No. 7. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 657 



to the song of birds. The city boy sees only small patches of sky 

 obscured by smoke. His landscape is sometimes limited to long 

 stretches of brick walls with, perhaps several squares from his 

 home, a small plot of green ornamented by signs of ''Keep off the 

 Grass," a few stunted trees and two or three benches, the whole 

 combination misnamed a ''park." The country boy has an ocean of 

 pure air, the whole broad expanse of sky with its varying colors, 

 the fields, the hills, the forests, the running brooks. The city boy 

 may never have seen a pumpkin on the vine, or a chestnut dropping 

 from its burr. For him strawberries grow in baskets, all other fruits 

 and vegetables in stale market stalls. He has never known the 

 delight of eating wild strawberries from fingers reddened with the 

 plucking, of roasting the juicy ears of corn as he takes them fresh 

 from the stalk, of tracking a rabbit, or of enjoying countless other 

 outdoor pleasures which to a country boy are so common that he 

 almost ceases to appreciate them. 



The question may be asked, Is a country boy better educated than 

 the boy from the city? If we take into consideration that education 

 means the development of the whole boy, he is decidedly better edu- 

 cated. Too often the boy in city schools receives an over-training 

 of intellect at the expense of physical, and frequently of moral devel- 

 opment. Through all his life in the city he may be exposed to vices 

 unheard of in the country. The conventionalties of city life fre- 

 quently rob him of the exercise of his originality, and prevent the 

 full development of his individuality. Too often he is graduated 

 from his high school a manufactured article, having passed regularly 

 through the various departments where each "specialist" teacher had 

 succeeded in cramming his pet subject into the boy's head until he 

 began to wonder whether he would be turned into a mathematician, 

 a linguist, a biologist, a sculptor, or a composer of music. The coun- 

 try boy may not have graduated at the same age, but place the two 

 side by -side and note the contrast. Usually the country boy is 

 several inches taller. The boy from the city may stand more erect 

 owing to good gymnastic drill, while, unfortunately, the other may 

 have developed a stoop of the shoulder from bending over a plow: 

 but his shoulders are far broader, his arms more muscular, his face 

 ruddy, sun-burned and freckled, in strong contrast to the pale face 

 of the other. His bright eyes, made strong by early hours, outdoor 

 air and trained to see long distances across the green* landscape, 

 are far more attractive and serviceable than those of the city boy, 

 whose long hours of siudy and lack of fresh air may have compelled 

 him to cover a pair of near-sighted eyes with glasses. Test them 

 both in a day's work, and see who has the greater strength. See 

 who can split a rail, climb a tree, harness a horse, shoot a squirrel, 

 or catch a fish the quicker. 



The city boy may have studied botany and zoology, but the coun- 

 try boy can tell him more about the trees and wild flowers, the fishes, 

 the different kinds of birds, squirrels and other animal life than h^ 

 has ever learned from books. Whittier beautifullv expresses it in 

 "The Barefoot Boy": 



"Thou hast more than wealth can buy 

 In the reach of ear and eye, 

 Outward, sunshine, inward, joy, 

 Sleep that wakes in laughing- day. 

 Health that mocks the doctor's rules, 

 Knowledge never learned of schools. 



42—7—1904 



