FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 119 



strong body and a steady brain cannot be too much insisted upon. Ra- 

 tional physical training aims to increase vitality and endurance, not 

 solely for these qualities, but that they may reinforce mental vigor. 

 That educational institutions recognize the fact that the ability to do 

 the best mental work rests on the foundation of sound physical health, 

 we know from the establishment of military drill and athletics in con- 

 nection with such institutions, and the employment of specially pre- 

 pared teachers to take such work in charge, until now practically every 

 school and college has facilities for training the body as well as the 

 mind. 



Dr. Krone saj'S : ''There is nothing so important, so significant, so 

 vital, in the whole scheme of education as the development of the proper 

 self-control, self-direction, and co-ordination of muscular activity." If 

 we educate the child properly physically, so that he gains absolute con- 

 trol of the muscular system, we secvire for him a well-ordered and well- 

 balanced brain life, and develop a capacity for self-control and self- 

 direction which means a development of the will, bringing out judgment, 

 physical courage and skill. The three agents of good phj^sical health 

 are food, air and exercise; these are necessary not only for health and 

 strength, but for life itself. It seems to me that, "Every women, whether 

 she be an educator in the home or school, should know the value of 

 physical work." Many of the physical faults found in older persons 

 might have been overcome in their childhood had the parents or teachers 

 recognized the faulty habit and realized that it might develop into an 

 actual deformity if not checked. 



Physical training should be adapted to each period of growth. Thus 

 for the first period, from the fifth to the ninth years, the exercises 

 should promote growth. Play in the open air is excellent, and exercises 

 that strain the muscles or consume matter needed in growth, such as 

 excessive rope jumping, should be forbidden. Second, from the ninth to 

 the fourteenth years, a period of even more rapid growth and in addi- 

 tion to exercises that favor growth there should be others to improve 

 the carriage, such as dancing and military drill. Care should be taken 

 not to permit overwork, as this will stunt the body. The third period, 

 from the fourteenth to the twentieth years, is one of the greatest de- 

 velopment, and great care should be taken in sleeting the exercises. 

 Give work to make the heart and lungs strongly active, as these organs 

 practically complete their development during this period. A girl or 

 boy who has weak lungs at eighteen or twenty years will probably 

 always be so afflicted. Encourage quickness and skill, but give no 

 "heavy work." In the fourth period, from the twentieth to the thir- 

 tieth year, the exercises should promote general strength and endurance. 

 This is the time of the greatest possibilities in skill and quickness. We 

 should not seek to build up a great bulk of muscles at the expense of 

 the vital organs. In the human form "the symmetrical is the beauti- 

 ful," we should bear in mind that undirected activity is not training 

 and does not lead to symmetrical development. To secure harmony of 

 development is more important than symmetry of development. Students 

 of all ages find a full schedule before them and must, in many cases, 

 have the time planned for them and physical work made compulsory 

 in order to get it done. This is especially true of girls, whose inclina- 

 tion for physical activity seems to decline with .the advent of long 

 skirts. Girls should have the same early training as boys, they forget 



