THE TEAINING OF FARMERS 



ing the common schools for help. It is fos- 

 tering an indigenous agricultural senti- 

 ment. 



The part played by the farm 



We may now inquire what the farm does 

 to help the farm boy. A farmer complained 

 to me that his son had not come back to the 

 farm from college. He had worked hard to 

 retain the farm in order that the son might 

 have it. It was apparent why the son had 

 not gone back : the farm was not worthy of 

 him. There was nothing on that particular 

 farm that could hold the attention of a 

 young man whose sensitiveness had been 

 quickened and whose ambitions had been 

 stimulated. I should have thought the boy 's 

 education a failure if he had been content 

 on that farm. The father, remaining on the 

 farm, had not realized all this. He had 

 never thought that the son's point of view 

 on most questions would be greatly changed. 



Often the college man is no longer content 



on the farm because of lack of congenial 



associates. There is no one in sympathy 



with his new attitude of mind. He is aware 



186 



