1902 
695 
The High-School Girl. 
UOtS 8HB LOSE INTEREST JN THE FA PM 
HOME ? 
Do you consider the course of study in a 
town or village high school likely to give a 
girl a distaste for country life, and an in¬ 
clination to leave the farm? The assertion 
is often made that this is the case, but we 
know of so many cultivated women who 
are leading happy and useful lives on the 
farm that we cannot believe higher edu¬ 
cation lessens the interest in country life, 
other things being equal. Do you think 
the usual course of study in a town high 
school should be modified to meet the in¬ 
terests of rural students? 
My observation is quite limited, being 
confined mostly to my own family and 
their friends. From that I am led to 
think there is a growing love for coun¬ 
try life and rural affairs among girls and 
young women, and I think their educa¬ 
tion increases rather than lessens it. In 
some cities and larger towns the teach¬ 
ers are introducing regular lessons in 
nature study in the primary and inter¬ 
mediate grades, which have the effect 
of opening the eyes of the children to 
many of the beautiful processes of na¬ 
ture, and of greatly stimulating their 
love of outdoor and country life. It 
seems to me the same thing might be 
done to advantage in the rural schools, 
and that it would have a tendency to in¬ 
crease the love of study of the natural 
sciences when they go into the high 
schools. I do not see the need of chang¬ 
ing the course of study in our high 
schools so much as the methods of 
teaching the subjects, so that the pupils 
may comprehend that they are really 
studying to find out the natural laws 
that govern all the surroundings and 
conditions of our lives. 
New York. mbs. t. h. king. 
Most assuredly I do not consider that 
the course of study in a town or village 
high school is likely to give a girl a dis¬ 
taste for country life, or an inclination 
to leave the farm. My own experience 
and observation have taught me that 
country life is not distasteful to the 
country-bred girl, and no amount of edu¬ 
cation is likely to create in her a dis¬ 
taste for anything so wholesome, men¬ 
tally, morally and physically, as a rural 
atmosphere. As the pure air of the hills 
and woods revives the physical strength 
of the weary sojourner from the city, 
just in the same proportion the moral 
atmosphere with its wholesouled char¬ 
ity and disinterested kindness brings 
peace to her weary soul, while the men¬ 
tal faculties which have brushed against 
so many mighty minds that she scarce 
knows what originality is, readjust 
themselves, and her own personality 
shines out with strength and clearness 
giving her a power never before pos¬ 
sessed. 
The personality of the country-bred 
girl is so deep-seated that no amount of 
cultivation can uproot it entirely. Cul¬ 
tivation and education increase her 
powers of appreciation, and the high 
school course is likely to help her to see 
more clearly than ever the advantage 
she has over the less favored city giii. 
She has room to expand. She is not 
trammeled by conventionality and cus¬ 
tom. If she leaves the farm it is not 
from inclination. If the man of her 
choice is a farmer she thinks herself 
fortunate. If he is not she cheerfully 
goes with him where necessity compels, 
taking with her the remembrance of 
“Society where none intrudes.” If she 
be obliged to earn her daily bread with 
her own hands and brain she will prob¬ 
ably leave the farm, as there is a grow¬ 
ing demand for sucn as she in all the 
large cities. The healthy, well-devel¬ 
oped mind and upright character of the 
country girl easily commands a better 
salary in the busy markets of the city 
than her well-irained hands can bring 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use“Mrs.Wins- 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best— Adv. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
her in the country; therefore, she goes 
to the city, not from inclination but for 
a compensation. There is no class of 
women who are so well supplied with the 
facilities for a well-balanced, healthy 
growth, physical, mental and moral, 
as the daughters of the American farm¬ 
er. No class is more fully alive to their 
possibilities than the girls on the farm. 
The time I trust is near when each 
county and town shall maintain its own 
high school and its girls and boys will 
no longer be compelled to endure the 
unsavory environment of a large city in 
order to obtain an advanced course of 
instruction. As vocal music is a desir¬ 
able adjunct to all homes whether 
country or city; I wish that more time 
might be given in the school course to 
perfecting and training the voice. 
Wisconsin. anna a. iiirig. 
