The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., June 25, 1910, EDUCATIONAL SPECIAL, Page 448, Image 4

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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EDUCATING FARMER BOYS FOR EFFICIENCY.
Give the Boy a Training That Will at Once Develop His Pow
ers of Thought and Prepare Him for His Life’s Work—Our
Present One-Sided System Can Bo Changed Only by Concen
trated Effort of the Farmers.
By Prof. V. L. Roy, University of Louisiana.
THE COMMON schools are the
most important institution of
our country. They represent
the first organized effort of the State
to bring to its future citizens the
best knowledge that has been gath
ered by the experience of the race,
to the end that the best citizenship
may result. As the years go by, the
importance of the common schools
increase; the world of society and
industry grows more complicated,
hence, training and preparation for
one’s life work becomes of increas
ing importance.
The most important thing accom
plished during the first few years of
the child’s life is the mastery of the
three R's—reading, writing and
arithmetic,—of which we have so
often spoken in terms of alternate
praise and ridicule. Versed in these,
the boy or girl has at his command
the power to profit by the experience
of the race and to add continually
through his own efforts to the sum
total of his education. But, having
taught the child the use of these ed
ucational tools, what does the
school next seek to do?
This is what it does in the aver
age case: 11 unaeruutes to teacn
him geography, history, hygiene, civ
ics, nature study and agriculture.
To geography and history, the
schools of one of the Southern States
devote seven times as many hours
during the grammar-school years as
they do to hygiene, citizenship, agri
culture and natural science. No one
doubts the importance of knowing
something of the geography of the
world or of the history of our coun
try; but we may well doubt whether
we are maintaining a proper bal
ance between those subjects and the
L other subjects named. It is the lat
■kter that bear directly on the pres
Hhent and future life of the child; and
we should all come to understand,
“ believe and act upon the principle
involved.
Some of the Things the Average Child
Studies.
To illustrate: Beginning with the
study of Columbus and early Span
ish explorers, details of history are
studied for several years covering
a multitude of facts which it may
be edifying to know but which are
infinitely less important than other
knowledge which the average child
should possess. The child must
know all about Vasco de Gama, Bal
boa. BOOne. Cl&rkfV T.nrrt Raltlmnra
he must be able to rehearse the bat
tles of the French and Indian Wars,
locate each, name the commanders,
and number the dead. In geography,
he learns, not only that important
part which has to do with our State
and country, but he invades China,
Hindustan, Afghanistan and Monte
negro; he can tell you how many
mountains rise out of the plateau of
Tibet; he knows something of the
manners and customs of the Hindu
and Hottentot, and of the religions of
Confucius and Brahma.
Now, all such knowledge is worth
while, but the question to determine
is whether it is the best knowledge
that the schools can offer the farmer
boys and girls. Can we not block off,
out of the mass of human knowledge,
other material for the education, not
only of rural but also of urban chil
dren, that will educate them just as
well as the stufT above named, and
yet that will possess the added ad
vantage of giving the child an edu
cation that will be directly service
able to him in earning an honest
livelihood and in developing true
manhood? 1 believe we can.
Some Things He Does Not Study.
Can we not educate a boy just as
well by teaching him something of
the wonderful process of germina
tion, of the conditions that deter
mine the sprouting seed, of the food
that a plant needs, of the root sys
tem of the corn plant, how food is
made in the leaf of the plant, how
water and mineral food are taken in
by roots, why water rises in the soil,
how it is often wasted, what we
must do to conserve it, what the
elements of plant food are; or by
studying the life history of the ty
phoid (bouse) fly, learn where and
how it breeds, see how it spreads
disease and tilth, and then And out
the best means of fighting it; or by
studying our government, learning
what courts are, why they exist and
how they operate, and who some of
our county and State oflicials are?
Here is indeed a vast body of knowl
edge that will serve the ends of edu
cation as well as the subject-matter
of the average text-book that re
lates to distant climes or remote
ages. Then, why not use it?
The reply to this is that there is
a general movement all over the
country that has for its purpose the
actual introduction of agriculture and
other subjects into the schools; but,
this movement has not the active
support of the farmers everywhere.
The farmer is the one who should
demand a serious effort to teach
agriculture in the common and high
schools; he should require that
every school of grammar or high
school grade located in the country
should at once begin to teach agri
culture. Until he does, we may well
doubt whether any great degree of
success will be achieved.
