FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 109 



he be interested? Of course he will. Did you ever find a real, 

 live, American boy that didn't want to be a business man, at least 

 while he was yet a boy? I did and I'll wager you did. You and 

 I aren't much different from other boys, then or now. Once your 

 boy gets a taste of the financial returns he won't need much en- 

 couragement to continue the work. 



Now, I know that there are many who would object to this 

 plan of Junior farmer development for one reason or another. 

 One man will say, ''I have three boys and I'm sure at least one 

 of them will make a better engineer than farmer." Then by all 

 means don't try to make a farmer of him. Perhaps all three of 

 those boys will do better in other lines of work. If so, well and 

 good. It would be an injustice to try to force them to be farm- 

 ers. But this plan I have suggested would still be serviceable 

 because it would teach kindness, business, and self reliance, all 

 elements of success, regardless of the work a man does. More- 

 over, if put up in the right light, the plan or a similar one would 

 be interesting to the farm boy who never will be a farmer. Let 

 me illustrate. 



In the city in which I live, is a boy about ten years old who 

 very often comes into the office to see me. This lad has his heart 

 set on becoming an engineer. He realizes that to acomplish this, a 

 technical education is essential, and already he is planning on it. In 

 fact he even goes as far as to discuss which of several schools 

 he wants to attend. Two or three times I have suggested that 

 he become a dairyman, but the subject has absolutely no interest 

 to him although his father is prominent in dairy circles. In 

 spite of this, however, I am certain that if that boy was so situ- 

 ated that he could keep stock, and if he were shown that here 

 was an opportunity to earn his college training, or even his pock- 

 et money, for he is an ambitious little fellow, he would be inter- 

 ested in this work. Now if you could interest him, how much 

 easier it w^ould be to interest your son who lives on the farm and 

 is acquainted with farm conditions. 



Another objection which some men might raise to a plan 

 like this is that it requires too much time and attention from 

 them. I grant you that time and attention are required, and 

 perhaps some money, but what of that? Is there anything more 

 important than a boy or girl ? If there is, I have yet to hear of it. 



