bigblow] CORRESPONDENCE AND DISCUSSIONS 257 



college education at a State university at an average cost of $1,200 

 each. Now, after ten years, these sons who went to a city to 

 enter business and professions have an average annual income 

 above 82,500 as a result of an investment of $1,200 in edtication 

 for city life. In short, this farmer has been able to give only one 

 son capital for farming; and in order to give the other sons a fair 

 chance, his best opportunity was in the line of education for pro- 

 fessional or business life in cities. It is another clear case where 

 economics has forced the solution of the problem. So far as 

 interest in agriculture is concerned, either one of these sons now in 

 the city would compare very favorably as to their interest in 

 country life with most of the authors who write interesting 

 articles about agricultural education keeping boys on the farm. 



It must be evident to any one who seriously considers similar 

 facts, verified from an extensive acquaintance in farming com- 

 munities, that it will not be safe to arrange all our agricultural 

 education with reference to keeping boys on the farm. It will 

 not apply except to the very smallest families, because the 

 financial situation will force an economic outlet to the cities. 

 These being the facts wdiich must be faced, it is obviously unwise 

 to plan the work in agricultural education entirely with reference 

 to practical application. So far as concerns the boy who remains 

 on the farm, it may be all very well for him to serve an apprentice- 

 ship in agriculture while he is in the public schools. So far as 

 such boys are concerned there may be some value in learning the 

 details concerning such practical things as insecticides, fertilizers 

 and testing butter fat and similar things which are abundant in 

 current courses of agriculture; but how about such things for the 

 majority of boys who must enter professions or business simply 

 because they can not have the capital for engaging in agriculture? 

 It seems very questionable whether serving an apprenticeship in 

 agriculture under the guise of school work is the best thing for 

 such individuals. This leads one to question whether it must not 

 sooner or later be recognized that the best kind of instruction in 

 agriculture designed for all pupils in the public schools of the 

 rural communities will be that which deals with the great princi- 

 ples and the great ideas, leaving for special apprentice work 

 (elective for those who plan to go directly to the farms) the 

 technical things such as are of very little interest except to those 

 who are actually going to put them into practice. 



M. A. Bigei.ow. 



