THE TRAINING OF FARMERS 



of the ambition of the young country lad is to 

 enter one of these schools, and be with the sons 

 of the 'big men' of the country. After he has 

 passed through the school, he will naturally wish 

 to follow his classmates on through college. 

 Since most of these colleges lack an agricultural 

 department, he chooses some other profession. 



"The older farmers of my section of New 

 England are quite often wealthy, but they se- 

 cured their wealth in former years, and they 

 themselves say that farming at the present time 

 does not pay, and are educating and encourag- 

 ing their sons to seek business in other fields. 



"Outside of going to the country fair once 

 a year, the farmer's son does not see in what 

 way other more successful farmers are attain- 

 ing their success. Of course every farmer 

 takes farm literature, but this does not appeal 

 to him so strongly as to visit and see for himself 

 these successful farms. 



"When I had finished my common-school edu- 

 cation, my father came to the conclusion that 

 since, in his opinion, farming did not pay, he 

 would send me through college, although he 

 hated to see me leave the farm. 



"I might add that the drudgery of such long 

 hours as are necessary on a dairy farm is an 

 unattractive feature of farm life in my locality. ' ' 



106 



