The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-02-21
WHAT DRIVES THE
BOY FROM THE FARM
TO TRY CITY LIFE?
FARM BOY HAS IDEALS LIKE
OTHERS THAT MUST BE
ENCOURAGED.
GIVE HIM HOME COMFORTS
Education and Culture, the Really
Broader Life, May BE Had on the
Farm and It Is Necessary That the
Boys Be Kept There.
by Hoyt N. Hardman, Tennessee

by Hoyt N. Hardiman, Tennessee
Department of Agriculture.)
Every year We hear of some farmer
asking his wife about their son, whs
is fast becoming young man and
who will at almost any time take
notion" TO leave the farm and go to,
the city in search of his fortune.
What is it that drives him away
from his country home? What is it
that makes him at a moments notice
pack his few belongings, cast fare
well look at the old place, turn the
hill and become lost in the great
world outside? What is 1t that Lures
him to an easy life" over there in
the city where all men live in luz
ury" and none have to toll as he has
toiled for years, yes, ever since he
can remember" 1t is not the boys
fault, nor is it really the boy himself,
that makes him leave the farm Just
when he needs it most and when it
needs him equally as bad It is the
cold, bare fact that to him the farm
means only hard work, little rest
on Sunday, and then hard work
again, that drives him off He is
hungry, not physically, but mentally,
craving for a future-as to what he
cares but little, but it must be fu-
ture-and so far he has not found
any outlook for future there be-
tween the pillow handles.
Now that is just where the trouble
lies, and until we enroll papa and
mamma into one firmly united move
ment for the good of their son, I'M
til they decide to examine his case,
pronounce it durable and then set
about the curing of it, and until they
do begin applying these remedies,
they should not be surprised if their
son should get up some morning and
tell them that he believes that he will
go to the city and try to make a place
for himself in the world.
No. No! A thousand times no, His
place is at home and he must be kept
there if our country is to live and
grow strong We have far too many
wrecks filling our cutters and jails
and penitentiaries now without invit-
ing the last of the good blood into
the same condition. Keep that boy
at home; keep him there if it takes
an OK team. We'll, how" some one
asks. To that we will answer lust
keep him there Look down into the
inner soul of that boy, read what is
written there, answer his natural and
perfectly normal pleadings for larg-
er life and you have solved the prob
lem. Give him party of his own
liking, inviting young men and young
women who will be pleasing to one
another and serve to make him really
better by their contact.
Some sort Of musical instrument
should be kept in every country
home, even in the back woods coun-
try home, for music, like the breath
of flowers, lifts the soul to higher
things.
Educate your boy by all means, but
be sure education is of the right kind.
1t is the youns man of the future we
are now looking to, and if he is given
the proper attention and training, he
will rise to any emergency the flu
ture has in store. He will cease to
look over old Becks ears and will
turn toward the sun as his source Of
information; he will ply his brain
along with his hoe; he will elevate
his former tendencies into clear life
purposes and we shall have fuller,
La larger, better, a grander and q
nobler existence. Keep that boy OF
yours on the farm; keep him there
for it is the only right place for him.