430 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OfiE. Doc. 



enjoy the plowing with those oxen as much as I did the Spanish 

 bull fight that I used to put on in the barn-yard when the folks were 

 away in town. It was very fortunate for me, I suppose, that the 

 folks never found out what my chief diversion was while they were 

 away. 



I am glad indeed to appear before you this evening and, in as 

 modest a way as possible, attempt to give you some idea of what 

 Pennsylvania is doing along the lines of Vocational Agricultural 

 Education in the secondary schools of the rural districts. In these 

 stirring times, when one nation is at war with another nation, when 

 there are wars and rumors of wars, when the air is full of "pre- 

 paredness" and intervention, anything that smacks of militarism 

 is more or less popular and gets a ready hearing. I sometimes feel 

 that it is wise for us to pause, even in times like these, and turn our 

 thoughts away from destructive militarism and center these thoughts 

 upon some of the constructive phases of our National life, such as 

 the tilling of the soil. 



You know, as a nation, we are more or less inclined to be hero 

 worshipers. This has been emphasized very prominently in the past 

 in the teaching of history in our public schools. The great men of 

 this nation have been held up before the minds of the rising genera- 

 tion chiefly because of their services as statesmen or soldiers. I 

 am not so sure but what we ought to do this; I think these men de- 

 serve the honor due them for such services; I believe there is a 

 greater value in it, however, because of the stimulating effect it will 

 have upon the civic life of the coming citizens of the Nation. I be- 

 lieve, however, that it would be a mistaken policy to neglect the 

 study of the private and business life of these great leaders, for it 

 seems to me the character of an individual is so developed by his 

 private and business life that it determines, to a great extent, the type 

 and amount of public service he is able or willing to offer. It i^ 

 rather interesting to note that some, and in fact all of our text-books 

 on history refer to George Washington, the central figure in this 

 group, many times with reference to his services as a soldier; many 

 times also in connection with his career as a statesman, but very 

 seldom refer to him with reference to his occupation as a farmer. 

 Now we know that George Washington lived on a farm, or rather a 

 large plantation, in Virginia. We also know tbat Thomas Jefferson, 

 another one of the great leaders of our country, was a farmer. We 

 do not know him as a farmer, probably many persons are not aware 

 that he always gave his occupation as that of a farmer. It is interest- 

 ing to note, however, that it was only in the business of farming that 

 he failed. He made a success of nearly everything else he under- 

 took, but in farming he was not a great success, although he was a 

 great lover of farming. Thomas Jefferson realized that the business 

 of farming was indeed a big business. He realized some of its limita- 

 tions in his day. You will recall, many of you perhaps, that he 

 made some suggestions for the improvement of the plough of his day, 

 which was a very crude affair. Thomas Jefferson, George Washing- 

 ton and Benjamin Franklin and other leaders of that day realized 

 that there was a great need for more reliable scientific information 

 concerning the great business of farming. I emphasize that they 

 realized that way back in their day, and the fact that they did 

 realize this showed itself in the formation of the first American Agri- 



