ILLIHOIS dairymen's ASSOCIATIOK. 43 



"SHOULD THE ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE BE 

 TAUGHT m THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS V " 



BY PROF. FRANK H. HALL, OF SUGAR GROVE. 



Permit me to thank the principal of the public schools of this city, who 

 has done me the honor to dismiss one of the rooms of his school, to listen to 

 my paper. While the paper has not been prepared for young people, it 

 makes me feel quite at home to see the faces of so many young ladies and 

 gentlemen in the audience. 



We are proud of our public schools. We are proud of the buildings that 

 have been erected by liberal hands in which to educate the youth of our land. 

 We are proud of the salaries that are paid to our teachers— salaries that 

 ought to and do command tlie services of skillful educators. We are proud 

 of the fact that our schools are free; that all the youth, rich and poor, black 

 and white, high and low, may meet on a common level and receive the train- 

 ing that shall prepare them to perform life's duties. Palsied be the hand that 

 shall be lifted to render less efficient our public school system. Palsied be 

 the tongue that shall encourage unwise parsimony in the disbursement of 

 school funds. He merits severe censure who unjustly criticizes so earnest 

 and faithful a band of workers as are the army of men and women who are 

 engaged in the work of instruction. 



There is, however, one accusation that, of late, is often laid at the door of 

 our public schools. It is a serious charge. It is made by business men ; by 

 intelligent farmers and mechanics ; and teachers who have abandoned their 

 profession and are attempting to gain a livelihood in some other manner are 

 quite certain to echo it. 



The imputation is this: That the tendency of the public school work, and 

 more especially the work of the public high schools, is to lead the pupils 

 away from the farms and the workshops, and toward the professions ; that 

 'public money is expended to induce young men who would otherwise be- 

 come artisans, to become lawyers and doctors. 



Is the charge true ? Is it a just criticism ? Ar© the schools in any way 

 responsible for the rush toward those avenues through which men may gain 

 a livelihood and still have white hdnds V 



That too large a number of our young men are in the professions, or on 

 the road thereto, is quite certain. 



In 1870 we had one clergyman for every 878 persons; in 1880, one for every 

 775 persons. In 1870 we had one physician for every 618 persons; in 1880, one 

 for every 558. In 1870 we had one lawyer for every 231 males above 21 years 

 of age; in 1880, one for every 200. During the decade referred to the popula- 

 tion was increased a little over 30 per cent. The number engaged in agricul- 

 ture increased less than 30 per cent., while the number of doctors, lawyers, 

 ministers, and editors, combined, increased nearly 50 per cent. Our larger 

 towns and cities are full of educated place-hunters. It is not that they have 

 seenin th emselves a personal fitness for professional life; it is not that they 

 have had a call from high heaven to go into that field and work for God and 

 humanity. They don't want to sweat. It is the common testimony of busi- 

 ness men that they are overrun by young men applying for positions in 



