Rock Island Argus., 1906-12-04
FARMING A PROFESSION.
Agriculture Must Have Chance TO De.
YelOp Property.

velOp Property.
The only other persons whose well
fare is as vital to the welfare of the
whole country as is the welfare of the
wagewOrkeTs are the tillers of the soil,
the farmers. 1t is mere truism to
say that no growth of cities, no growth
of wealth, no Industrial development,
can atone for any falling off in the
character and standing of the farming
population. During the last few dec
AIDES this fact has been recognized
with ever increasing clearness. There
! is no longer any failure TO realize that
farming, at least In certain branches,
must become Il technical and scientific
profession. This means that there
must be open TO farmers the chance
for technical and scientific training. not
theoretical merely, but of the most Sc
verely practical type The farmer rep
resents peculiarly high type of Amer
ffcan citizenship, and he must have the
same chance TO rise and develop as
other American citizens have. More
over. it is exactly as true of the farm
er as 1t is.Of the business man and the
wageworker that the ultimate success
of the nation of which he forms a part
must be founded not alone on material
prosperity, but upon high moral, men
tai and physical development. This
education of the farmer-self educa-
tion by preference, but also education
from the outside. as with all other
men-is peculiarly necessary here In
the United States. where the frontier
conditions even in the newest states
have now nearly vanished, where
there must be a substitution Of a more
intensive system OF cultivation for the
old wasteful farm management and
where there must be better business
organization among the farmers them
selves.
Several factors must cooperate In
the Improvement of the farmers
condition. He must have the chance
TO be educated in the widest possible
sense-in the sense which keeps ever.
I'm view the intimate relationship be-
tween the theory of education and the
facts of life. In all education we
should widen our aims. 1t is a good
thing TO produce n certain number OF
trained scholars and students, but the
education superintended by the state
must seek rather 10 produce a hundred
good citizens than merely one scholar.
and ii must be turned now and then
from the class book TO the study of the
great book of nature itself. This is
especially true of the farmer, as has
been pointed out again and again by
all observers most competent TO pass
practical Judgment on the problems of
our country life. All students now
realize that education must seek to
train the executive powers of young
people and to confer more real sig
niticance upon the phrase dignity OF
labor and to prepare the pupils SO
that. i'm addition TO each developing in
the highest degree his individual ca
pacity for work. they may together
help create n right public opinion and
show I'm many ways social and CO.
operative spirit. Organization has be-
come necessary in the business world,
and ii has accomplished much for good
in the world OF labor. 1t is no less nee
essary for farmers. Such movement
as the grange movement is good In
itself and is capable of a well nigh
infinite further extension for good so
long as IL is kept to its own legitimate
business. The benefits to be derived
ny Iue VI
tual advantage are partly economic
and partly sociological.
Agricultural Education.
Moreover. while In the long run vol
untary effort will prove more effica-
eious than government assistance,
while the farmers must primarily do
most for themselves. yet the govern
ment can also do much. The depart
ment of agriculture has broken new
ground in many directions, and year
by year it finds how ii can improve its
methods and develop fresh usefulness.
Its constant effort is to give the gov
ernmental assistance In the most effec-
tive way-that is. through associations
Of farmers rather than TO or through
individual farmers. 1t is also striv-
Ing to coordinate its work with the
agricultural departments OF the sew
eral states and. so far as its own work
0Hf fn 20