RY H OJA 
Vol. LXIX. No. 4060 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 20, 1910. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
AN IDEAL FARM SCHOOL. 
Where Children Are Started Right. 
Among the hills of central Massa¬ 
chusetts, in the shadow of Mt. Pome¬ 
roy, the largest in the section, is be¬ 
ing worked out a problem of com¬ 
bined farm life and education. The 
scene of this enterprise, which has 
passed the experimental stage and 
become an established fact, is a farm 
of 300 acres situated in the town of 
Greenwich, and known by the name 
of Hillside. It is the early home of 
the Drinkwater family, which, lo¬ 
cated on two or three hilly farms in 
this vicinity, has produced in the past 
and present generations a half-dozen 
or more teachers. Of these the best 
known is Miss Charlotte V. Drink- 
water, for over 30 years General Su¬ 
perintendent of the Y. W. C. A. in 
Boston. 
About 10 years ago, finding it neces¬ 
sary to adopt a less active life, she in 
company with her sister, Airs. Mary 
E. Warren, returned to the old home 
of their parents, and there formed 
the nucleus of Hillside School. At 
first they took only a small number 
of pupils; later as many as could be 
accommodated in the old farmhouse, 
The object was to receive children 
who were in poor circumstances, or¬ 
phans and those who had no settled 
home, at a moderate expense, to give 
them a healthy, country bringing-up, 
a good education, and moral and re¬ 
ligious training. The work has great¬ 
ly increased in scope, but its aims 
are still the same. Miss Drinkwater, 
who is regarded by the children half 
as a mother and half a guardian 
angel, recently said: 
“Conscious that we ourselves form 
a trinity of body, mind and spirit, it 
appears evident that true education 
should equally develop these integral 
parts of the individual. In order to 
produce the highest type of character, 
a proper development of the three¬ 
fold nature of a child is essential. 
This means a healthy body, a sound 
mind, and a Christian- spirit. The 
first is attained by hygienic food and 
dress, pure air day and night, and an 
abundance of sleep. Physical de¬ 
velopment means regular hours for 
work and play, athletic sports and 
useful employment, combined with 
that loving care and sympathy so 
necessary to a child in its home life. 
“A sound mind is formed by fixing 
the child’s thought habitually upon 
worthy objects. There are, according 
to Hillside precepts, various ways of 
doing this. Guide him into channels 
of inquiry about the work of nature 
as seen in every-day country life. 
Furnish him with books, pictures, 
microscopic and other appliances with 
which to meet and satisfy these in¬ 
quiries. I.et him study the forests, 
the gardens, the rocks, the soil, the 
firmament above and the waters be¬ 
neath, thus leading him from nature 
THE BOYS AT WORK IN HAYING TIME. Fig. 341. 
FARM BOYS AFTER WORKING PIOURS. Fig. 342. 
THE OLD HOMESTEAD AT PIILLSIDE SCHOOL. Fig. 343. 
up to nature’s God. Give him an op¬ 
portunity for simple scientific experi¬ 
ment, and encourage him to impart to 
others what he himself has learned. 
Educational methods become ideal 
only when the hand is trained to put 
into practice the knowledge gained 
through eye and ear. Let a boy 
learn the meaning of the word acre 
by actual measurement of the land; 
the weight of an object by weighing; 
the meaning of a bushel, peck or 
quart, by the use of registered mea¬ 
sures. All of these exercises he has 
at the farm, and together with his 
studies at school, and conversations 
in the home arc well calculated to add 
a sound mind to a healthy body. 
“Daily Bible study adapted to the 
needs of a child, forms a prominent 
part of the training in the home and 
school. Each child as he develops is 
studied individually, and at a suitable 
age is encouraged and assisted so far 
as possible, to enter a chosen line of 
endeavor. We have labored under 
many difficulties, and have by no 
means reached our ideals; still much 
has been accomplished, Christian 
character-building, the basis of good 
citizenship, is going steadily on, and 
like twigs bent in the right direction, 
these young lives are being trained to 
become useful elements of society.” 
Gradually, as the little household 
became better known, public interest 
and personal sympathy furnished the 
means to extend the work. More 
land was bought, a school-house 
built, additional helpers employed, 
and four years ago a fine three-story 
cottage was erected, which is now the 
home of the greater part of the chil¬ 
dren, although the old farmhouse is 
still occupied to its fullest capacity. 
About this time the school was in¬ 
corporated and its affairs placed in 
the hands of a board of trustees, 
which, besides Miss Drinkwater, the 
founder of the school, comprises sev¬ 
eral well-known business people, as 
well as others of prominence in edu¬ 
cational fields. 
The institution now accommodates 
33 children, both boys and girls, from 
nine to 16 years of age, while as 
many more have left its shelter to 
enter higher schools, or some kind of 
employment. Beside Miss Drink¬ 
water, who acts as general business 
manager, a capable superintendent is 
employed, a head farmer, several 
matrons, and a school teacher. The 
farm work and household duties are 
performed by the children under their 
direction. 
The farm last year produced 650 
bushels potatoes, 400 bushels corn, 
260 bushels turnips, 70 bushels beets, 
33 bushels carrots, 20 bushels pars¬ 
nips, beside many other Summer and 
Winter vegetables, fodder for the 
stock, etc. Small fruits are cultivated, 
the most profitable at present being- 
strawberries and cranberries. Beside 
helping in the general work of the 
