" ' ' "
7'"s ' r' . ' ' ' "s : ' " . e ;
The Coneervative. 3
SCHOOL GARDENS.
Iii u general way we realize the
fundamental character of agricul
ture. The national government
wishes to further the advancement
of agricultural science. It has pro
vided experiment stations in the states
and territories and sends out annual
ly thousands of bulletins containing
valuable information.
The several states annually appro
priate large sums of money for the sup
port ' of agricultural colleges. The
science of agriculture has progressed
wonderfully in the last twenty-five
years. The practical art of farming
lias kept pace with scientific develop
ment. Improved machinery and
methods are the results of agricultur
al education. Much has been accom
plished and more remains to be done.
There are two vital problems in agri
cultural education that are still un
solved. One is to educate the great
body of men who will be the farmers
and the other is to stem the tide of
immigration , from the farms to the
cities.
The present system of education
does not and can not reach all the farm
ers of the state. It is not 'possible
for all the farm boys who are the fu
ture farmers of the state to be educat
ed at the agricultural college.
If it were possible I do not believe
it is desirable. The proper place to
learn practical farming is on a farm.
It can not be learned so well in an ag
ricultural school of any kind. The
agricultural college is valuable and it
serves a good purpose but without
farms we should not be able to edu
cate a race of farmers.
The Farm Should be the School.
The education that an agricultural
people need should be brought to
them. It can then receive a practical
test and if it can be proven of value ,
it will by that much raise the stand
ard. Another reason why the educa
tion should be brought to them , rather
than they taken to it , is in the second
problem which agricultural education
must help solve.
If it is desirable to have the edu
cated farmer remain on the farm , it i
much better not to take him from the
farm to educate him when he is a boy
There is a large possibility that he
will never return to farm life. Teach
ers of agriculture are valuable but ii
Nebraska farmers are indispensable.
I have no statistic on the subjec
but from a pretty wide observation ' .
venture the assertion that there i
not a large per cent of the graduate
of agricultural schools engaged ii
farming , directly 'and practically.
What education is of most worth to
the farmer ? He needs a praotica
knowledge of the art of farming
habits of industry , and a general in
; elligeuoo that will enable him to
make now adaptations and take advan-
ago of the new developments in the
art of farming and in the science of
agriculture.
Wthout a practical knowledge of
'arming he can not live on a farm at
all ; without habits of industry lie will
be a poor farmer no matter what his
dncation may be , and without general
intelligence he will be out of har
mony with general conditions. In
; hese days of modern machinery and
effective methods , he will work on in
the old way and compete with men
who take advantage of all the new and
valuable developments in the science
of agriculture and the art of farming.
Badly Needed.
Educated farmers are needed badly ,
men who have a detailed , practical
interest in farming and comprehensive
minds. A short-sighted policy has
directed much of our agriculture in
times past. The impoverished soil of
the eastern states and the ruthless de
struction of forests in the north are
evidence that in the practical conduct
of affairs we have much to learn.
That sort of thing would not be pos
sible to a people rightly educated in
agriculture. The vandal is in us
pretty strong or we could not do
these things. Prof. Bryan , of Indiana
State University , said in his study on
"Telegraphy , " "When you have
mastered your trade , your trade has
mastered you. ' ' How very true that
is. Many people have always
recognized that truth from the stand
point of common sense.
Literature abounds in characters
that exemplify the truth that Prof.
Bryan formulated. They are the real
workmen who have grown to their
callings. What ever their failings
may be , they have that one saving
virtue. They have a conscience aboul
their -work. According to Indian
standards , the bad workman is a bad
man , and it is a pretty fair way to
measure the worth of an individual
too.
too.We
We meet the real artists , teachers ,
doctors , artisans , and cooks in real
life as well as in literature. They
do not throng the thoroughfares per
haps , but they are still with us. May
their number increase ! We respect
these realities when we meet them.
They give to us a new sense of the
worth and dignity of human life.
Our respect testifies to our own wortl
and suggests that we , top , might become
come real if wo dealt more in the real
ities of life.
We are a great nation , not because
of our shams , but in spite of them
and when the court of last resort fails
when there is lacking solid and sub
stantial virtue in our people , we have
ceased to be a great nation , whether
our neighbors have found it out or not
We might , if wo would , educate a"
ace of men and women who could not
ook at a landscape without seeing its
possibilities and feeling the impulse to
develop them. It is possible to so
, rain and educate men in the better
, vays of agriculture that wasteful
methods of farming are not possible
for them.
I traveled across two counties of
iontral Nebraska with such a one
ast August. Experience had fash-
.oued him , and though he did not re
alize it , things agricultural were
woven in the fiber of his heart. I
marvelled as wo passed alone the
countryside , that so few of the homes
showed any "sense of beauty. When
we passed the country school where I.
taught fifteen years ago I marvelled
very much more that I had taught
there two years without ever concern I
ing myself about the appearance of the
school grounds. Native , naked prairie ,
sod it was then , and native , naked
prairie sod it is now.
Knowledge of Conditions Needed.
The farm-bred pupils need an edu
cation that will enable them to make
the best possible use of their farms
and give them a satisfaction in their
work. To have no real interest in the
work that one must do , is a great mis
fortune. These pupils must learn
farming and they should learn it first
of all as practiced in their own com
munity and in their own state. That
is where they must begin to learn and
that is where the school should begin
to. educate them. They should be
taught farming in particular , not
farming in general.
The rural pupils of Nebraska should
know the soil of Nebraska , its possi
bilities and its proper culture , the
crops most successfully grown , the
varieties of fruit best adapted to the
soil and climate of Nebraska , the ele
ments of forestry , the economic value
of birds and bees and the esthetic
value of flowers.
The Nebraska agricultural experi
ment station sends out bulletins of
special interest and 'the general gov
ernment sends out bulletins of general
interest. The rural schools should
help these valuable bulletins to find a
field of larger usefulness. They should
be a permanent part of the library in
every rural school.
Much of the instruction that should
be given on the subject of agriculture
in the rural schools , would be of neces
sity formal-and an interpretation of
their wonc at home. It should per
meate the other subjects of the cur
riculum , giving arithmetic something
to calculate and language something
to say , serving as a basis for geograph
ical knowledge and furnishing ma
terial for the drawing lesson. Such
work would be valuable , much more
so than a formal system of education
