No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE., 665 



Nearly every boy and girl up to a certain age love nature. On 

 the farm where the great book of nature is open wide to them, 

 they can observe the woods, the wind, the clouds and the wayside 

 flowers. These are all blessings which God has given us to enjoy. 

 They can receive live botany by studying real plant life as it presents 

 itself to them, and not the cold technical study of it. They can 

 obtain a knowledge of zoology by observing the habits of animals 

 in associating with them. They can become acquainted with orni- 

 thology, not from any book alone, but from the little songsters and 

 their homes. 



Some people think that farmers do not need much education. 

 That is one reason why the boys leave the farm. To farm scien- 

 tifically, they must be educated. 



In this era, they must know more than to plow and sow; to reap 

 and mow. Boys and girls on the farm need a good education, and 

 they will take a good education— yes, under the circumstances, they 

 will take a better education than other boys and girls. Many of 

 the brightest men in the land have been reared on the farm and have 

 received their inspiration in the wayside schoolhouse. Their 

 names are found on the roll of business men, lawyers, physicians, 

 preachers and good politicians in any of our large cities. How nec- 

 essary it is to have in each country district a high school, so that 

 the boys and girls may be better educated and kept on the farm 

 longer! The child who is educated, especially in nature, enjoys the 

 unfoldings of its mysteries and appreciates its beauties, spread 

 around with so lavish a hand; and as the years go on. will learn to 

 love the work for which he is so greatly rewarded, and as he glances 

 over the farm, his soul drinks in the beauty of waving grass, sweet 

 scented clover and rustling corn; and as the silken tassel is lifted, 

 his intelligent mind realizes that at the base of each shining thread 

 there is a rich reward awaiting him. 



FAKMING AND ITS IMPORTANCE COMPARED WITH OTHER 



INDUSTRIES. 



By MRS. JENNIE BEIDLBK, Abrams, Pa. 



Daniel Webster tells us that "When tillage begins, other arts 

 follow; the farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civiliza 

 tion." What a thrill of pride should run through our veins when 

 we think that we are engaged in a work that has been going on 

 ever since the Creation. And how our little institute, held here to- 

 night, should work to show the world how noble our calling is, and 

 how important it is, that we should exist. 



For the purpose of facilitating agriculture, the land has been 

 divided at various times, so that now the tracts of tillable land 

 are such as to give the farmer, in most cases, the advantage of mak 

 ing his own selection. In doing this he has many things to con- 

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