The leader-enterprise. [volume] (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1912-1915, 1913-08-18
THAT FARMER BOY.

Thai FARMEn DOAs
"Send my boy over to the Agricul-
tural School Why can teach him
how to farm at home"
Ever hear an expression like that ?
Notice he always says, 81 CAN teach
him at home" Have you ever heard
him say, 81 WILL teach my boy at
home?" 1t goes without saying. that
a successful farmer CAN teach his son
a great many things at home-things
that are worth while to the. farmer OF
the next generation--BUT, DOES
HE? He shows the boy HOW to do
a piece of work now and then. Does
he do this n the BOYS SAFE, or FOR
the WORK s sake? Isn't it true that
the fathers instructions stop right
where the boys work begins to be sat
isfactory? When boy is instructed
for his own sake he must not only be
shown the HOW but the WHY. The
average parent who teaches his son
farming at home usually quits it at the
HOW. The WHY is the science of the
thing, and usually requires great
deal of time, patience, and hard study.
This part of the training often calls
for a great deal of research work, ap-
paratus not found in the home, and the
aid of specialist. Are boys in other
professions trained at home? Don't
you believe that the successful farmer
Of this day needs as much training as
does the man in any of the other pro-
fessions? Did you ever try to enum-
crate the things that the successful
farmer should know? Part of that list
would look like this:
He should know how to: Clear
lands, drain swamps, make concrete
fence posts, build fences, build bridges,
Law brick and stone, build sanitary
homes, bore a well, put up a pump,
build a water tower, put in an under
ground reservoir, put up a windmill,
construct sanitary barns and sheds,
paint, glaze windows, plaster, calci-
mine, put in electric wiring, water
pipe, sewerage, chop wood, churn.
make hay. milk COW, care for and
market dairy products, feed cows
break a colt, pillow a mule, butcher a
steer, prepare lands, select seed, sow,
NOW, reap, thresh, and winnow grain,
how to make syrup, cure ham and
bacon, repair shoes, make harness. nix
the telephone. make simple tools.
build concrete floors. write a note
build concrete WALL select seed. i'm
prove the soils, pillow, fertilize, harrow
plant, cultivate, harvest, market farm
products, Judge live stock, and i'm
prove the breeds of both plants and
animals. He must know, soils, fertil-
izers and vegetable matter as related
to: Moisture, capillarity. osmosis, re-
tention of plant food, oxidation OF
plant food. He must know insects, in.
secticides, bugs, birds, and beasts, al
sight. He must understand lameness
in a mule or horse, tick fever in cat.
tie, tuberculosis in milk COWS, cholera
in hogs, and how to prevent these dis
eases as well as how to treat these in
fected animals. He must not be ignor-
ant of the best methods of preventing
such diseases among his own species
as, malaria, typhoid, hookworm, diph
liberia, tuberculosis. He must know
poisonous weeds and insects, poison.
Gus drugs and their antidotes.
He must know how to plant, grow
prune, bud. and graft fruit trees. He
must know how to operate and repair:
cultivators, mowers, binders, harvest
ers, threshing machines, gasoline en-
gines, pumps, hydraulic rams, cream
separators wagons, buggies, whee
barrows, grain drills, hayrakes and au-
tomobiles. He must be an adept al
writing notes, deeds, wills, mortgages
contracts, bills of lading, invoices
etc. In short, he must know, English
history, civics, carpentry, arithmetic
bricklaying. business. law, physiology
hygiene, medicine, blacksmithing, den.
tistry, literature, plumbing, painting
veterinary surgery, plastering, chemis
try, physics, engineering of all kinds
must know how to shave himself anc
make telling speech at town meet
ing.
Is this too much for a boy to know
in order to be an independent farmer
in his day? Don't you think it would
be a hard task for a father to give
his boy a working knowledge of thu
things noted above, even if he hac
nothing else to do?
Did you know that boy who at
tends the Third District A. & M
school four years, and really apple:
himself, goes away from this institu
ton with a working knowledge of al
the things enumerated above anc
enough rhetoric, algebra, geometry
chemistry, and other high school train
ing to enter him in the University Of
Georgia without examination? This in
stitution is in the business of training
farmer boys. She is prepared to de
this. Did you know that only cost Of
attending school here IS board anc
clothes? Did you know that board il
only $500 a month? For further in
formation write to J. M. collum,
Americas. Ga.