Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1914-05-15
rs of the social and agricultural and spir-

| HldCnlnery VIII De repaired at tine ScnOOl
shops as part of the school work. All
possible things that we cannot do ourselves
on the farm will be done by these young
people, as part of the process of learning
to be useful and intelligent citizens. There
will be blacksmith shop in every school.
a place for testing new crops, laboratory
for everything that needs to be done. The
children and young people will do this
work, and will get credit in their studies
for it, and will have to do a certain amount
of it in order to make the grades.
Three or four years ago. it suddenly
dawned on me that editors had been max
ing fools of themselves for good many
years, on the subject of Farm Accounts.
When was boy, l read about the neces-
sity of keeping books on the farm. The
editors still write about this, telling the
farmers that they should keep accurate
and exhaustive books. | made up my
mind that there isn't any farmer on earth
that knows how to keep statistical books
on farm. or would have time to keep
them If he knew how. | found half a
dozen farmers who were willing to hire
man to come and keep all their accounts.
That looked feasible.
We went to an Agricultural Economist.
and surprised him by telling him our plans.
He said. Have you some farmers who are
willing to pay good money for that ?" |
assured him that we had. He told me to
come around in three or four weeks, and
he might have a set of books fixed up. But
when returned | was disappointed. He
hadn't the books ready. But he went up
to our neighborhood, looked the situation
over and found that the farmers were
ready to pay money for somebody to keep
the books for them.
When went back to him later, he said,
Il can't give you that system, unless you
just want something to print. can give
you system of cash accounts. but not an
adequate statistical system" said |
wanted something that meant something.
suggested that would 90 to Washington
for my farm bookkeeping system. He smiled
YEARLY, and replied. ~ helped get up the
system of accounts you'd find in Washing
ton. They don't know how there, either |"
The fact of the matter is, nobody knows
how to keep statistical farm books accu-
rately and properly. But when the new
kind of rural school comes in, 1t will be tn
ioh of tho aduanoad nuO;lo m Laan ,ho
accounts of the farms of the community,
and it will be the biggest job of all, and the
most valuable. No business college in the
world can give to the boys and girls work
as good as this will be- From them we shall
know whether Jones rations for the cattle
were correct last winter; whether this man
who is feeding one kind Of ration is get
ting better results than the man who feeds
the other kind; whether the growing of
alfalfa for three years before blowing it up.
is more or less profitable than for five years,
or twenty years; or whether it is better to
have the alfalfa meadow permanent
one. Or whether, for instance, in coun-
try where they raise tobacco. it Is more
profitable to raise corn which pays you 80
cents an hour for your labor as against 40
cents an hour for tobacco. After years
and years of account keeping we shall
know such things as these.
When we have our new kind of country
schools with their hen houses, barns etc,
the community will at last have a true
social center. The farmers will get together
to talk over school work, for they will be
financially interested in ii. And when
they get together will have good time.
The girls in the Domestic Science classes
will cook the meals served to the neighbor-
hood gathering and receive school credit
for il. 1t will be part of their education
to get that meal.--part Of their school
work. In such a community as that, all
the things in which the grown people of
fused with the school life of the children.
When that time comes you won't be able
to drive the children TO town. They will
find their life so interesting What makes
life Interestingly Money? No. money is
necessary, essential Success is good but
that isn't what keeps people tied to their
businesses. Why does the preacher stay
in the pulpit when he knows he could make
more money outsideY Why does the re
search worker continue to work in the
University for $500 year when he
could 90 out and practice medicine and
make $25,000H Why is it that such men
as Pinchot and Newell have devoted their
lives to things that they were not Obliged
to pay any attention to- Because il is so
much fun to be good, to feel you are doing
something great; so much fun to find your
brain occupied and working.
The kind of business which attracts pco-
pie is the kind that will occupy both mind
and body. Children leave the farm to en-
gage in businesses which they respect, and
which everybody respects and when you
can show them by letting them into the
secret gradually, that the practice of farm
ing requires more brains than any other
business on earth, that IL comprises the
biggest system Of sciences which it is pos
sible to find in combination in any one
occupation, the drift from the farm to the
city will stop and the return tide from the
city TO the farm will set in, until gradually
all the waste places Of this country will be
filled by the harvests Of the most intelli-
gent. most prosperous farming people in
the world.
And all well-being will rest upon and
circulate around the new kind Of country
school, in which the labor Of children will
be both economically profitable and edu-
cationally sound, and the parents will be
irresistbly drawn in and embodied as
working members Of the school life. The
school house will be open eighteen hours