576 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



these questions. Many have not yet outgrown the idea that what was good 

 enough for the parent is good enough for the child. 



The Chinese nation has been following that policy for many cen- 

 turies, with the result that they have been left behind in the march 

 of progress. 



Much, I repeat, can be. and is being, done in our schools for the 

 physical and mental development of. our children, but the foundations 

 of moral training, whether for good or ill. are laid in' the home life. 



I once heard a mother speak to her child, who was reaching for 

 some forbidden article. She did not say, "Stop that," or anything possi- 

 bly more severe, but she quietly asked, "Mary, is it right?" That child 

 was not more than "half-past two" yet the mother was already teaching 

 her to choose between right and wrong. 



Into the hands of woman, first as mother, then as teacher, has been 

 given the work of molding the child-life. If her own mind and heart 

 are filled with high aspirations and noble purposes, if she understands 

 the true aims of life, she can not fail to bequeath the same spirit to 

 her children. 



Schools of all sorts are springing into existence cooking schools, 

 kindergartens, training schools of various sorts, schools for the study of 

 all kinds of literature and art. but the school having the highest mission — 

 that of instructing mothers in the science of creating the moral and 

 intellectual character of their children — this school has yet to be inaugu- 

 rated. 



If those who stand on the political rostrum today, preaching an 

 ideal republic, would sound the keynote of the future, it is that the 

 mothers of today are the true builders of that future. 



HOW TO KEEP OUR BOYS ON THE FARM. 



Mrs. John Carson, before Winnebago County Farmers' Institute. 



During the past year there has been a number of articles on this 

 subject published in the various farm papers, so one would naturallj'" 

 conclude it is a subject of interest to a goodly number of people. 



It is a natural sequence for a son to desire to follow in his father's 

 footsteps, and perfectly natural for a father who respects hia particular 

 avocation to desire to have one son at least follow out and further de- 

 velop his line of thought and life. 



If the father has achieved any degree of success, if he is able to 

 make a living and somewhat of a competence, the son is quick to discern 

 it and naturally from mere boyhood plans to be a doctor if papa is one, 

 to drive even faster horses than papa does, and have them even blacker 

 and shinier. The merchant's son turns his thoughts naturally to trade 

 and merchandise and plans for a larger store and more business than 

 papa has. Thus we have families of ministers, as the Ballon, the Emer- 



