The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-10-31
Often Wife On Farm
Makes Life a Drudge
From Saturdays Daily.

the rural life institutes which were
held in the Sterling Presbyterian
church on Thursday afternoon and
evening and one was held in the
Watonwan church yesterday.
Addresses were given by Miss
Bess M. Rowe and Professor Nc
lntosh of the Minnesota university
college of agriculture, and Rev. NJ.
B. McNutt, the country church ex-
pert of the home mission board of
the Presbyterian church.
Mr.. Mcintosh spoke in the after
noon Thursday on Minnesota apples,
and told of the origin of the Wealthy
apples and the university prize of
$1,000 offered for winter apple of
equal quality and taste that would
grow in Minnesota. He spoke also
of the fruit breeding farm at Min
netonka and gave some good advice
as to the keeping of apples.
Miss Rowe gave a practical dem
onstration of the process of Judging
a loaf of bread, showing the reason
for each score.
Common Things in Life.
Rev. Mr.. McNutt spoke as follows
LET the rural church, in prac.
teal ways, identify itself with the
common, everyday life of the people,
with their home life, their commun.
ity life, with their institutions, with
their work and their play Let it
give a living message on the moral
issues of our time, throwing the
light of the truth upon present day
needs and conditions and upon pres.
ent evils. Let the rural church seek
to minister rather than to be min.
istered unto. Let it seek to build
the kingdom here and now, as our
Saviour taught his disciples to pray,
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done ON earth as it is in Heaven ,
We have been overworking the other.
world idea, or rather we have not
sought to realize the blessings of re-
ligion here in this life. We have
preached the way to heaven, which
is well, but we have failed to EN-.
phasize the importance of making
good roads to our churches, schools
and markets. We have had a good
deal to say about the happy land
far far away where there is nc
sickness nor pain, but we have had
little to say, from the pulpit, about
hygiene and home sanitation. .
Farmers Wife often a Drudge.
Country people have left the
farms in great numbers In a large
percentage of cases it is the farm
er's wife that takes the family to
town or city. Her life is often q
drudge. Many farmers wives are
still pumping water by hand and
Juggling it around in buckets.
When Jesus said L am the way
He meant that He is not only tho
! way to heaven but that He is the
way to do things, and that He
takes no pleasure in doing work in
the hard way when a better. and cas-
Ter way is possible 49,. ~
eve have, somehow, failed to con
meet religion and the church with
these practical human interests, which
so vitality concern our daily lives
When we speak of church work OF
religious work we commonly think
of attending church or prayer meet
ing, teaching a class in the Sunday
school, singing in the choir and the
like. Now if we would enlarge oul
conception of Christian work so al
| to include everything we do ant
let the church concern itself witt
the whole of life, spending its life
freely for the common good it would
find its life, the more abundant life
which Jesus brought to the world"
The evening session of the Ster
ling institute was held in the towr
hall, which was well filled with in
tent listeners.
Referred to Experiments.
! Mr.. Mcintosh spoke of some ex
periments he had conducted las
year in testing seed corn by plant
ing and cultivating various seloc
tions of seed. His experiment!
showed wonderful divergences, some
samples producing sixty-five bushel
to the acre and others as low a!
eight bushels The difference be
tween the best four and the poores
four kinds was twenty-seven bushels
per acre. No one could listen t,
Mr.. Mcintosh without being con
WINGED of the need of careful selec
ton of seed corn.
J Miss Rowe spoke on textiles, ex
planning the different methods o
adulteration and methods of tesrin,
to find whether the cloth is wool
cotton, silk or linen. She reminded
the women that of every dolla
spent by the women, and that WON
spent ythe women, and that WON
en- could add more to the family in
come by the saving effected through
skillful buying than she can by &c
ing out and working by the day.
J In the evening Rev. .McNutt CAV,
an example of the run down countr.
church and its upbuilding. He be
lieves that by keeping up the Sun
day school work, making the youn'
people interested by having lyceun
courses, debating teams, musica
programs and other good .amuse
ments that their interest in thu
church will be greater, and tina
they will be better satisfied to re
main on the farm.