The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-09-25
Wednesday, Sept. Is. 1912
AS TO EDUCATION.

Rutgers College, y. j., in the Lau-
rens Advertiser, sets out some truths
that were uppermOst in the mind OF
this writer but were imperfectly
stated in this paper last week. But
Mr.. BreaAeale has apparently over
looked the fact that the schools of all
hundred years ago (and one does not
have to go so far back to find the
same condition) were mainly for the
education of the few, generally de-
signed to occupy the higher posi-.
tions, while those of, today are con-
fronted with the problem OF edu-
eating the many for the occupations
rather than for the professions.
TO be sure there is much claptrap
and buncombe in the cry for indus
trial or manual training in the public
schools, and it is too often true that
the work of teaching in such branches
is entrusted to men of little practical
training but it does not follow that
the teaching Of the scientific princi-
pies which underlie success in agri-
culture is a fad or is in any manner a
chimerical scheme.
TO have o proper grasp of the sit
uation, one must not lose sight of the
fact that agriculture is not Il trade,
but q science which calls for e1-
act scientific knowledge if one is to
attain the full measure Of success.
Without doubt it would seem to be-
the height of folly to take Il pronIiS-
cuous lot of boys and attempt, Tor i'll
stance, to teach them woodworking,
a purely manual trade, WHEN many
Of them possessed not an iota OF The
natural dexterity necessary for Sic
cess in, and no inclination to follow,
such a vocation.
So, too, it might seen folly to c.
cupy the time of a boy in the cOun-
try schools with the manual work Of
the farm, of which he can and gener-
ally does get enough under the tutel-
age of his father.
But the study Of botany, of chem
istry and kindred subjects related to
plant and animal life, if properly
handled, can not fail to prove inter
esting, and are so intimate in their
relation to agriculture that a thor
ough knowledge of them will do a
great deal to improve the standard Of
farming.
Because it is sought to place
within the reach of the youth in
the rural districts an opportunity to
provide themselves with knowledge
that will help them to cultivate the
soil in a more intelligent manner it
does not mean that they are to be
kept on the farm regardless of their
own will. 1t does mean, however,
that some patriotic men are endeav-
oring to provide means for the uplift
of the boys in the country, to de-
velop a race of farmers who will out
strip their ancestors and, themselves
prosperous in things material, will be
able to afford their posterity better
opportunities than they themselves
enjoyed.
BY all means teach the boys and
girls the classics, inculcate in them
the lessons of fearlessness and of vir-
tue and purity to be found in the
lives of the ancientS, but. along with
these, teach them some Of the ele-
ments of the sciences that have a close
bearing upon many of the pursuits
in which they will engage. To do
less will be to neglect a plain duty
and will tend to retard our progress.
1t is of course true that a high
school course would not produce a
finished farmer, but a desire for scien-
tifc knowledge could be stimulated
and a way pointed out for increasing
that knowledge, even after school
days are over, and applying it prac-
tically, which would afford a wonder
full impetus to improved methods in
! agriculture and in other lines.
MI. Breazeale is right when he
says that ali of life is not embraced
in the material side, and that to teach
''the finer things is the great task,
the fundamental duty" 1t is, to be
sure, better to be taught that truth
and honesty are the first considera-
tions than to have the head crammed
full of scientific knowledge; but
there is no good reason why the
teaching of heart and mind can not
60 along hand in hand.
AS was stated in these columns
last week, there was much of merit
in the schools of ante-bellum fame,
and, as Mr.. Breazeale says, the men
produced by these schools stand as a
refutation of any suggestion that
they were unsuccessful. 1t is a fact
however, that the pupils of these old
time schools were recruited more
LARGELY from a class in which culture