284 The Farm Boy's Choice of a Vocation 



stitution be a separate one or merely a college within 

 the organization of the state university matters 

 little. In either case the young man will be brought 

 within reach of a course in scientific farming, stock 

 raising, horticulture, and the like, either to choose 

 or let alone and the so-called cultural work will 

 still be there for the taking. 



THE FOUNDATION IN WORK 



Many rural parents, weighted down with the over- 

 work of the farm, cherish and express a very earnest 

 desire that their sons may find some easier form of 

 earning a living. So they deliberately plan with 

 the boy the "easy" course to be pursued. Said 

 one such farmer: "Wife and I decided that there 

 would not be much in it for Henry except hard work 

 if he settled down on the home place, so we decided 

 to send him to college and educate him for something 

 that offered less work and more pay." So they 

 shielded the son from the heavier duties of the farm 

 and encouraged in every way the boy's thought of 

 an easy way to success. 



But one thing these well-meaning parents failed 

 to foresee. That is, when the boy entered college, he 

 began to look for that same sort of royal road to 

 learning. The assigned lessons and tasks soon took 

 the appearance of drudgery and he dodged and 

 avoided them wherever possible. In less than a year 

 the youth had failed at college and was back home. 



