170 FROM THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST 



Agricultural training for the young was at the same 

 time calculated to serve as a medium for the betterment 

 of the material condition of the existing and prospective 

 farmers of the older generation who, lacking the prac- 

 tical and theoretical knowledge of American farming, 

 needed guidance and advice. In the same report Pro- 

 fessor Sabsovich writes: 



"It was natural to provide an institution for dissem- 

 inating agricultural knowledge among the Jewish farm- 

 ers by giving agricultural education to their children, 

 and by preparing agricultural instructors and inspectors." 



The early stages of the career of the Agricultural 

 School were not without disappointments and hardships. 

 At best it was a journey of some swerves and concussions. 

 But devotion and persistency his outstanding character- 

 istics increased with the growth of his conviction that 

 the "out of the city and back to the country" idea was 

 taking root in the heart and mind of the tired wanderer 

 himself. No obstacle or hardship ever discouraged him 

 or deterred him from prosecuting his task. For though 

 an idealist, his actions were not founded on imagination 

 nor grounded on fancifulness, but always carried the 

 stamp of a constructive and creative mind. 



The enthusiasm with which hundreds of Jewish young 

 men have entered and passed the Agricultural School, 

 and adjusted themselves permanently to the farming 

 trade and country life after graduation; the fact that 

 shortly after the opening of the school in Woodbine a 

 need for another similar institution became apparent, 

 resulting in the establishment of the National Farm 

 School; the rapid spread of Jewish farming settlements 

 in every State of the Union, the material betterment and 



