Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-01-11
Technical Education for the Farmer.
tBoston Transcript. |

One Of the interesting suggestions in
the Presidents message to Congress is
that of better technical education for the
farmer. 1t is not sufficiently recognized
that agriculture is a scientific pursuit,
and that in order to get the very best re-
turns out Of 1t a man could to advantage
utilize a special scientific education as
truly as does the doctor or lawyer or en-
gineer. 1t is not merely because of the
increased material return that such edu-
cation for the farmer is of value. The
intellectual and moral dividends would by
means Of such training be equally in
creased. 1t Is a great loss in human
power and happiness that thousands Of
men engaged in one Of the most scientific
of pursuits should go about It without
getting the same moral and intellectual
satisfaction that comes to men in other
callings in which the professional element
has been more consciously recognized
Girls and boys leave the farm and crowd
eagerly to colleges all over the land in
order to study Chemistry with a big G
and Science with big S; and they think
how superior these branches Of intellec-
tual development are to the care Of cows
and milk and the raising Of vegetables
They do not realize that farming is to
academic chemistry what medicine is to
anatomy or oratory is to the study Of
English grammar. 1t Is an art, and one
of the most difficult as 1t is one of
the most useful; but It is also founded
upon science, and upon 1t there Is hardly
any amount Of scientific knowledge Of
the special sort required that would be
thrown away.
The American people like to see how
things work and what is the bottom prin-
ciple in any particular thing they are
doing. They like to make inventions, to
understand the short cuts and inside
track, to use the forces Of nature to do
their work for them and not to work at
cross purposes with them or against them.
They are true descendants Of the Morse
men.
/ The wind that wrecked YOU on the sand
1t helped my rowers row;
The storm is my best galley hand
And drives me where l go.
We like to slide the trees down from the
/ mountains on the snow, and tie up the
| spring freshet until we need it in our
/ business, and then let 1t carry the logs
/ down to the sea. And there is an equal
/ fascination in rightly understanding the
chemistry Of plants and of dairy products,
/ and using those greatest forces that de-
! clare themselves in the laws of growth.
The psychology Of farming must also be
/ a fascinating subject \ very successful
/ farmer who is also business man and
resident Of Boston has made the discovery
| that the same man that looks after cows
] cannot 50 satisfactorily take care VI pigs
and vice versa. The psychology OF the
/ COW is one thing. and that Of the pig is
another SO it is with different kinds Of
cows a certain blur heartness can be
/ applied to the pig which is entirely out Of
/ place In a COW barn. The COW is more
dreamy less practical and less definite in
| her aims than the pig. and she has less
. sense Of humor She is I'm general less
impulsive, but on the other hand Is liable
TO sudden fits OF waywardness which give
her n peculiar interest. Cows are pre-
. eminenty sensitive. and at the famous
/ Briarcliffe farm in New York they are
given a change Of scene according to the
[ season Of the year. and loud talking is
| prohibited in the stable.
Why should hundreds Of thousands Of
/ people be working every day upon our
farms-and what is more disastrous, thou
sands Of our best boys and girls abandon
ing the farm and going to the city to lead
unwholesome lives-in sheer unconscious
ness OF the great wealth OF scientific and
artistic possibilities or opportunity for
the use OF every last capacity Of knowl-
edge and OF skill that lies ready at their
hand upon every American farm?