The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-03-07
THE LEARNED FARMER.

We have heard much that is com.
mandatory of the honest farmer, and
the happy farmer, and the industri-
Gus farmer, and various other types
of farmer. From these the learned
farmer has been held apart, as an OBJ
ject not so much of commendation as
of ridicule, if not of contempt, re-
marks the New York Tribune. The
changes of alleged humor have been
rung upon his pedantic blunders, and
the dollars which each individual po-
tato or ear of corn costs him. In
some cases he may have merited such
treatment. Even then it was not be-
cause he was learned, but because he
was not suthclently or not rightly
learned. He was scholar in many
things, but not in those which had
practical bearing upon agriculture.
So far as they were concerned he was
not scholar, but an ignoramus. We
imagine that if thus the lawyer or
doctor or business man were educated
in all things save those which he had
to practice, but in them not at all, he
would command no more commenda-
ton or respect than the so-called
learned farmer has done. 1t may ap-
propriately be affirmed that, whether
or not it is their supreme need, edu-
ton is at least one of the greatest
needs of farmers.
1t is astounding, when we come to
think of it, that a contrary idea has
SO long and so widely prevailed. The
boy who was to be a lawyer, or doc
tor, or preacher, was sent to boarding
school and college. The boy who
was to become a merchant was sent
to a business school. But the boy
who was to stay on the old farm was
kept on the old farm, and had to be
content with a few terms at the dis
trict school. The three RS were
enough for him. Indeed, more
"book learning would spoil him for
the farmer calling. And if one who
had been to college came back to the
farm the neighbors shook their heads
All that book learning, and the money &; he
it cost, wasted Surely there must
be "a screw loose" somewhere about
him And yet the fact is, and it
should be obvious to every rejecting
mind, that almost above all other
men the farmer deserves and requires
a broad, thorough and scientific edu-
cation. Or perhaps we should say
that no pursuit is more worthy of
learned and scholarly attention than
farming, and that none more requires
it for its most successful pursuit.
Consider the magnitude and the
importance of it. In the numbers
engaged in it, in the numbers de-
pendent upon it, in the amount of
capital invested in it, in the value Of
yearly output it easily outranks all
other business in the world. Bank
ing, railroads, shipping, manufactures
are all inferior to it and dependent
upon it. Surely, then, mans great
est industry is worthy of mans high
est efforts and best preparation. 1t
is not only worthy of them, it imper-
atively demands them. The young
man does not waste a good education
by taking it upon the farm, nor does
he thus unfit himself for farm work.
On the contrary, he is handicapped if
he enters farm work without it. For
consider the vast variety of his ac-
tivities and interests, and their init
mate relationship with practical
sciences. He is not merely manufac-
turing one thing or one line of goods.
He is dealing with the animal, the
vegetable and the mineral kingdoms.
He rears and uses animals, wherefore
he needs to know the principles of
animal life and health-practical BIZ
ology. He has half a dozen different
kinds of animals, each kind requiring
its own peculiar treatment He culti-
Yates several varieties of trees, half a
dozen different grains, several grasses
and forage plants, root crops, tubers
seeds, small fruits, and what not.
Each one has its own individual and
peculiar requirements. To meet them
all the farmers need a knowledge
and skill surprising that of the mere
ly academic botanist. He cultivates
the soil. There are many kinds of
soil, each requiring special kind of
culture. To do the work Alright he
must be practical chemist. He uses
much machinery, and needs to be
conversant with mechanics. He buys
and sells, and thus needs to have the
education of a merchant. Biology,
botany, chemistry, meteorology, me-
chanics, finance what folly it is to
expect the unframed mind to master
them all by mere rule of thumb
We were tempted at first to think
that DIR. Wilson had erred in specify
ing education in the line of theiI
business" as the farmers greatest
need, and that he would better have
simply education, without restriction
or qualification. But that would be
false criticism. He is right, for the
reason that the line of their business
is not mathematical line, possessing
length without breadth or thickness
1t has all three dimensions, and ar
education which fully covers it ant
answers all its requirements is an ed
ucation of as liberal scope as uni
versity can afford.
| S1LAs-"Did any one have any rec
ears down to the huskin' bee"
Cyrus-"Yeas Zeke Crabtree haC