Why the Boy Leaves the Fabm. 345 



I have seen many a grown man who came from other countries, 

 where boys are not allowed so many privileges, gaze in open- 

 mouthed astonishment to see a young lad doing all this — and 

 more. 



Ah ! it is one of the most unfortunate things about city life 

 that the boys have so little work adapted to their abilities after 

 school hours. And how many we see whose parents seek a place 

 in the country for their boys during the summer vacation. 



We all have heard of the many cities and villages which have 

 lately been obliged to adopt the " Curfew Law " to keep their 

 boys off of the streets. 



How much more pitiful this seems than that once in a great 

 while some boy in the country, urged on by his ambition, should 

 overwork his strength, for I am sure no father of my acquaintance 

 has ever been anxious to overwork his boys. 



On the contrary, I have known many fathers who have denied 

 themselves, and have worked under many disadvantages in order 

 that their sons might be kept in school. 



And these sons, knowing of the sacrifice their father made, 

 were industrious, working mornings, evenings, Saturdays and va- 

 cations. Now, why shouldn't the cities require the services of 

 such young men as these? 



Young men endowed with strong physiques, made stronger by 

 plowing, reaping and gathering the apples from their own father's 

 trees. 



Often driving or even walking several miles on cold winter 

 mornings to the village or district schools. 



We hear about the overcrowded cities, but they are not over- 

 crowded by our country boys; for if they are not able to earn 

 money, or if city life and city ways do not agree with them, they 

 can come back to the country and take up their old occupation, 

 not having lost their strength, for that was given with the " fresh 

 air " they have breathed and the " physical culture " they have 

 endured from their childhood. 



Ah! friends, we sometimes enjoy these God-given blessings 

 without thinking how great and good God is to give them to us 

 so freely. Then there remains the fact that man is a social being 

 by nature. The building of cities and living in large communities 

 is but the natural way of living. 



The isolation of farming life, as carried on in America, with 

 separate farms and scattered farmhouses, deprives the family, in 

 a great degree, of its social element. 



