The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1909-06-11
EDUCATION OF THE FARMER
President Charles s. Barrett Enthusi-
astic Over Good Work Done
by Farmers Union.

Hon. Charles S. Barrett, president
of the National Farmers union is en-
thusiastic over the educational work
being accomplished by the Farmers
union. In recent interview he said:
After we take for granted the pri-
acy we find the training that fits men
to get most from the things that lie
nearest to them in everyday life is
the training that is to blaze the way
of the south to the fulfillment OF her
material destiny, the dimensions Of
which may not be foreseen by the
man most skilled In prophecy said
Mr.. Barrett, when asked his views Of
the Forthcoming conference and It's
significance.
Religion, because 1t can appeal to
the unlettered man and woman, may
be considered as the first advance
agent Of civilization and develop
ment.
Education comes next, a very
close second.
Il wish there were some way to ac-
quaint our people with the true sig
nificance Of this event and the man
ner in which it may be made Of prac-
tical advantage to the rising genera
ton.
My duties as national president of
the Farmers union, with its member
ship approximating 100000 Of the
cream Of the farming population of
this country, have brought me con-.
stantly into intimate contact with the
problems of development, both Of the
community and the individual, in
each one Of the American states.
In every instance, whether in the
big, new country lying along the Pa
cific or the older acres of the Allan
tic, have found that the problem
was virtually the same--that of
equipping the rank and file for per-
forming the tasks of industry with
the least effort and the greatest re-
suits, whether in the cultivation of
cotton, the growing of fruit or the
management of business enterprises.
The education of yesterday sought
to make men and women quick in
geometery and algebra, polished in
foreign languages, apt In the con-
struction Of perfect English.
But the education Of today" con-
tinued Mr.. Barrett, comedies the
value OF the academic, and goes far
ther. 1t seeks to make more practi-
ced and experienced the hand that
guides the pillow through the furrow;
IT seeks to teach the man who sows
the seed, the best methods for select
ing his seed and of cultivating it
when 1t becomes sprout: it seeks to
do away with the traditions he has
blindly been following, save where
these traditions have survived the
rigid test of time and competition.
Broadly, the education of most
value to the south today makes every
mans calling scientific, settled and
classified business, whether the bust
ness of raising food and producing
cotton, of driving an engine over the
rails or of downright barter and
trade.
Gradually, we of the south are
learning the lesson. The farmer is
each day realizing more wildly that
mis- vocation requires as great and as
careful training as that of the man
who froges his way to success in the
city. He Is calling to his aid the
genius of the laboratory, as well as
the craftiness handed down by his
fathers. @
And this is the variety of educa-
ton sought to be encouraged by the
conference, The confer {
ence will be dominated by southern
men; It's sympathies and its mission {
Will be southern. We will bring from
the four quarters of the country men {
who have won their spurs in the {
modern brand of education, in order {
That they may pass the results of {
their wisdom and experience on to j
our own people.
The conference is nothing less I