1 8 Outlook to Nature 



the other members of the race to be the com- 

 monplace of the commonplace ; yet, along with 

 the farming, human problems are being worked 

 out. There boys and girls are being reared 

 and even trained, who some day may come to 

 your cities and distance your own sons and 

 daughters ; for it is a discouraging fact that, with 

 all we are doing for schooling, merit and effi- 

 ciency do not seem to increase in proportion, 

 and those whom we are in the habit of calling un- 

 educated may take the highest prizes that the 

 world has to give. 



The farm, in its turn, is being exploited 

 in our current literature ; and, significantly 

 enough, much of this literature is of the sensa- 

 tional order. Of all things to be sensation- 

 alized, the farm should be the last. The farm 

 need not be prosaic nor devoid of good intel- 

 lectual interest ; but its very spirit is that of 

 constancy. 



We should stimulate the ideals in every occu- 

 pation ; but the ideal should follow closely the 

 facts and the spirit of the real. We need to 

 idealize the commonplace, for then we show its 



