THE FARMER AXD HIS FAMILY. 93 



A man's duty to his children is measured by his ability. 

 He is not bound to impoverish himself, or to burden his 

 declining years with debt, in order to make life easy for his 

 children. The boy who attains influential position in life 

 will do so by the qualities inherent in himself. All his 

 father can do is to aid in preparing him for a useful career. 

 When he does this to the extent of his ability lie has done his 

 duty. In so far as he fails to do wdiat in reason he can, he 

 fails of his duty. American fathers seldom fail in their desire 

 or effort to do well by their children, but often do fail in good 

 judgment. It is the nature of children to play, and it is 

 proper that they should do so, but it is also essential that they 

 acquire habits of work, and not only of work but of responsi- 

 bility. The farmer has in this respect great advantage over the 

 resident of the city. He always has light work for which he 

 can make his children responsible. This should be begun at 

 an early age and increased as the boy grows older, until, after 

 fifteen years of age, the greater part of his time, when not in 

 school, should be devoted to work. It is by work only that the 

 habit of work can be acquired, and only by exercising resj)on- 

 sibility can faithfulness and judgment be tested. When the 

 circumstances of the parents permit, it may be well to give boys 

 a pecuniary interest in wiiat they may do, but, so far as the boy 

 is concerned, the value of it is mainly in giving him the experi- 

 ence of the difficulty of earning money and the importance of 

 keeping it. The majority of children must look forward to a 

 life of work, prudence, and small reward. The farmer's son 

 who remains on the farm may with reason look forward to a 

 life of independence — working on his own land. Not one in 

 a hundred of those who drift off to cities can possibly achieve 

 anything but a subordinate position in which he must do the 

 will of another so long as he lives. The farmer owes to the 

 son the duty of making him understand this. Neither is a 

 modest life an unhappy life. 



In the matter of education a common-school education is 

 due to all farmers' children, and they all get it. Additional 

 education is good if it is of the right kind. Indeed, knowledge 

 of all sorts tends to broaden the boy out, but I am one of 