In making such a demand of the
State, the farmer should know what
he wants. He must not expect that
the teacher will make the boy skill
ful in handling the plow or the
mowing machine; for, if that is what
he is to learn, he can get it at home.
But he has a right to expect tha*
his boy will get something of ele
mentary science; learn what capil
larity is. how it oneratca for ami
against the farmer; learn what the
ingredients of animal food are and
something of how much an animal
needs; study the simple principles
of breeding; see the phenomenon of
osmosis illustrated by experiment;
discover the function of sunlight in
plant growth; compare different sys
tems of crop rotation; or, in case of
the girl, that she will learn some
thing about textiles, the necessary
elements of human food, the compo
sition and preparation of food for
the table, the simple chemistry of
bread-making, the making of gar
ments, the ornamentation of the
home and home grounds, etc.
How the Change is to He Made.
How is this to be accomplished?
Certainly not by crowding more ma
terial into the course of study; but,
by a re-adjustment of the several
subjects. History, geography, hy
giene and civil government should
each receive approximately the same
time and attention; nature study
should be begun in the first year and
extend through the fourth or fifth
><‘.ir, agriculture should follow and
be taught for two or three years in
the grammar school.
In the country high school, agri
culture should be given an hour or
period daily. During the four years
of the course, this gives one year
each to crops, soils and fertilizers,
animal industry, and farm opera
tions or economy. Some schools in
the country are now offering such
courses. Georgia lhas eleven dis
tinctively agricultural schools of
secondary grade; Alabama has nine;
Mississippi is preparing to introduce
agriculture into its high schools,
partly through State aid; Louisiana
has nine schools of secondary grade,
in which agriculture is taught by
graduates of agricultural colleges.
Hut, the South has not yet the tenth
part of the schools it needs to teach
agriculture and to bring such in
struction within the reach of the
average farm boy.
The Problem of Securing Teachers.
So, 1 believe we will pursue the
best policy if, independently of the
large congressional district agricul
tural high school, we begin to teach
agriculture in every rural school in
tho South, whether such school be a
common, a consolidated, or a high
school.
Our greatest problem is now, and
will continue to be, “Where to lind
competent teachers?” it will ap
parently be several years before any
considerable portion of the teaching
force of the several States will de
termine systematically to prepare
itself for service in agricultural
schools; but, we may be sure that
nothing will give so much promi
nence to the demand for such teach
ers as the failure of schools to Uml
suitable teachers.
Teachers of agriculture command
higher salaries than other teachers,
partly because the supply is so much
smaller than the demand; the ap
paratus for instruction in the high
schools is somewhat expensive, as
are the equipmunt, implements*
land and buildings of the school
farm. Hence State aid is necessary
to insure the success of these
schools. Here again, tho legislators
and authorities of a State are likely
to respond only when tho call of the
people Is spoken in clear tones.
It All I>epen<ls on the Farmers.
As long as the agricultural popu
lation of the State is not interested
in agricultural education, Just so
long will progress bo slow. The
State Superintendent may he as
much of a statesman as you please;
the county superintendent may be
whollv cnnuerrntnil .1
thoroughly efficient; but without the
active support of the people they ran ,
make no reforms, in present educa
tional practice. They are not suffi
ciently powerful to overcome the in
ertia of a whole people. They may
stand in the high places, sound the
bugle blast of progress, and point
or lead to the battlefields beyond;
but they can not command or com
pel. The public, consciousness must
be awakened to the needs of an edu
cation that will make our boyB and
girls more efficient, no matter what
the life may be that they are de
termined to lead. If the demand for
agricultural education does not come
from the farihs of the country,
whence shall it come? Can we ex
pect the city merchant or the. en
gineer to call for the establishment
of agricultural schools?
I would not be understood to mean
that every farmer boy must continue
on the farm, or that we should de
velop a system of schools that will
not permit him to do anything hut
farm. On the contrary, let every
boy In the land take up that life
work for which hiB natural bent or
opportunities best prepare him; let
us remember the stories of Davis and
Lincoln and thousands of other coun
try lads who did great things be
sides farming. This, rather, should
he our Ideal; Not to let the hoy who
will l»o a farmer leave the school
until he has learned at least some
of the fundamental, elementary
principles of agriculture, in order
that lie may make a greater success
of his farming than ho would other
wise; and also to give the town and
city boy an opportunity to become
a successful farmer, thus escaping
from the slavery of city life and
proving a blessing to his country.
