The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-10-25
Manual Labor at Colleges.

of paper presented by Professor w.
]. Beal of Michigan at the late Madison
meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science: Com.
pulsory manual labor for wages has
been tried by many schools and colleges
of this country, but by none perhaps
more thoroughly than by the Michigan
Agricultural College. Since the first
class entered, in 1857, the practice has
been steadily maintained, twelve to
fifteen hours per week. Since my first
connection with the college, in 1870,
have been one of the most tenacious of
the faculty to uphold the practical side
of the agricultural course. For eleven
wears | had charge of the horticulture,
as well as the botany, and during that
time half or more OF the students were
assigned to me for oversight of their
work. | assert that there has been
nothing at the college which has been
the cause of so much trouble as the
compulsory paid labor, especially where
students engage at ordinary Work.
Twelve years ago | stated, "consider.
ing these difficulties, / believe the time
will come when compulsory work will
be abandoned" | see no reason to
change my opinion. With numerous
trials by others who are earnest, in
genious and persistent, the difficulties
remain: Cd 1t is often difficult to find
profitable work. (2) The interruption
of vacations interferes with plans for
continuous care of pieces of land. (0
Students all work at the same time OF
day, beginning at one P. NJ, and on
this account there are often too many
of them to work to advantage. They
seldom complete jobs they begin, and
thus lose interest. (4) There have
very seldom been enough skillful fore
men; students get into primitive meth
DDS of work and form bad habits. ()
As the student receives pay, he is eX
pected to earn something, and this often
leads the foreman to keep man work
ing at what he can do best, as is the
custom in factories, instead of fire.
uuently changing the work, that the
student may gain skill in many dire c.
tons. Besides, he almost always pre-
fers to work at what he can do best,
thus ensuring the highest wages. CO.
Students are much more sensitive about
receiving less than the maximum rate
of wages than they are in receiving
low marks for recitations in the class.
(T Too often the student feels that he
accomplishes little, and is working
merely for the name of the thing.
One reason for requiring some
manual labor in connection with
course of study is this: If student
performs no labor during his college
course, he is not likely to return to
labor when he leaves the college. The
young man who can harness team
properly, turn straight and even fur
row, shear sheep to perfection, build
good haystack, mark out the land for
corn, and run cullivator so near the
straight rows that scarcely line is left
uncultivated, will be proud of his
achievement, while he who lacks train.
ing in manual operations dislikes the
work. A course in an agricultural col
lege is to fit man for farming; but no
matter how well he understands the
theories of the subject, he is not likely
to engage in the business unless he
also possesses knowledge of most
kinds of manual operations pertaining
thereto; and if he ventures to engage
in the business without this manual
deXterity, he will have hard row to
hoe and very likely become discouraged,
because his training was unsymmetri-
cal and incomplete.
To make the most of manual labor in
an agricultural course, it should be per-
formed with view to acquiring skill,
and not to the immediate returns.
Skill in most farm and garden opera
tions may usually be acquired in many
directions if instruction is given aud
accompanied by practice. This prac-
tice is as much necessary part of an
agricultural education as are clinics for
the young surgeon, or practice with
test tube and reagents for the chemist.
The hand is trained with the eye and
the mind, each helping the other
If a candidate is found already skill
full in some kinds of work, l should not
compel him to repeat this work as a
condition of attendance. l should en-
courage him to acquire this skill else
where than at college, during the va
cations or before entering. In case
young men have never engaged in farm
work, should insist that they acquire
skill in certain operations common to
farming before entering the college, or
in vacations early in the course. For
OAaLhplcj cNolJ stuueut pelOIe Srduudt-
ing should at least be fairly good at
milking cows, but this operation need
not be taught at the college, any
more than arithmetic. So with numer-
GUS other sorts of labor. 1t is too much
to expect a college course to include
the teaching of all the elements of the
haDdiwork. If the students desire to
work for pay, and work can be sup
piled, let them, but this should not be
required.
You will conclude that my plan would
be to exact of every student who en-
tiers the agricultural course, without
exception, to pass a rigid examination
in the various parts of farm and garden
work, not expecting him to receive pay
for work while learning how to per-
form it.