At a time when even a college course 
is open to the majority of girls who 
really desire an education, poor girls 
who must rely on their own efforts al¬ 
most wholly for the needed money, 1 
think it is cruel and entirely unneces¬ 
sary to deny our girls the pleasure and 
profit of four years at the local high 
school, simply because we are afraid '.t 
will turn their heads and cause them 
to leave the home nest. In the first 
place a girl must be, by nature, adapted 
to farm environment before she can be 
happy and do her best there. I am quite 
sure that if her inclination and taste are 
for city life she will find work there, 
with or without a high school training. 
On the other hand, she will only foster 
her love of country life by such studies 
as are usually taught in villages. Con¬ 
sider botany for instance, geology, 
chemistry. She will study these under 
the most favorable of circumstances. 
Because a girl loves to make friends of 
the flowers and rocks that she finds 
everywhere about her and appreciates 
the delightful songs of great poets who 
loved these same pure, sweet country 
things, do you think she is going to 
forget home duties and leave the place 
where such things are? Surely the in¬ 
fluence of a refineu cultivated woman is 
a benefit to any home; why not the 
farmer’s? I grant that if a girl goes to 
school for the social side alone, and be¬ 
cause a certain prestige attaches to “a 
graduate,” if these be her chief concern, 
her four years will avail her little then 
or in after ife. Even if such be the case 
don’t blame the daughter too much. Ask 
yourself what her home training is, and 
what she feels that Father and Mother 
expect of her. Let her not feel that her 
studies are apart from her daily life. 
Show her that they are a part of her¬ 
self, training her for a noble useful life 
where she is most needed, that all her 
life is going to be richer and sweeter 
for the ability that will be hers when 
the happy school life shall merge into 
active, daily helpfulness in her own 
home. Then you need not fear that 
your daughter will find the common 
housewifely duties drudgery, and 
“homekeeping” an irksome task. Rath¬ 
er will she find and help you all to see 
new pleasures and beauties in the dear 
old home. I plead earnestly for a lib¬ 
eral education for our girls. It means 
much to them and to future generations. 
Massachusetts. auaii e. colcord. 
Does the town high school draw the 
girls away from the farm? Apparently 
yes, but I think in reality it does not. 
It is true that few who possess high 
school diplomas remain on the farm, but 
it seems hardly fair to throw the blame 
on the schools. Neither is it fair to ex¬ 
pect the course of study to be planned 
to fit the needs of country pupils. The 
tuition paid by children from the coun¬ 
try is but a drop in the bucket in keep¬ 
ing up a progressive high school, and 
town citizens who pay heavy taxes have 
a right to demand that the instruction 
be suited to the wants of their children. 
It is my opinion that the fault lies pri¬ 
marily with the farmers themselves. In 
too many rural homes the idea prevails 
that a life in town is a life of ease, and 
too many times fond mothers are heard 
to say: “I don’t want my girls to work 
as hard as I have had to.” It takes very 
little of this nonsensical talk to turn the 
girls toward town, where they soon 
learn that life is every bit as strenuous 
as it was on the old farm. 
It seems to me any sensible girl who 
has been taught that farming is as re¬ 
spectable an occupation as any of the 
professions, may be safely sent to any 
high school in the land. Even if unprac¬ 
tical things are taught her mind is 
trained, and she is in every way better 
fitted for a farmer’s wife. The State 
universities are doing much good for 
agricultural students, but there are, un¬ 
fortunately, many young people who 
cannot attend. For these it would be 
well to establish schools higher than 
the district schools, where pupils might 
be educated in the things that pertain 
to farm life as carefully as students are 
fitted for any other life work. Until 
these are an actual fact, however, send 
the girls to high school by all means. 
With competent, practical instructors, 
good books and wideawake agricultural 
papers, such schools could dignify and 
ennoble the farmer’s calling till the 
young women now wearing out their 
lives in hot dusty cities would turn 
again to the healthy, happy life in the 
country, and the old cry, “How shall we 
keep the girls on the farm?” would be 
heard no more. hilda Richmond. 
Ohio. 
Small Cucumber Pickles.—Here is a 
simple but good way to pickle small cu¬ 
cumbers: Select the smallest ones pos¬ 
sible, and to each hundred allow one 
ounce of mustard seed, one ounce of 
cloves, one large tablespoonful of salt, 
one cupful of sugar and two small red 
peppers. Put the spices in thin muslin 
bags, lay them in a kettle with the 
washed cucumoers and add sufficient 
vinegar to cover. Heat slowly to the 
scalding point, take from the fire and 
bottle. Examine them every week or 
10 days after they are first put up to 
make sure they remain firm and solid. 
