1909.] The Education of the Farmer's Son. 657 



case that setting a lad to work at an early age may hasten the 

 formation of practical instincts, the normal course of mental 

 development is not materially altered. The boy is no less a 

 boy because he happens to be working on a farm instead of 

 in a secondary school, and when he is not fortunate enough 

 to belong to the class which can afford a secondary school 

 education the best thing that can be done for him is to 

 continue his general education by means of evening schools. 

 Unless a foundation of general education has been laid at 

 the evening school, the special instruction given at winter 

 agricultural schools must lose much of its value. The marked 

 success of agricultural instruction in Denmark must be 

 ascribed to the fact that so many of the pupils first attend the 

 People's High Schools. 



In the interests of agricultural education it is fortunate that 

 the subject of evening schools is now engaging so much 

 attention, and it is to be hoped that their value will not be 

 lessened by an attempt to make them too technical. Agri- 

 culturists are in danger of laying overmuch stress on the 

 value of technical instruction for lads between the ages of 14 

 and 17. The farmer, who is anxious that his son should 

 have the best education which he can afford, asks that the 

 boy shall have "practical 55 teaching, and it is somewhat 

 difficult to convince him that the teaching of agriculture at 

 this age is really a very "unpractical" method of attaining 

 his object. There are, of course, certain processes, such 

 as butter-making or seed-testing, which are well adapted for 

 rural evening schools, but the study of most agricultural sub- 

 jects should come later, when the lad is old enough to appre- 

 ciate the information which the skilled agricultural instructor 

 tries to convey to him. 



Winter Agricultural Schools and Classes. — The young 

 farmer is ready for special instruction in agriculture as soon 

 as he has become familiar with the ordinary work of the farm 

 and has begun to interest himself in its management; he now 

 feels the need of gaining further information about the 

 management of soils, crops, and live stock; he wishes to 

 know about the practice of agriculture in other districts, 

 about the purchase of manures and feeding stuffs, and the 

 manufacture and marketing of produce. Such information 



