576 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



farming; such, for example, as raising seed corn, improving grains, breeding 

 improved hogs, or poultry, or bee keeping — anything to keep his mind busy 

 and keep himself as much as possible under tne old environment. 



The third argument for moving to town is: "I want to give my children 

 the benefit of a first-class education. " Now, it is quite true that the coun- 

 try school is not what it should be. It is equally true that so far as the 

 mere imparting of knowledge is concerned the graded school in the city or 

 town is vastly superior. The inferiority, however, of the country school 

 and the superiority of the city school is largely the result of the custom of 

 farmers moving to town. The country schools are comparatively empty; the 

 city schools are overcrowded. However, the farmer must bear in mind that 

 education does not consist solely in imparting knowledge. That really is 

 but a small part of it, and the farmer who moves to town solely for the pur- 

 pose of giving his children an education in one line is quite likely to give 

 them a worse education in another. They are removed from the simplicity 

 of the farm life. They do not acquire the sterling virtues of the farm boy 

 or girl. They acquire much more expensive tastes and habits. They are 

 very apt not to learn the first and most important element of all education, 

 the habit of steady and persistent work. We had rather take our chances 

 with a boy or girl reared wholly in the country and educated at a first-class 

 country school than one educated in town at the graded schools. The 

 chances of success in life for the children are not increased but diminished 

 by moving to town and being educated in the graded schools. The school 

 is all right enough but the accessories to the schools are frequently all 

 wrong. 



The fourth argument is: ' 'I want to be near church and prayer meet- 

 ing." A sufficient answer to this is that as a matter of fact people in town 

 do not attend church any better or even as well as the farmers in the country. 

 The habit of church going is peculiarly a country habit, and while it in- 

 volves in the case of old people more or less sacrifice, and more in the country 

 than in the town, we doubt if the retired farmers discharge their church 

 duties as well as they did when they were in the country. 



The fifth and last argument is this: ' 'I have earned a rest, and intend 

 to take it." If by rest is meant the opportunity to do nothing, we do not 

 believe any man ever earned it, and if he did, he is very foolish in claiming 

 it. Rest kills men; moderate and wisely directed work never does. A man 

 is a good deal like a machine. He rusts out much quicker than he wears 

 out. If a man who is past middle age expects to live out his days, he must 

 keep his mind active. He must have something to do in which he is vitally 

 interested. Look around at the hale, hearty old men, whether in town or 

 country, you will find that they are almost invariably men who are con- 

 stantly thinking and planning, who take an interest in all things around them, 

 and are especially interested in young people. The remark is often made 

 that this man or that man who is in the seventies or eighties is as greedy for 

 money as he ever was in his life. These men are grossly misjudged. Ordi- 

 narily they do not care for money. They are simply working to prolong 

 their lives. They know that if they quit work the undertaker will find a job 

 before long. They understand that the mind is the essential part of man, 

 that the body can not livelong after the mind ceases to be active, and hence 



