The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1908-02-14

BY e. H. Mcpherson.

quire. Why? Simply because the
teacher has not the ability or the
subjects which will interest the pu'
pills
Boys and girls of the city, having
all the advantages of good high
school, are better prepared to receive
educational training than the boys
and girls reared on farm, who ge.
no education except that given in
the public schools. If then, the
truths that unlock the doors of ma
ture are not taught in the public
schools, Mature and NaCures laws
will be hidden in night" to a ma
jority of our breadwinners.
During the years child is in the
public school ATTITUDES are deve,cp-
ed, and life habits are formed I:
hence every child intended for the
farm should be taught to love nature
should be led to form habits of OBJ
servation, and should be required to
begin a study of those great laws up
on which agriculture is based. A
training like this would go far to-
ward making life's work profitable
and delightful
Before entering upon his life work,
youth or maiden should aim at
some lofty trade or occupation and
work toward that end.
We already have fine schools for
the professional training of mechan-
les, civil engineers and a great many
other branches of industry. When
fully 80 per cent of the boys in the
public schools live in the country
and will remain there, as farmers,
after leaving school, yet nothing is
done to fit them for the avocation
which they are to follow.
There is no line of separation be-
tween the science of agriculture and
the practical art of agriculture. 1t
is an eminently teachable subject and
! there is no difference between teach
ing the child the fundamental prin-
ciples of farming and teaching the
fundamental truths of arithmetic,
geography or grammar Agriculture
is the oldest of occupations and the
basis of all other arts. All wealth
comes originally from the soil and
thus farming becomes the main
pillar which upholds civilization.
The great demand for American
agricultural products by the nations
of Europe has led to wonderful de-
velopments, and to the intelligent
farmer who knows how to produce
the best results without exhaustive
labor; farm life is the healthiest and
most invigorating in the world
The professor of Agriculture in
Cornell University has recently said:
''The practical study of agriculture
will soon be as necessary to the sue
cess of the public school as oxygen
is to the atmosphere.
For instance, the farmers of the
South were practically it's bankers
previous to the Civil War; but after
the abolition of slavery the whole
South was almost bankrupt for years
to come. The reason was simply this:
When the farmers were cast upon
their own resources they were help
less, because they had not the least
knowledge of how to work (all that
was left them) their farms; but de-
spite their poverty and unfavorable
conditions they struggled on, and, in
the main have been fairly successful.
To keep abreast with the times the
farmer must abandon the old-time
methods and train himself especially
for his work. To be successful and
prosperous farmer requires more in
telligence than to be successful
manufacturer. He must know the
properties of the soil in every part
of his farm and be able to give the
correct kind of nourlshment in the
shape of fertilizer to secure q vigo-
rous growth of his many different
crops. He should know something
of every plant, flower or weed, and if
noxious be able to destroy it at the
least possible effort and expense.
In regard to the demand for GER
tain agricultural products; he must
keep himself informed as to the scar
city and be ready with the right kind
of products to supply the demand.
To fit himself properly for this
work, he must enter upon a course
of study while boy in school, and
since practically all children in the
country schools are more deeply in
terested in agriculture than anything
else; the teaching of Nature Study
and Agriculture will be for the best