THE NEW AGRICULTURE 



195 



bidding them good-by. No, he follows the different trails as 

 far as eye can reach ; and when these blur and disappear 

 in the distance, he knows well enough that some day the 

 youngsters will be returning to tell him their adventures. 

 A master not only welcomes these youthful explorers; he 

 actually depends upon them to bring home to him bits of 

 new knowledge. Proud of their confidence, and yet humble 

 enough to learn from them, he then enriches his own per- 

 sonal experience by the results of their quests. In this way 

 a teacher leads not one but a hundred lives. He needs to ; 

 for whatever he may be titled in the catalogue or dubbed on 

 the ball field, his real business is getting his pupils ready for 

 the work of life. 



Thus the fruits of a garden director's efforts will not have 

 properly matured unless he keeps in view the possibility of a 

 country life for at least some of his children. Even for those 

 growing up in a city's midst, provided they are caught young 

 enough, tillage of the land is seriously to be recommended. 

 The fact that one of the first boys of the Rice School garden, 

 one who had never lived out of the so-called slums, is now a 

 graduate of the Bussey Institute, and a full-fledged gardener, 

 makes us believe that such a record as his may inspire other 

 city boys to similar ambitions. 



But what sort of world is this which a bright lad with a 

 yearning for outdoors proposes to enter ? What does the 

 farming life require of him, and what does it give him in 

 return ? It is a teacher's business to find this out, beyond the 

 possibility of a mistake, before he is ready to advise young 

 candidates. 



It must be owned that the agricultural situation in these 

 last years has puzzled the wisest. Agriculture is at present 

 passing through a wonderful period of reconstruction. So seri- 

 ous are the changes now being wrought, that a distinguished 



