Education 



along to teach them, raises no comment but a 

 smile — -when his money is exhausted. Successful 

 farmers are empirical, working their way from a 

 modest start, often from small holdings, testing 

 their brains against the hard facts of everyday 

 life, learning where they are wrong, and conse- 

 quently surefooted all the way. In Lincolnshire 

 one could name a dozen great men who began 

 as labourers, and many more following their 

 footsteps. This is the best method of learning, 

 but we are dealing with the education of the 

 sons of these successful men, who pass, as a rule, 

 meekly beneath the shadow of their self-made 

 and often masterful parents. It is true that the 

 more sensible start their sons early to fight their 

 own battles, and gain experience ? but mostly; 

 when a great farmer dies suddenly, the son is 

 incapable of taking the reins. Surely there are 

 methods of avoiding this? 



The large farmer should have a smattering of 

 a hundred things. He should know something of 

 law, accountancy and animal doctoring; he 

 should be, in some measure, a seedsman, corn 

 merchant, pea trader, a hay, straw, offal, manure, 

 cake, coal, and feeding stuff expert. He must 

 know something of these and a score of others, or, 

 however shrewd, he will lose money at every 

 turn. A considerable portion of the manure 



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