The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-05-08

UQ6n may ana SnOuIu D E6Lu6ul6u.
In our State more than half the pop
ulatiOn are engaged in agriculture.
Almost half the citizens of the en-
tire nation are thus employed. 1t is
the great wealth-giving power Of the
land, and by it all other industries
are moved. While it is thus the ac-
knOwledged leading industry of
country, we should expect to see it
largely represented in the important
councils of the government. YethOw
few comparatively ever assist in
framing the laws by which they T
ruled. The cause for this injustice is
very apparent when we consider how
little attention is given by rural PEG
pie to that preparation which will
fit them for such positions. While
we do not argue that the farmer
should aspire to political honOrs, we
do claim that he can and should be
"a man among men," having a mind
strengthened and developed by edu-
cation until he possesses wisdom to
know his rights and ability to defend
them. Just here exists one of the
most formidable troubles among the
inconvenience of rural districts.
The educational advantages offered
in the country r not encouraging,
especially to boys. School terms T
short, at best, and when we consider
how little of them the average boy
enjoys, our sympathies for him should
be aroused. At the beginning of the
term, while the little ones, not of
much service at home, T answering
the call of the school bell, the father
is, perhaps, laying out work for the
half-grown boys, whose time he con-
siders too useful to himself to be
spent in the school room.
So it happens that from wOOd-cut-
tug to corn gathering and a legion
of other duties, they r kept back a
month or more at the beginning.
Neither is it infrequent that they are
stopped two or three weeks before
the close of school. Shall we wonder
that many boys arrive at manhood
and settle down on farms who are
unable to calculate the sum of their
products when marketed, having to
depend upon the buyer or some friend
for that which he should be wholly
competent to do for himself? There
may be cases where this can not be
avoided, but there are many in which
there is no necessity for such neglect
and detention.
The objections may be urged that
they often do not improve the time
in school. This is lamentabIy true
the world over, but no more so of
country boys than those of the city.
But in the we'll regulated schools Of
the city, compulsory rules enforce a
regularity of attendance and a high
er grade Of recitation, all of which is
backed by such authority as to de
mand the respect of parents as well
as students. There is indeed a call
for general Improvement, especially
home culture and better educational
advantages.
Parents, to you we appeal in be-
half of the present and future gen
eratiOns to exert your influence prop
erly to bring about this needful
change. 1t is in the home and under
your influence that the first and most
lasting impressions are made. The
most illuStriOus statesmen, the most
distinguished warriors, the most elO-
quent ministers and the greatest ben
efactOrs of human kind, owe their
greatness to the fostering influence
OF home" When these necessary de-
YeIOpmentS of mind and cultivated
tastes, in connection with applied
science to agriculture in all its de
partments, becomes the rule instead
OF the exception, then shall we indeed
walk in the highway to success, and
rural life will be in the wake of
progress in securing that which it is
possible to attain.-Mrs. JAS. A.
Mount. in American Farm MsOa1;1o