FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 247 



SYSTEMATIC READING. 



To gain the best results, the mind should be trained to long tasks, to 

 steadiness of attention to one subject for an hour or more at a time, and 

 readiness to return to the same subject again and again until it is mas- 

 tered. The habit of assorting and associating ideas relieves the mem- 

 ory, because henceforth the recalling of one idea brings with it all the 

 related ideas. This habit also renders thinking more easy and the con- 

 clusion more valuable, for the dozen related facts assume a new signifi- 

 cance when seen side by side. When thus conducted, reading gives tone 

 and quality to the mind, enables it, by grouping and systematizing 

 masses of detail, to grasp large subjects, and to think a subject through 

 to its conclusion. Such reading richly repays whatever time and effort 

 may be given to it, for reading such as this is thinking, and thought rules 

 the world. 



IN SELECTING A PAPER, 



what should be the primary consideration? Not size, not cheapness,^ 

 but quality. In all that a paper has to offer, quality is of first impor- 

 tance: Are the news items authentic, or are they conjectural, or still 

 worse, sensational? Is prominence given to what deserves prominence? 

 or is a brawl or scandal treated more fully than some clear-headed, 

 warm-hearted attempt to improve the welfare of the community or state? 

 Who are its contributors? Are they men such as you would consult if 

 you had the opportunity? Are the editorials able? and above all, are 

 they fair? for comment that is written from an unfair or prejudiced 

 standpoint is an injury to every reader. These tests apply to all papers, 

 farm, educational, and religious, as well as newspapers. A column of 

 weak or commionplace matter takes as much of the reader's time as one of 

 deep insight and suggestive power. We should take the best, even 

 though it costs a little more. 



MAGAZINES AND REVIEWS 



give us the fresh product of the best minds of the time on all the lead- 

 ing topics of the day. The reviews are neither partisan nor sectarian, 

 as most papers are. They bring us the arguments of the best debaters 

 on both sides of all leading questions, and train us towards breadth and 

 fairness. The magazines broaden our horizon and enlarge our sympa- 

 thies by giving us descriptions and pictures of every land and every peo- 

 ple under the sun. To do without these periodicals is to close our ears 

 to the choice thought product of the wisest and the best. For all that 

 makes reading most valuable, one good magazine, say Harper's, the Cen- 

 tury, or the Atlantic, or one good review, say the Forum, or the North 

 American Review, is worth a score of newspapers. 



