10 



already wandering off in search of some other business^ 

 or profession. 



Thirty years have since been added to that boy's life^ 

 passed in the various labors and experiences of the farm^ 

 and here, to-da}', he rejoices in his early choice, and is 

 proud of his vocation. 



Fellow farmer, have not you a son that you wish should' 

 become a farmer ? Encourage him to bestow thought up- 

 on the business ; listen to his suggestions ; if good, show 

 him that you appreciate them ; if not practicable, convince- 

 him of it. Put him in responsible positions according to 

 his ability ; teach him to manage farm machinery, to ob- 

 serve the growth of plants ; give him an interest in the 

 poultry, in a vegetable garden or in the cultivation of 

 small^fruits ; a calf or a colt, to raise on his own account ; 

 and, above all, see to it that you teach him all that yovi 

 know yourself about farming, that he may begin where 

 you leave off; in this way, though he may have no 

 greater capacity than 3^ou, much progress will be made 

 in agriculture ; do this, and there will be less complaint 

 of young men leaving the farm for the counter. 



Nor let the son's education stop here ; although much: 

 of practical agriculture may be learned upon the farm, as 

 well or better than elsewhere, yet there are some things 

 that cannot be so learned. To be a fjirmer in the highest 

 sense, he must have a good general education. I know 

 of no profession or position in life, that opens so wide a. 

 field for the application of a thorough general eduqation 

 as that of the farmer. He will become somewhat fa^J-- 

 iar by his every-day business, with branches of geolog}^, 

 mineralogy, chemistry, botany, zoology, physiology, or- 

 nithology, entomology, meteorology, and other sciences, 

 and the more thorough his knowledge of them, the bet- 



