Middletown transcript., 1900-12-22
Farm and Dairy.
The Farmer's Eduoation

"A Inls IS Wat Well-to-dO farmer saii
nd IN my presence not long ago. I Knew thi
"a man lad a avery limited knowledge o
: books, having been thrown on bis owl
= = resources when mere lad and eainin,
- all the education he had after workiins
e all day In the field. I knew him to be Z
= man of untiring energy. In spite Of hi,
! lack in this respect, he had acouired {
- comfortable fortune. He was RESPECTED a:
L member of the community in which BIZ
lived. In short, he held a place quite
I; above that of the average farmer. He
~ thoroughly believed that ''any one can
be a farmer.'
A short time afterward I listened to a
: member of the New York State Legisla-
: ture when he said that he believed no
man needed an education unless be In
tended to be professional man. All
beyond a common school education, be
declared, was time thrown away sEdu-
cation makes men rascals,n he affirmed.
Eve never had SO many educated men
as now,'I he went on, ''and never were
there sd many thieves, liars, dtunkards
and scoundrels as to-day"
IL How ike a clod such talk must fall.
upon the ambition of the country boy
who longs to know more! How many
young men are being kept back by fathers
and other professed friends who hold
these views no one can tell. But hold
| that it is wrong which may never be
| righted to thus kill the hopes of the hum
blest boy in the land. There is too much
| talk about the. young man having no
chance at the present time. NO friend of
| the young man or friend of society would
entertain such an opinion.
| Why should the farmer boy want an
education? Because he can only be at his
best as a citizen if he has the most thor
1 ough knowledge possible of his business |
/ happen to know that the old man spoken
of above, who thought no farmer needs
education, has spent hundreds of dollars |
sending his children to school. He has
done this not for the sake of being able |
to say that bis children have just as good
an education as anybody's, nor because
he feels that he himself has been handi-
capped all his life, but simply and solely
for the reason that he wants to see them
truly successful men and women. His
own course in this respect gives the lie
direct to the words of his mouth. Now,
when he has no more children to educate
and when he is compelled by the laws of
the State to help educate other mems
children, he sqJirms and says that edu-
cation for the farmer is waste of time
and money.
Again, the farmer boy ought to be edu-
Gated because be is not a good all round
man if he Is not The farming interests of
this country have suffered untold losses
because men have. followed along in the
same narrow channel year after year,
ploughing and narrowing and digging
just as their fathers did. Opportunities
Of inestimable value have been thus al
lowed to go to waste. Men who might
have been giants in their business have
died dwaTfs. The very farmer who made
the assertion which, stands at the head of
this article might, if properly educated,
have achieved success which would
have astonished himself and proved a
benefaction to the world. The fact that
he succeeded with his limited knowledge
shows that he must have been man of
more than ordinary ability. What might L
he not have done under more favorable
c
Then, tits a mans duty to make the
most of himself. Society has no place for
the man who is developed just on one =
line. That is what makes men narrow, .
holds them in ruts and keeps them from
doing what they otherwise might do. .
No matter how bright man may be by
nature, if he spends his whole life plough
ing and sowing and reaping, with no :
desire to know what the great world y
about him is doing, he cannot help being
a dwarf. He must read. He must keep
pace with the best thought Of the world.
He must live broad life in every way to :.
fill the place open to him in the worlds y
!
/ know of farmers who have spent !,
years as teachers in the public schools of
heir States. Some have filed the highest =
office in the gift Of the people most ac- q
,eptably. Some have reached eminence :,
rs specialists in the field Of horticulture =,
md other fields of outdoor life. These =,
men are universally sought and their q 7,
Judgment held in high respect. 81
As far as the theory Of the legislator Of
quoted above is concerned, must we not to
onclude that the man who holds such ne
Jews is not himself as straightforward E
S he should be2 Character does not de- tb
end upon the amount of knowledge b
Ian possesses It has its foundation in
omething besides education. If we wish
) know how great q knaye man is, we
o not examine him in history or geom-
try. We rather inquire into the tenden- 90,
les which have come to him by heredi- fnt
ary descent and study the circumstances ON
Ihich have surrou nded him from youth tn
p. We try to find out whether the better q,
de Of bis nature has been allowed to 10
affer while his other faculties were being 4.
eveloped / ike to do all I can to en- An
ourage the farmer lad Of our country to vi
each out toward the very best that is he
ithin bis reach Il the way Of all round Co
ducation. Il il is not 80 that you can 90 ce
way 70 school just at present, do not be 10
iscouFaged Work away the best you AZ
afl NO boy i Is held down by bis fir
|lrronndings that he cannot do some- wj
hing IL the loi procuring ail educa.
6l Iineoln reading BY tlle
tifkezi1s iHse Think q