The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-02-18
Choosing an Occupation
Series Of Helpful Papers for Boys the Threshold
sss- .4gss# Of Life. 8 ss3Hs
TAE SUNDAY NATHANIEL FOWL
N# v.SsTIH AaRIuULTURIsT.
May Vocation
wRITTEN FoR TH q SUNDAY JoURNAL az NATt4ANI

the farmer, unless he is located miles
from the heart Of progress, .has better
opportunity to learn what he should
know than has the artifcialy living
cityite, whose broadness consists, not so
much OF the good things, but to an
alarming extent of the bad things of
life.
The city clerk or city business man,
working in block and housed in a
fiat, does not have one-half as much. OPP
portunity to progress, in the truest
sense Of the word, as does the farmer
on a fairly fertile farm, working as his
own master on his own property.
!. /. \
The farmer, above all other men, is
independent. If his farm is good for
much, he knows he can make it give
him everything he actually needs. The
farm is the only self-supporting bust
ness on earth. The successful farmer is
man Of education, altho he may not
have been book-taught. He is well
equipped, so far as. general knowledge
is concerned; and, further, he is man
of business.
With the modern newspapers and
periodicals and the distribution Of every
class Of reading matter, the farmer has
every opportunity for mental develop
ment. The education of the progressive
farmer is superior to that of the rank
Land fle.of metropolitan men of wealth.
There always will be some poor and
half starved men among farmers, but
this class is far less prominent upon the
farm than in the marts of business;
| and there aresten times more impecuni-
GUS city workers than farmers. The
1 farmer has chance to grow. The city
man may or may not have that opportu-
! nifty. & 20
4 It is time for the farm to be dignifed
yes, even glorifed. The truth about the
l farm should be told. The business OF
profession Of farming should be recog
i .nized for. what it deserves. The farm
4 always has been, is, and always will be
the only trade or business absolutely in
dispensable.
I Should the farm boy remain upon the
farms Upon general principles | say
yes, and emphatically, yes. There arr
8 exceptions. There are many boys wht
4 have no business to stay upon thu
I farm, because they are destined 70
something not necessarily better, bu
something entirely different from farm
!, ing; but, generally speaking, l woul'
! advise the farmer s boy to remain o.
+ the farm, unless he can give legiti
:. mate, sensible, and positive reasons TO
!, a change.
For any reason save a good reason
, many a farmer q boy despises the farm
!, when he should be proud Of his agr!
cultural heritage. He is Of the nobillt
! of the soil, nobility, not Of many do
j. lars, but descendant from the parent
. dollars. IF 1872, "a - =. s.
: The boy who would leave the farm
and who gives no good reason re
. leaving, may as well go as stay, for, b
:, will undoubtedly be failure anywher
The boy who dislikes the farm, becauE
J. he does not like work, will not be
success anywhere. IF he is not willin
: to work as hard upon the farm as
= would have to away from the farm,
a q will not work hard enough anywhe!
~ else to earn more than mere hve]
hood. ISL .:.s #
> The boy who does not like farmin
:. who has absolutely no love- for plan
:, ing or harvesting, and yet is not
o loafer, is not likely to become a got
. farmer, and forcing him to remain the
n indefinitely is certainly bad judgme:
g and will prove Improbable.
Is Any boy has right to dislike q
Al farm, if his dislike is sensible; b
'e many boys, perhaps the majority
It them, who leave the farm to go: to t
d. city, do so because they look up
Of farming as inferior labor and belle
le that the farm offers little opportunit
e This is all too often the farmers fau
le not the fault of the farm itself. The
h. sands upon thousands Of boys, failul
IS, in great cities, might have been 81
es cessful citizens upon the farm.
+ !. +
is Should the city boy leave the city
he become 4 farmerq Yes, if he wants
lse If he goes, the chances are that ne v
ed become happier man, a health
al b@ -. : n 1...L