The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-12-22
Only Very Few Farmers Sons
Attend Agricultural Colleges
~ ISAAC L. TOTEM.


~ ISAAC L. TOTEM.
According to the report furnished
by the census bureau, only one out
of every five hundred young people in
the country districts ever attended an
, agricultural college. In fact, it has
been stated that fully ninety seven out
of every hundred rural boys and girls
finish their education with the dis
trict school.
This latter statement may not hold
true in Wayne county, nevertheless, it
! is deplorably true in many counties
! throughout this state and many other
states, in fact, all other states.
Is this not strong argument in ia
vor of more diligent, more earnest,
and more determined work and
thought on the part of the parents to
! the end that the boys and girls should
be given a more complete education
in those subjects of supreme impor-
lance to the successful farmer and to
the broadening and upbuilding of
country life?
If the report of the census bureau
be true, and we have no reason for
doubling it, it means that surprising
ly small number of the young men
who engage in the business, or profess
sion, if you wish, of farming, do not
seem to realize the benefits of more
advanced education along the lines of
their chosen vocation. 1t indicates
! that they do not place their chosen
work on a par with the other lines OF
/ endeavor.
1t has been said that, Intelligent"
farming still pays. The farmer is less
affected by panics and fluctuations Of
the market than the merchant or the
manufacturer. In the United States
! we have practically reached the limit
of our tillable land. Our population
is rapidly increasing by immigration,
majority of which goes to the large
cities. Thus, the demand for farm
products steadily increases. To meet
this demand larger production must
. be realized per acre. More than ever
before a comprehension of the princi-
| pies underlying his business is neces-
sary for the successful farmer
"One of the factors in a farmers
success is knowledge of soil and
| lite requirements as to fertilization
and tillage. An appreciation of the
| benefits of drainage is essential to a
! larger production. Proper tillage to
conserve moisture for the use of the
plant at its critical stage of growth
must be understood. The plant food
| necessarily to the highest development
of plant and the supply which a CIV
en- soil will yield, can be determined
only by careful study and experiment.
! ing.
| Another item in success is the prop
er definite rotation of srops to soil.
| The benefits of a definite rotation
have been abundantly proved. A wise
choice Of varieties makes big diff
| soil. 1t has been shown in Indiana
that with exactly the same conditions
of soil, climate and tillage one variety
of corn may yield as much as forty
three bushels per acre more than an
other. Similar differences have been
! noted with regard to wheat and oats
! varieties. Then again it must be fol-
ly to attempt to grow grain crops on
! land which washes badly and which
is by nature fitted for grass and for
| fruit.
! The young man who is contemplate
! ing engaging in farming will do well
| to prepare himself to the fullest ex-
! tent possible by careful study, not
only of books but in some of the var
ious courses in agriculture given at
/ the agricultural colleges.
! When young man decides to take
up law, medicine, engineering or most
any other line of work, he sets about
to prepare himself for that particular
line, and when the parents see that he
is in earnest they straightway deter
mine that he shall have the best
chance to become proficient in his
chosen work that their means will per
nit.
Is law or medicine or any of the 9TH
er divisions of work so much more i'm
portant than farming that they should
be gone into more deeply.
| Should not the young man who con-
| templates following the business OF
! farming be encouraged to put forth
just as great an effort to gain as thor
ough a knowledge of his work as the
young man who takes up any of the
professions?
| Is it any wonder that the boys have
| been deserving the farm.
! From the time that he has been able
to look as though he understood what
the parents were driving at, and re-
ply. "goo-goo," he has had pumped in
to his system something about becom-
a great man some day-a lawyer or a
doctor and so on through the whole
calendar.
At the school entertainments they
used to have a dialogue in which there
were boys representing number of
the vacations. Among them was a
farmer, and to represent the farmer
they usually selected the sloppiest, dir
test individual in the school, while
:TISMW0 ~