The Lesson of the Corn Club Hoys.
That it is possible to teach our
boys something of simple science as
it applies to agriculture, to interest
them in farm operations, and to re
veal to them the vast possibilities
that lie before the man who begins
farming with some knowledge of the
science of’agriculture. Is shown by
the Boys’ Corn Clubs of the South.
To-day forty thousand boys In our
Southland aro applying a little sci
ence to one farm activity corn
I lltr DUnt’hh Ol inf* CIllIlH 18
nothing short of marvelous. The
good that flows from them is varied;
but best of all, perhaps, Is tho reve
lation to the average boy that brain
as well as brawn has a part to play
on the farm, that Intelligence and
not mere brute force must guide and
direct the successful farm. When
the boy has raised 7.'. or 100 bushels
of high-bred corn on one acre, corn
becomes to him a subject of vital
Interest one full of possibilities;
when he hns raised a pure-bred pig
or Jersey heifer, has grown a prize
winning bushel of potatoes, has used
mind ns well as muscle, has applied
• bought to his work, the farm ceases
to be merely the abode of drudgery,
and becomes a spot replete with In
terest and charm.
Men now seek education, not that
they may become leader- In the State
and in the church, but, first of nil.
that they may become strong men;
so that to-day seeing a man at col
lege is no Indication that he expects
to be a preacher or a politician.—
Dr. Charles D. Mdvcr.
Breeder's Cards
AND
Farmers’ Exchange
W« Will insert ads for Mr Prrwreeelrs Far
m" rr»‘l®r* In this department
and in this sty U type at the rate of « rents a
word for one work, ten work*. « rente a weed:
throe work*. H rente; four weeks. 10 cents;
thrwr month* Wi cents; sis months, to rents;
Uneruar. mount*. wor,l number or Initial
UorJuding ntmr and allrawi) rountmd mass
parnte word Kend ra*h with or Ur If the
rate nrmi high, mnrmlsr It would rtmt SUO
for paetace elans to send your ad. by letter to
each home to which w# carry It at this low
mU. .Stamp* accepted fur amounts baa* ik.. |L
Pure-bred Ramboulllet Ram*. Graham 4 Mc
(x»rt|uodalr. Graham. Texaa.
,, Triumph Hwrct Potato Blip* fl.&o ter 1 OtO
K B. Anderaon. Marion, A'a.
•
Wanted Taro rogi,ter«i Southdown Buck*.
Thome*ton (attb- Co.. Thomaaton. Ala.
HerkaMrea. Very bc«t breetthg. KatUfacliun
guaranteed Ch»*. Stalham. Teriy. Mi*a.
Hearing Corn llarvraUr and Shredder. One
Shepherd Hog. J l„ Jon,.., t kolcna. Mies.
I" • old. KcglaU red.
tit M) each. I) A O Kelley, He Joseph. In.
Uegiatrrrd Collie*. Hitches, fl5 (« io pit, 00•
I up*. 110.00 to men. 1. A Kchin*. JeckaonTRa.
- Hixotl A Hyat breeders F.ngliah lirrkthlree.
None bettor. Some on hand now. Ml Harman.
Ixrtiia!ana_
Wanted - Buyer* for t ter. nrw, 40 pound Fcuth
rr Bed* at 110.00. The Stokes Furniture Co. Bur
lington. N. C.
For hale HO acre*, level I Jack land, all In fine
timber, mostly oak a»h. poplar, etc. Gao. C.
IfogaUiont. Hnstr. Miss
I _ “ l'"*,l1T ■ I I II IUUI 1,1
One pro each, Whndr Ularid Bed* and White
w*v?Ph«au. h“,f ,,rtc* ,>r
b!7 <or purchaae) Jersey Bull.
1H or .1 month* t ld. of go<*l breeding. Ht. Lam
Iwrt or Golden Rail preferrtd. N. It Cotton. Ho
curlty. I *ii.
Hh-acre Delta Farm for »ale. Two miles Indian
ola. the < our.ty Seat. AII in cultivation. Haa four
good tenant hounea. Kents for *600 00 per annum.
Price 12,800. Ttttma 11,000,(0 cash, remainder
*600.00 yoar until paid. Write W. T. Pitts. Indian
ola. Mlaa.