The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-09-04
LEARNING TO THINK

N
We had the great pleasure o few
weeks ago OF listening to a conversa- !
tioh between college professor who !
mas mad considerable acquaintance
WIN farmers, and an Institute worker,
who is himself a farmer, aud has given |
some part of his time for several Years. |
to platform work at Oranges and Far.
mers' Institutes. The professor was
inclined to doubt the useful ess of In
stitute york, and claimed that the
farmers, as C.ass, were ne lther read
ing, observing nor thinking men, and
could not b. aroused to either observe
or think. The farmer-lecturer main
tanned the affirmative side of the oues-
ton, declared that farmers were "leann.
ing to think" and observe, sand"
SAID he, cit is Grange and Institute
work, backed up by an intelligent aori-
cultural press, that has lifted the far
mets out of the ruts III which thew for
merly crawled along, until now they
are, as a whole, "a shrewd. readinS
thinking, observing class of men"
The farmer has got to be an obser-
Vcr, reader and thinker if he would
succeed in these progressive days" he
continued, "with railways, telegraphs,
telephones, rural mail delivery, i'm
proved farm machinery and the thou
sands OF advantages that our grand
fathers OF stage-coacb days never
dreamed OF, the farmer is compelled to
be reader and thinker, he simply
can't help himself.n
Alter joining in the conversation
with some comments upon the steady
advance in agricultural knowledge and
the good work the agricultural colleges
were doing, we asked the farner-lec
turer if he was college educated man
"Oh, no." said he with a smile and
shake of the head "I had no such
} good luck" In fact" he continued
" had less schooling than my boy O.
,, lteen has already got.' GLOW did yo,
, become so well informed 2" We asked
nm: BY reading, observing an,
, thinking" he replied, not at ali AYERS
! TO giving the professor bit of dig
8 ana III the remaining hour of our rail
way journey wo attempted to draw
9 him out upon the subject of his habit
1 OF reading and thinking, and tried I
l. learn his method.
h In answer to our questions he tol
c us he was brought up on farm an
/, had onlya few weeks schooling eac
|. winter after he was twelve years ole
J. was not much Of reader and nothin
J. OF thinker until after he was twenty
q two years old. 1t was falling in Low
with a school teacher conslderabl
l. older than himself that first set him [
% thinking, and he soon after began
n read books and papers that would gi,
t him instruction in farm work and way
g and gradually developed a taste f:
ss books in general literature, (" and
n sad he, cit Is that taste for readir
81 that has been my salvation. l don
~ ~ pretend to be know-it-all,' there a.
"A thousands OF books l wish | could q
Of time TO read, but a busy man mu
o. torego many Of the things he wou
IL like to enjoy and that is not altogeth,
es a disadvantage, because, if he is WI
f. he will pick and choose if he has b.
II little time for reading he will natural
y select that which is the very best. tn
~ which will help him most.'
. There was much in his confident
C. talk that we wish we could transcril
re for our readers, but one point, viii,
ch he especially emphasized, is all we c.
u. now give space to. This was the N
IN cesslty of learning" to read a,
so 's think. The great majority of peopl
at ana farmers no more than others, ru,
he through their reading as though qua
to tlty was what most desirable, where
Is one article i'll paper or chapter in
mt book carefully read and fully unde
ed stood, was worth infinitely more thu
V, a hundred articles galloped over al
q a. hardly an impression of their purpo
~ ~ remaining, Read slowly and surel
nt would be my ADVICE" he said. eff Il
ty meanlng 6 OF paragraph isn't clear
re the first reading, don't go on to the ne
Of paragraph go back and read it owe
III and read it third time, if nccessar
~ In other words, clear up each thoug
~ u as you go along, that is the secret
~ intelligent reading; and that, belicv
10 Is the secret of learning to thin
ot TO learn to understand the printt
G thoughts of others is the best way
re learn to think"
a, That certainly is suggestive, and v
IL are pleased to be able to present il
~ u our readers with the hope that it ms
" be helpful and encouraging to then
e as 1T has been helpful and encouragir
o TO him. The man whose words "
t. have quoted is unusually we'll inform
d, cd, iiuent speaker, a helpful and il
m structive lecturer, and he has reache
J. that enviable position by simply learr
,, D ing to read unlerstandingly, by bein
. slow and sure" by mastering eac
n thought before going on to the ne,
IL one. 1t seems to us that there is !,
n OF helpfulness in just that single ide,
J. -I'racticdL Farmer.