ANNUAL MEETING OHIO STATE HOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 13 



We come thus to consider the improvement of the educational and social 

 conditions in the country as a means of keeping the young people on the farms. 

 The physical discomforts of farm life have largely been ameliorated in the 

 Central States. As the farm houses are rebuilt, modern comforts and conveni- 

 ences are introduced. With cheap appliances now within the reach of every one. 

 there is, for example, little excuse for the farmer who has not provided his 

 home and barn with running- water. Good roads, rural free delivery .tele- 

 phones, automobiles, interurban lines, co-operative reading circles, the new litera- 

 ture of nature and farm. and soon, we hope, the parcels post. will greatly 

 improve the social conditions of the country people. But there is still much to 

 be desired in the way of community spirit and of co-operation for the older 

 people and of social life and amusement for the young. The towns, with their 

 amusement parks and theatres, moving picture shews, and skating rinks, have 

 become steadily more attractive, making the country appear bare and lonesome 

 to the boy and girl. Their influence must be overcome by beautifying the home 

 and farm and by establishing social centres in the country. Rural life must be 

 made not only more profitable ecoromically than urban life, it must also be made 

 more humanly interesting, more richly enjoyable. The farm and the country- 

 possess all the elements to make it so : there resources need only to be developed. 



We should remember that the farmers who desert the country, often the 

 very best men, do so in search of the higher things in life for their families. 

 They tear up their homes and make great sacrifices that they may provide better 

 training in mind and in spirit for their children and better social privileges for 

 their wives. So long as there are better schools, better churches, and better social 

 opportunities in the cities, so long will men flock into them. So long as prac- 

 tically no literature, art, and music are to be had in the country, so long will 

 men and women seek them where they are to be found. 



Neither the state nor the church has done its full duty by the farmer. 

 Though eight-tenths of the preachers and teachers are reared in the country, 

 the state puts its best schools in the city and the church usually sends its dullest 

 preachers to the country. And yet we look to the country to feed the city with 

 its best blood, brain, and heart ! We draw constantly upon its sources of physical 

 and spiritual sustenance, but make few plans for renewing this fountain of our 

 life. Let us, therefore, take stock of the country's educational and social re- 

 sources, as we have of its economic resources, for the purpose of seeing how 

 they may be reorganized and directed toward a happier and more profitable 

 social end. 



The country school is to be a large factor in the improvement of country 

 life and the chief agency in keeping the youth on the farm. If the boys and 

 girls are to be induced to stay on the farm, it will be done, not merely be making 

 the farm attractive and remunerative, but by interesting the youth in the work on 

 the farm. This can only be done by making that work intelligent. Until recently, 

 all our elementary school courses were made by city people to prepare people 

 for city occupations. Even general subjects are taught almost exclusively in the 

 terms of trade. The readers and spellers are filled with stories of city life and 

 the arithmetics are given up to problems of interest and accounts, with no refer- 

 ence to the business of the farmer. The rural school finds these courses largely 

 tinadapted to the needs of country life. So far, the school has not taken hold of 

 country life. From the soil, out of which the children must make their living; 

 from the animals they must rear and use ; from the plants they must cultivate 

 and the forests they should preserve; and even from the impressive phenomena of 

 sky and weather, which so largely control the every-day life and success of the 

 farmer, the school has not only stood apart, but has actually held the children 

 away, while it stuffed them with antiquated formulas and useless rules, or with 



