812 TliANSACTIONS OF THE AlIEUICAN INSTITUTE. 



with comnion school educations were not long in finding out that 

 in one quarter at the seminar}' they could quality themselves so as 

 to get from twenty dollars to thirty dollars per month at teaching, 

 which required but six hours a day instead of ten to twelve, and 

 could have soft hands and clean shirt collars against horny hands, 

 dirty shirts and muddy boots. Then, amid all tliis came the cry of 

 gold from over theKocky Mountains, for which Young America made 

 a stampede, and finally the war, together with a nut inconsiderable 

 drain to the large cities for clerks and bookkeepers. Another and 

 not trifling cause of our boys shunning the farm is, as farmers become 

 wealtliy they are more lax in educating their sons in manual labor. 

 The habits and diet of the household have so changed that the pre- 

 sent is not in physical power and endurance what the former genera- 

 tions were. Our sons are many of them weakly and delicate, and 

 inadequate to the sturdy requirements of the farm. I 'know it is said 

 that the substitution of horse-poM'er has greatly lessened the demand 

 for man-power ; but that man who works his mower or thrasher up 

 to its capacity has not as yet found the easy place. We heartily 

 indorse the principle of making our farm work as easy and attrac- 

 tive to our sons and hii'ed men as possible ; but in doing all we can 

 to change it into pastime, we cannot expect it a reason sufficient to 

 keep our boys on the farm, when the}' have come to majoi'ity. When 

 leaving tlie parental roof, none of us would advise our boys to work 

 for twenty dollars, when for the same time they could get forty dollars 

 at work just as honorable. To retain those boys at farming who have 

 the vim and ambition to do something creditable for themselves, we 

 inust go with the market and bid against railroads, commerce, manu- 

 factures and navigation ; and when we can give a salary of $1,000 to 

 $1,500 there will be plenty of boys to stay at home, and such as will 

 1)0 creditable farmers, too. The main obstacle at present to success- 

 ful farniiTig is the high price demanded for labor, and the crude and 

 inexperienced material we have to supply ourselves from. We rejoice 

 at the awakening interest in agricultural colleges, but they can do 

 little for us in our present need. We must teach agriculture ourselves, 

 and could there be some plan devised by which to select from our 

 incoming immigrants, those suitable to our needs, with an assurajice 

 on our part that they should be well dealt Avith, and tliat each addi- 

 tional year's service by the same person should be rewarded by pre- 

 sents or higher M^ages, or both, wa could afford to tlicm entirely 

 different advantages than 



