688 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



uneducated mother — other things being equal. No education, no culture 

 in the mother can compensate for lack of character. Character without 

 education is infinitely better than education without character. It is 

 the strong character of the mothers of the preceding generations that has 

 brought forth such a noble progeny that has made our country what it 

 is. But a desirable character plus an education is the true ideal, and it 

 is attainable. President Jordon of Leland Stanford University says, "To 

 be wise and at the same time womanly is to wield a tremendous influence 

 which may be felt for good in the lives of generations to come." Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes replied to the question, "When should a boy's educatoin 

 begin?" by saying, "With his great grandmother." If any discrimination 

 is to be made between the boy and the girl, educate the girl. She needs it 

 even worse than her brother. 



Women who are the mothers of today and have not been able to se- 

 cure much schooling in their education, may console themselves that "she 

 who does the best her circumstances allows does well, acts nobly, angels 

 could do no more." My dear woman, as you realize and bemoan your own 

 limitations because of the lack of schooling, see to it that your daughter 

 is foetter equipped to perform her duties as wife and mother than are 

 you. In my school work many pathetic things come under my notice. 

 Only at the beginning of this semester during registration a mother came 

 bringing her daughter to enroll. The wistful look, the mournful tone, I 

 shall never forget, as the dear lady said, "Oh, I wish I might enroll my- 

 self. I had to quit school before I was through high school and I have 

 never been satisfied." Bless the dear mother. She is doing the work of 

 her home without her daughter's aid, denying herself of the pleasure of 

 that daughter's companionship and the cheer attending a young girl's 

 presence in the home, that the daughter may have the school training the 

 need of which the mother has felt all her life and the desire for which 

 is yet unquenched. All honor to such mothers! 



Let me drop what I hope will be a word of cheer to such hungry minds. 

 Even though you can't go to a university, you can bring the university 

 of the world to yourself. Fill your reading tables with the. best books 

 and magazines. You know Mr. Dooley says, "Readin' is the next best 

 thing this side of goin' to bed for restin' the mind." While you rest your 

 bodies rest your minds too in Mr. Dooley's way. Sweeping, scouring, 

 darning, washing, ironing, cooking, sewing, are not teeming viith novelty 

 nor wildly fascinating, but each housekeeper should have her mind so 

 stored with pleasant thoughts that such toil may be surrounded by happy 

 halos of memory or bright anticipation of future joys. Try memorizing 

 some poems as you do dishes. Plan your work to include some method 

 of self improvement. Join a club. Make your life brighter, sweeter, more 

 complete. The more thoroughly a woman's mind is developed and dis- 

 ciplined, the better fitted she is to manage a home. A knowledge of 

 science is inseparable from the work of the kitchen, wherever that knowl- 

 edge be acquired. Ethics is studied and taught in the nursery, belles-let- 

 tres in the parlor, mathematics in domestic economy, bookkeeping in the 

 household accounts and the power of thinking everywhere about the man- 

 agement of the house. 



