HOME ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 675 



The home, or rather the family, is the most important institu- 

 tion of human society. It is the function of the family in society to 

 conserve all social possessions and hand them down to the next gen- 

 eration ; not only are the material possessions thus preserved, but also 

 the spiritual possessions of the race language, religion, morality, 

 art, government, and ideals. The family not only reproduces the 

 individuals of each generation, but it also reproduces society itself. 

 Moral progress in society rests upon family life. Christianity itself 

 is but an idealization of the family life. The home therefore is by 

 far the most important institution of society. 



The children should be taught the sacredness of family life and 

 the importance of a pure and wholesome family life as the founda- 

 tion of a nation's greatness. They can be taught the sciences and 

 arts upon which a wholesome life rests upon its material side. They 

 should be taught more of the ethical ideals of Jesus concerning the 

 family life. The home itself must teach the young the sacredness of 

 the family. Boys should be taught the same standards of morality 

 as girls, and both should be taught to look upon marriage not as an 

 indulgence, or as simply a means to personal happiness, but rather as 

 a means to a wholesome, unselfish and noble human life. (Missouri 

 Exp. Sta. Circ. 30 ; Dept, Agr. F. B. 317 ; Ky. Sta. Bui. 119 ; Cornell 

 Read. Course for Farmers' Wives, Series IV, No. 16.) 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



THE FIRST SOCIETIES. 



In America the first agricultural efforts necessarily were directed 

 toward clearing the land and growing the crops immediately needed 

 for the sustenance of the settlers and for export to the mother coun- 

 try, whence alone manufactured articles could be obtained. There 

 was little incentive to careful cultivation and scarcely any motive for 

 seeking new knowledge for the improvement of agricultural prac- 

 tice ; and to this can be added the general absence of any educational 

 system for the masses, together with the deep-rooted prejudices 

 against book learning as applied to any industrial pursuit, especially 

 agriculture. 



The first society for promoting agriculture was established at 

 Philadelphia, then the seat of the General Government, March 1, 

 1785, by men who were for the most part engaged in pursuits having 

 no immediate connection with agriculture. On the 4th of July, 

 1785, General Washington was elected an honorary member of thia 

 society and ever afterwards showed a deep interest in its proceedings. 

 Benjamin Franklin's name is also found on the list of its honorary 

 members. In the same year a similar society was formed in South 

 Carolina, which had among its objects the establishment of an ex- 

 perimental farm. This society was incorporated December 19, 1795. 

 The present State Agricultural Society of South Carolina still holds 

 the original charter. The New York Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures was organized February 26, 

 1791, and about the same time a society was formed at Kennebec, 

 Mass, (now Maine). The Massachusetts Society for Promoting 



