l62 STATE POMOlwOGICAL SOCIE^TY. 



He finds himself in a very unenviable position, because he has 

 done that one thing and he is not able to take up the other lines 

 of work which he may need to take up for anything which will 

 afford him a livelihood. Now the farm has the advantage that 

 it offers an all-round development. I know of no calling in 

 these da3^s which makes so much a full man as the work of the 

 farm. I went through the other day a large paper mill in your 

 State and I saw men doing various pieces of work. I saw one 

 man picking blocks out of a large tank of water, throwing those 

 blocks into a machine which cut them up into chips — taking up 

 one block, throwing it into that machine, taking another block, 

 throwing it in, hour after hour, block after block, day after day, 

 week after week, year after year perhaps. What was there 

 in that calling? Monotony, — can you think of anything more 

 monotonous. That is only a type of the kind of work which 

 all those men were doing, one thing over and over. What was 

 the training ? What is that man worth for anything else by the 

 time he has spent ten years putting blocks into that machine? 

 That is simply typical of all lines of manufacture, and it is one 

 — I was going to say the curses — perhaps not in the broad com- 

 mercial sense, but it is a curse so far as mankind is concerned 

 that our present day system drives men to do one thing, which 

 narrows their life down to the narrowest possible horizon — 

 little more than that of the horse which we stand in our stable, — 

 indeed, less variety in it. 



The man who works on the farm not only gets this broad 

 training, but he has opportunity to bring into play all the educa- 

 tion, all the training which he may have. 



Again, the problems which confront him are numerous and 

 varied. He has opportunity to observe all phases of nature, 

 all phases of his work. Perhaps in no calling is there a better 

 opportunity to enjoy the fruits of an education than upon the 

 farm. 



Further, the farm offers a modest financial return. I can- 

 not say to you that there is a prospect of becoming a millionaire 

 by means of farming, and indeed I am glad there is not, because 

 what does one gain by becoming a millionaire? We get such 

 a wrong sense of proportion. We are constantly striving after 

 dollars. We think that that is the great desideratum in life. 



