means Corporations multiplied and competition
increased. War desOlated the land: new and I'M
/ natural conditions wer. developed: SPECULATION
/ was largely resorted to BY CORPORATIONS and in
dividuals and large fortunes wer. accumulated
The nation as a whole began To he very PROSPER
Gus again. and through it all the farmer kept
steadily at work and bore his full share of the
burdens and expense, giving little thought To the
| subject Of practical education for himself
/ At last he was forced to the conclusion that he
not reaping his full share of the advantages
and blessings of the general prosperity of the ma
/ ton; that he had not recovered from the devast-
ating effects of war its bitterness and animosity
] He began to see that ne had worked too hard and
J too much by himself; had not talked with his
/ neighborS enough and had not given 80 much at
tention as he ought To the management of public
affairs He began to So that if he would have
equal advantages with other classes he must do a.
/ they were doing, unite for strength and mutual
/ hepfulness Organization was necessary and the
order of Patrons of Hushandry was born and for
p years has been struggling against odds for the
attainment of part of that practical education
/ of which the farmer finds himself much in
need. For so many generations farmers have
/ been working singly and alone, each for himself
that it Is hard for them to labor unitedly, each for
all, and they ara very slow to SEE the advantages
of it. We of the order must be patient with thuS,
/ who cannot or will not SO, and give more Of our
thought to the improvement of advantages for
lac
agricultural colleges and Institutes In our pub
lie schools should b. found a good beginning NJ
least of practical education FOR every child in
/ the county. for many cannot avail themselves of
any educational advantages except what arr l-.-
culiar to them. Reading, being the foundation of
all, should be- 50 thoroughly mastered by every
pupil in our common schools that any work pub
llshed In the English language could not only he.
understood hy the reader hut 81 rendered as To- h.
easily understood by the listeners. In connection
with reading should be acquired the ability 10
spell correctly and To construct sentences to
clearly express the thought Of the writer The
R powerof eNteuporaneous speaking should also b.
cultivated The manual work of the pen should
be- kept up 10y practice largely upon business
/ forms, letters. etc until the pupil can make out
IN a neat and correct manner an order for bill
. of goods from the merchant OF a manuscript for
4 the printer. How often are mistakes made by
/ awkward ileglble or careless writing A neigh
T bur once, IN hurry for quantity of baskets in
which to ship fruit, wrote his order So awkwardly
that II was filled 10y hundred empty barrels
Editors frequently complain that money Is sent
. them for subscriptions with no clue to the
sender All such cases show that practical ed
ucation has not been what il should h,
Practical education for the farmer need not EN-
. brace an extended course IN mathematics 4
/ thorough training in mental arithmetic should
. not be neglected. and tine fundamental principles
of written arithmetic should be- well Understood.
including fractions. percentage. interest banking.
the metric system and operations by analysis
The farmer should h. able to calculate the area Of
his fields. the amount of seed or fertilizer TO be
. distributed To the square rod when certain
. amount Is used per acre, the difference per acre
fer
erS are tried on small plots, etc He should be
J able to count the cost of growing the various
crops of keeping stock, and 10 estimate the prob.
able gam on growing or tattenlng stock. He
should understand business principles and how to
| apply them Ia his business, and keep correct ac-
/ counts Of every department Ratio and proper
l ton and the roots need not occupy much of the
/ time of the would be-farmer boy. Now that the
earth is girded about by the electric wire and all
! nations are within ready call of each other and
news from all Is published IN the daily paper, il is
l quite important that farmers, well Others,
/ should possess some knowledge Of geography.
l both physical and political The size and shape
OF the different continents, their distances apart,
with the climatic and other conditions peculiar to
/ each should be fixed in the memory: also some
knowledge of the political divisions, forms of
government, history and commercial relations
/ with cur own country. In speaking with Jer-
seyman remarked that lived in Vermont Yer
1 mont said he, lis in New Jersey isn't it," He
did not know whether Boston was in Massachu-
sets or Massachusetts in Boston, and never had
heard of the hub With historical dates the
farmer need not cram his mind, yet general IN
derstandlng of the history of the world, the
causes that have led to the great changes that
have been made in the line of human progress,
and especially the progress of our own ma
ton. should be- obtained in connection with the
study Of political economy. The civil govern
ment of our own state and nation should be well
understood by the farmer that he may he the bet.
ter qualified 20 cast his ballot for the best inter
ests of the state TO fill the position of legislator
when called upon to do So.
II has been truly said that the proper study of