104 BOARD OF ^AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



principles of living, and let the young man or woman diflfer- 

 entiate when they come to it. 



First, to cultivate an interest in and instill a love and a 

 respect for land. We are a nation of land owners. If we 

 become largely a nation of land renters, then we change our 

 social situation. An interest in land ! Do not children have 

 interest in ships? Do they not have interest in buildings? 

 Why not interest in land as land, — the source of wealth and 

 the occupation of agriculture ? 



Second, to create a regard for industry in general, and an 

 appreciation of the material side of affairs of a highly civil- 

 ized people, — industry of whatever kind it may be. The 

 man who works at haying is a man that is creating wealth, 

 as well as the man who is at the throttle of the engine. 



Third, to cultivate the active and creative instincts. I 

 wonder how the older ones of us were taught? We were 

 given a book from which we memorized certain things, and 

 told the teacher how much we memorized ; then when we got 

 up to college we were all given lectures, from which we re- 

 cited back to the lecturer all that we could remember. I 

 found, a few days ago, in going through some letters my 

 father had received in 1851 from just over the line in Ver- 

 mont, this little phrase from a school girl : " I sit myself ex- 

 pressly for the purpose to finish this letter, which has been 

 long l)egun. I go to school to Mr. Wells, and study parsing, 

 philosophy, gi'ammar and pencilling." Does it not read like 

 a phrase out of the old-time complete letter writer? And 

 I am wondering how much the creative instincts of that child 

 were developed. I had the opportunity one month ago of 

 visiting with the child, or the woman who as a child wrote 

 that letter, and talking with her about the growth of educa- 

 tional factors in that very town where she still lives, and it 

 was a revelation as to the change of front in the schools. 



Fourth, to give practice in failure and success. I like 

 that word failure there, — to give practice in failure and 

 success. Perhaps I should not quite say to give practice in 

 failure, but to give the educational practice and discipline 

 which comes from failure, thus developing the ability to 

 overcome disaster early in life. I wonder whether one rea- 



