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HOME AND FLO}YERS 



THE FAEMEE BOY"S IXHEEITAXCE 

 By Lee McCrae 



THE average farmer boy seems born into 

 the world merely to help his father, 

 with no past, no future, no change — 

 except the change of the seasons and a few 

 dimes in a cigar box. Early and late he may 

 be seen working alongside of the hired men, 

 who become his tutors in language, manners, 

 and ideas, straining his small muscles am- 

 bitiously to do the tasks they do. When he 

 comes in at night there are the chores, 

 leaving no time, strength, nor desire for 

 play, such as every boy should have. 



But he glows with pride when at the sup- 

 per table, before his mother, the "hands," 

 and the rest of the children, his father tells 

 how much Tommy did that day, and how 

 he is almost as much help as a man. Result: 

 He resolves to do still more tomorrow, and 

 waits just long enough to doctor his latest 

 stone-bruise before going to bed, where, in 

 spite of growing pains and aching muscles, 

 he falls asleep as soon as his head touches 

 the pillow. 



There are few vacations in Tommy's life, 

 except Sundays and Fourths of July, and, 

 though he never heard the word monotony, 

 he realizes its meaning, and begins to turn 

 his eyes toward the nearest town, where he 

 thinks every day is Fourth of July. With a 

 heart full of awe and envy, he gazes at the 

 far-off, misty spires, little dreaming that 

 there is toil and privation beneath them, 

 too; not knowing how bitterly cold it may 

 be in full view of chandeliers and grates. 

 Soon, alas, the city becomes his heart's 

 Mecca, and the story is quickly told. 



To be sure, there is the district school, 

 where he must spend the winter days, for 

 the reason, he thinks, tliat there are no 

 chores to be done in winter time. The teach- 

 ing is frequently dull and poor; the sudden 

 change from overwork to listless idling on 

 a hard bench is always too great a change 

 for Tommy, and to get even with the world 

 and amuse himself he sets about making 

 the teacher's life a burden — and succeeds. 



Such are the dangerous conditions that 

 too often SI rround our farmer boys, stunting 

 their growth, dwarfing their minds, pervert- 

 ing their ambitions, and ruining their mor- 

 als. God help the farmer who thinks more 

 of his stock and crops than the growing 

 manhood at his elbow! 



But they need not be such. The remedy 

 lies in his own hand. Let the boy work, but 

 only so many hours a day. Let him have 



the entire responsibility of a plot of ground 

 or a part of the stock, allowing him the 

 greater part of the earnings therefrom. He 

 deserves some compensation for his labor, 

 and a little money of his own will make him" 

 feel that farm work pays. Then without 

 the constant temptations to spend that sur- 

 round the town boy, his pile will grow, 

 teaching thrift in a wordless but most em- 

 phatic way. 



But let him have ideas besides those of 

 money getting. Give him practical lessons 

 in horticulture and the raising of small 

 fruits; he could start a vineyard or a straw- 

 berry patch of his own; he might try bee- 

 keeping or have a few sheep to care for and 

 pet. Whatever his work, he must have 

 some current literature if he would grow up 

 with a larger horizon than the area of the 

 farm. 



Few and poor indeed are the homes today 

 that have no papers, but often they are 

 papers that do not appeal to a boy or are 

 not fit for him to read. 



See to it that he is not "devouring the 

 husks which the swine — human swine — do 

 eat," when there is plenty of whole-wheat 

 bread to be had for a song. Last, but not 

 least, open his eyes to the beauty about him. 

 and the unlimited possibilities for more 

 beauty on the farm. He will delight in lay- 

 ing out and keeping up the paths and road- 

 way if he is taught how and once sees the 

 result of such labor. 



Once a little girl heard a visitor exclaim, 

 pointing to a tree in the meadow that the 

 child had "seen without seeing" all her life, 

 "What a picture tree it is!" Long she pon- 

 dered the queer sentence until its meaning 

 dawned on her, and she began looking for 

 picture trees and hills and meadows on every 

 side. 



When boys are not overworked, when they 

 are taught to appreciate their homes and 

 to make companions of their books if there 

 are no others, when their ambitions have 

 some outlet and they have their interest in 

 the interest of the farm, then and then only 

 will the cities cease to attract, and the 

 farmer boy inherit his full and high estate. 



All friends of Home axd Flowers should 

 help us to introduce the magazine into new 

 homes. Tell your friends and neighbors 

 about our magazine. See premium offers 

 made elsewhere. 