If some soften, throw them away and 
drain the vinegar from the remainder. 
Add a little water and half a cupful of 
sugar to each 200 pickles, scald the vine¬ 
gar and return it to the pickles while 
boiling hot. 
WHAT DO THE CHILDREN DRINK? 
Don't give them tea or coffee. Have you tried the 
new food drink caUed GRAIN-O? It is deUclous 
and nourishing and takes the place of coffee. The 
more Grain-0 you give the children the more health 
you distribute through their systems. Graln-0 is 
made of pure grains, and when properly prepared 
tastes like the choice grades of coffee but costs about 
*4 as ranch All grocers sell it. 15c. and 25c. 
DERRICK OIL CO. 
Box 511. Titusville, l’a. 
KLITF Oil,. 
A perfect burning 
Oil. Shipped on trial, 
to be returned at our 
expense if not satis¬ 
factory. 60-gal. galva¬ 
nized iron storage tank 
with pump, cover and 
hasp for lock.Write for 
particulars and prices. 
PRICES REDUCED DA** 9 
$4.00 Vapor Bath Cabinet 82.25 each 
$5.00 Quaker** ** 8.50 each 
$10.00 “ “ “ 8.10 eaci 
| $1 .00 Face & Head Steam. Atteh. 65c 
Quality best. Guaranteed. $2. Book 
I Free with all “Quaker..” 
Write for onr lew Cata 
logue, special 60-Day offer. 
Don’t miss it. Your last 
chnnce. New plan, new 
prices to agents, sales- 
. , ----- 1 men, managers. Wonder¬ 
ful sellers. Hustlers getting rich. Plenty territory. 
World M’P| Co., »? World Bid*., Cincinnati, O. 
PURE 
SURE 
Because it’s all coffee- 
just the pure coffee-bean. 
Because the sealed pack¬ 
age insures uniform 
strength and flavor. 
A Farm for You 
The Santa Fe will take you there 
any day in October for only $33 
from Chicago, or $25 from Kan¬ 
sas City. 
Corresponding rates from East generally 
—tickets good in tourist sleepers or chair 
cars—enjoyable ride on the shortest, 
quickest, pleasantest line. 
Also one fare, plus $2. round trip to Great 
Southwest, first and third Tuesdays, 
in October. 
Exceptional opportunities for homeseek- 
ers m magnificent San Joaquin Valley, 
California. Money-making investments. 
Write to Geo. C. Dillard, Gen. Agt. 
Santa Fe, 377 Broadway. New York 
City, for California land folders. 
Cheap Excursions 
LARGEST STOVE PLANT IN THEWDRlH 
Most Stoves 
are some good when they are 
new.—Trouble is they don’t 
stay good— 
A Jewel does 
The Detroit Stove 
Works 
have more than 3 , 500,000 of 
their Jewel Stoves in success¬ 
ful use, and grew to be the 
“Largest Stove Plant in the 
World” because it made the 
best stoves. 
Jewels cost no more 
If your local dealer does not 
sell Jewel Stoves, write us. 
Address Dept. 18 
Detroit 
Stove 
Works 
Detroit 
Chicago 
ABSOLUTE RANGE PERFECTION Mull-V Lti'fuli'liyil after, Months' Trial If 
Clapp’s Ideal Steel Range 
is not perfectly satisfactory to you. My superior location In Ohio on Lake 
Erie enables me to construct the very best Steel Range at the lowest possible 
price. Coal, Iron, Steel and other Steel Range materials are cheapest here 
Freights are low aud Labor is the best. Large complete factory with the best 
facilities, run by men who have bad 20 years' experience, insures you getting 
the “ top-notch " in a Steel Range at a positive saving of $10 to $20. F ‘eight 
paid east of the Mississippi and north of the Tennessee River. 
Sent Free. My complete catalogue of allsi-es and styles 
with or without reservoir, for city, town or country use, with 
book describing the good and bad points of a Steel range, 
which you should see whether you buy of me or not. 
Practical Stove aud Range Man, 
002 Summit Street, TOLEDO, OHIO. 
CHESTER D. CLAPP , 
