Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1912-12-13

home community. Probably the coun
try girls themselves do not realize it,
but this may be a reason why many |
of them are leaving the farm or the
home town and seeking education OF
employment, according to their fnan
cial circumstances, in the larger cities.
A large firm in Chicago employs |
something like COO girls. Eighty-fve
per cent of these come, not from the
big city of Chicago itself, but from the
country districts and approximately |
third of the girls employed by this
firm has to be recruited every year.
And many of these girls never find in
Chicago the healthful and moral so
cial advantages that the home town
should, but does not, offer them.
So The way to keep not only the
country boy, but the country girl also,
at home, is to make farm life more
pleasant, emphasize in print and other
wise the fact that the farmer is really
the king-pin of them all and improve
the social advantages of the home
town. Why not encourage home dra-
matte and musical talent? Have anna
teur plays occasionally. A state mill
tia company is often a good feature
and an armory might be made a social
center. The boy scout movement can
be used as advantageously in the small
towns as in the large cities for the
proper amusement and occupation of
the younger boys and in making better
citizens. Community picnics, baseball
teams. local bands, etc, are all good
things for the home town. A gymna
stun and school athletics should be en-
couraged and every town of any size
should have a park, playground, public
tennis court and good library.
One way to make farm life more at
tractive is to improve the highways.
Good roads make it possible for the
farmer S son and daughter to enjoy
these advantages and participate in the
social events of the home town and
community.
Farmers Son Should Stick to the Soil.
The following excellent points were
made in an address delivered by W. H.
Miller at Ottawa, Ill.,, last Fourth of
July:
Our schools, our farmers Institutes,
and a whole lot of other very good
things are putting too much emphasis
on The dollar side of farming and of
life in general. We think it is better
for a boy to run an adding machine in
bank than to run a manure spreader
on the farm. And yet the latter opera
ton is Just as honorable and a great
deal more profitable, and it requires
more brains. At the very start they
have to make the adding machine alb
solutely fool proof.
I don t believe that the greatest rea.
son for improving the agricultural pro
cesses of this country is to make more
money; to pay more interest on more
high-priced land. The real reason that
we should strive to better conditions
on the farms, to increase their produc.
tivity, is that we need food for the
constantly increasing inhabitants of
this land of ours.
, To keep the boy on the farm you
I, must give him some greater inducement
e than mere money. To keep the boy OF
, the farm we psust not have less of the
science side of farming, but we must
J. emphasize its service side to humanity
We must mix inspiration with our in
> struction. We newspaper men of the
J. country press must give more credit
l. and more encouragement to the mel
who, on the farms of America, are solv
ing the problem of feeding the world
We slobber all over in our country
h newspapers about some young jacklel
o lawyer who wins a dog case in a jus
tice court. If the skinny young docto
g with the Vandyke beard "guesse
e right" and pulls the bankers kit
through an attack of chicken pox, WI
l. refer to him as our prominent success
full young practitioner. We must learn
and we must communicate the fact t.
our readers, that no practitioner is O.
l. so vital Importance to the nation as tn
e practical, scientific farmer. The mai
l. who takes a rundown piece of land, re
claims it by scientific knowledge and in
dustry and makes it fit to support
thousand babies yet to be, need TAX
= off his hat to no so-called professional
!. man that ever trod in patent leathe
~ Shoes.
>, Out on the broad and fertile acres
= thousand problems wait for solution
70 and in the solution lies added prosper
- ity and better living conditions for a
- humanity. And most of these problem
% will agree to solve if you VIII Civ
- me just one thing-a single generatio
- of American boys, well mOthered, we
taught, who will follow the occupatio
le of farming, who will "play the game
u for the game IS sake who will follow
% because they like the work and glor
IS in its achievements. Give me one sue
20 generation and most of these problem
W will be solved before they go into the
OF graves.
IL And while they are solving then
most of them will build up homes thi
ry will approximate the high standard
T. which are being set by this and sim
IT, lar organizations that are fighting fl
he better living conditions everywher
at because after ALL the basis of all re-
mt progress lies in that thing you are tr
he ing to promote-an ideal home
ny
Is, Brown, stranger in a Canadian cit