PREFACE VU 



learned how to prepare the land, and how to grow 

 plants, and how to raise animals, then he may 

 enquire about such incidental details as the kinds 

 of weeds and insects, the brands of fertilizers, the 

 varieties of apples, when he shall till, whether he 

 shall raise wheat or sweet corn. The tailor first 

 learns how to lay out his garment ; but the farmer 

 too often wants to sew on the buttons before he 

 cuts his cloth. 



Again, the purpose of education is often misun- 

 derstood by both teachers and farmers. Its purpose 

 is to improve the farmer, not the farm. If the per- 

 son is aroused, the farm is likely to be awakened. 

 The happy farmer is a more successful farmer than 

 the rich one. If the educated farmer raises no 

 more wheat or cotton than the uneducated neighbor, 

 his education is nevertheless worth the cost, for his 

 mind is open to a thousand influences of which the 

 other knows nothing. One's happiness depends less 

 on bushels of corn than on entertaining thoughts. 



Not only do we need to know what agriculture 

 is, but we should know the relative importance of 

 its parts. It is commonly assumed that fertilizing 

 the land is the one most fundamental thing in 

 agriculture, but this is not so ; for if but one thing 

 about fanning practices were to be explained, that 

 thing should be the .tilling of the land. 



