CHAPTER XIV 



BRINGING SCIENCE TO THE FARMERS 



TF my husband was interested in public schools and 

 A in the subject of general education in Woodbine, 

 he was even more deeply devoted to the task of pro- 

 viding agricultural training for the young sons of the 

 farmers, and so teaching them to grow up good farm- 

 ers themselves. From the very first he had felt that 

 the success of the colony would depend upon the theo- 

 retical instruction, as well as the practical guidance 

 that the farmers would get. The latter they must have, 

 of course. They would be shown how to do things. 

 But, as he was well aware, the Jewish mind is ever 

 busy with the "why and wherefore" of moves and 

 actions. If his queries cannot be convincingly an- 

 swered, his interest cannot be firmly held. 



Here was a group of ex- tailors, ex-shoemakers, ex- 

 peddlers and ex-sewing-machine operators. Their 

 minds had developed along certain lines of skill and 

 shrewdness; and if these men were to become good 

 farmers, their minds must be nourished and satisfied 

 while their unused muscles were being trained. Each 

 man must be made to understand why it was good to 

 be a farmer, apart from mere self-interest, wherein 



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