11') American HorticuUunil Society. 



it squiirely.thnt these desirable tastes iitnl hiiMtH are by far moBt readily and 

 lastiiinly formed in yrmn^, and oven very yoimir. ••liildren, and that not only 

 IS the boy father to the man, but the very baby is father U) the boy himself. 

 It is hardly neressary at this laie jteriixl, and Itefore this audience, to go 

 into all the arjiuments and j)roofs in the premises. The kindergarten is 

 (*()ming to be more and more an established fa<M, and with it 'he convietion 

 that the time when manual and sense training shouM be begun is almost 

 from birth. The natural and most precious time for inculcating the taste 

 for and habit of the use of the senses, and with it that love of work that 

 leaves the possessor unhapi)y when compelled to be kWe, ties within the limih 

 o/boi/hixd (ind girlhorti, anil that chiejlij in t}ifir mrlier pnrtiims. No colleges, no 

 matter how organized, can ever make uji for the omissions made in these 

 early portions of the child's life; and it is glaringly unjust to make them 

 responsible for the consequences of such omissions. 



The kindergarten first, or its equivalent in home training, as an indefeasi- 

 ble part of primary education, and then the continuation of the same sys- 

 tem in the constant exercise of the senses and perceptive faculties in manual 

 training schools, forming p:irt of all public schotds, high or low- that is, in 

 my view, the true and only remedy for the evils coniplained of, not only by 

 farmers, but, also, in a larye measure, by society at large. There can be no 

 question of the fact that the time-honored system of education, from lowest 

 to highest, neglecting this sense training, is largely to blame for the numer- 

 ous cases in which men and women completely miss their life vocation ; 

 simply because they have never been brought face to face with what they 

 were truly litted for. It is dithcult to estimate the number of bad poets, 

 penny-a-liners, lawyers, doctors and other professional men who would have 

 graced the carpenter's bench, the machine-shop, or the farm, if they hadonlj* 

 been made aware early in life of their capacities in these directions. I be- 

 lieve that to every sane man and woman is given the faculty of d<iing some- 

 thing well, and with enjoyment thereof; and that if the parents and teachers 

 are only on the alert, and give each child the freest opportunity to fmd his 

 life work among what is offered in the home and school, few will fail to suc- 

 ceed. But if both in the home and school only the meager outlook of ill- 

 rewarded drudgery (Hi the one hand, and of the mysteries of the " three R's " 

 on the other, is held up to view, what wonder is it that the child, seeking 

 something that will interest and please him, will but too commonly seek and 

 find it in wrong-doing, in listless apathy, and later in Hiirht from the farm ? 

 It is surely, then, by brwuhniing, and not by narnwiiuj, the education of 

 farmers' children, from the primary school to the college, that the ills com- 

 plained of can he remedied. Speaking for the child on the farm as emphat- 

 ically as for the student at the agricnlturd college, I conienil that parents 

 have no right t<j j^redestine him for the pursuit of the .same path trodden by 

 themselves. But I feel fully assured that by the broadening of the child's 

 view through the training of his perceptive faculties, and not only of con- 

 scious reasoning as is now done, the creater attractions of the f:irm, intelli- 



