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American Agriculturist 
FARM—DAIRY—MARKET—GARDEN—HOME 
“Agriculture is the Most Healthful, Most Useful and Most Noble Employment of Man ”—Washington 
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Established 1842 
Volume 111 For the Week Ending March 31, 1923 Number 13 
The Farm Boy and His School 
“I Will Study and Get Ready and Maybe My Chance Will Come.”—Lincoln 
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B oys, did you ever stop to think that 
some day you will have to make 
your own living? When that time 
comes you will want to “make 
good” won’t you? Every boy does. You 
will want to make a good income and 
get the most out of life for yourself and 
others. In making good, one of the first 
things to decide is “what will I do.” 
The kind of work which you pick 
out will make a big difference in 
your chances for success. We are 
not all fitted to do the same things. 
Choosing your occupation is one of 
the most important decisions that 
you will ever make. Mistakes cost 
money and are a waste of time and 
effort. Think it over pretty care¬ 
fully and make sure that you don’t 
make a mistake in picking out your 
kind of work. 
A Boy’s Most Valuable Help 
Schools furnish one of the most 
valuable helps that boys have in 
choosing and preparing for a voca¬ 
tion. Different kinds of schools get 
boys ready for different kinds of oc¬ 
cupations. Some schools give a gen¬ 
eral training that prepare for ad¬ 
vanced courses and colleges, and for 
occupations later on. Some boys 
make up their minds much earlier than 
others as to what they want to do. 
By A. K. GETMAN 
experience is valuable training for any occu¬ 
pation, it is especially valuable for farming. 
Boys born in towms and cities have hard work 
to get the skill in doing farm work that farm 
boys already possess. 
George Washington said: “Agriculture is 
the most healthful, most useful and the most 
This boy is learning to identify a good laying hen in trap nest 
studies at the State School of Agriculture at Canton, N. Y. 
Many noble employment of man.” Just now, to be 
sure, the returns which farmers get for their 
labors are somewhat low, but in a business 
so essential to the nation’s welfare, conditions 
will undoubtedly be better. 
Factors to Be Considei’ed 
other boys are undecided until they are 
young men. 
A good rule to follow is to stay in 
school nearest home, until you have made 
up your mind what occupation you will 
choose. It would be fine if every boy could 
be a graduate of a four-year high school We have had “hard times” before and then 
course, but at the present time many boys came better times. Here are some of the 
do not finish the high school, in fact, thou- things that we all ought to think about 
sands of boys never enter high school at all. when considering farming as an occupation: 
Here are some of the 
questions that boys ought 
to consider in deciding on 
an occupation: What vo¬ 
cation interests me; will 
aiy past experience help 
me to succeed in this vo¬ 
cation; does this vocation 
furnish continuous em¬ 
ployment; are there good 
chances for promotion ; 
what pleasures can I have 
when not actually work¬ 
ing; what kind of home 
life does this vocation af¬ 
ford; rs it a healthful vo¬ 
cation; what do my par- 
, cuts and friends think of 
it; how can I get started 
m this vocation; what are 
the chances for making a 
good income; will it pro¬ 
vide employment after 
middle life? 
The far m boy in^jioos- 
mg a life) work sh^j^B not 
forget that whil^^^^rm 
A farmer needs to be a good mechanic. These students are learning the skillful use of tools 
in the farm shop in the Agricultural department of the high school at Afton, N. Y. 
Successful farming furnishes continuous 
employment; provides a good living; affords 
an ideal home; gives healthful employment; 
combines the use of capital and labor; 
enables a man to work for himself and not 
a boss; enables farmer and son to work in 
partnership; affords good opportunities for 
the young man to work gradually into a sub¬ 
stantial business. 
To be successful, one must ac¬ 
complish what he sets out to attain, 
assuming of course that his aim is 
worth while. A boy may aim high 
or low. To make good, one must 
have a “goal.” Many people fail 
because they do not have a goal. 
Others fail because they do not know 
how to reach the goal that they have 
set for themselves. 
We Must First Choose a Goal 
Every boy can succeed if he will 
first make up his mind what his 
“goal” is and then make use of the 
resources at his command in reach¬ 
ing his goal. To be a doctor, to pre¬ 
pare for the ministry, to be a 
teacher, to be an auto mechanic, to 
be a dairy or a fruit farmer are ex¬ 
amples of goals. Education fur¬ 
nishes the most valuable resources at 
your command in reaching your goal. 
At the age of twenty Benjamin 
Franklin walked the streets of Philadelphia 
a poor friendless boy. Ten years later he 
was rich and tw'enty years later he was in¬ 
ternationally famous. What was the secret 
of his success? He tells us one of his secrets 
in his words “An investment in education 
pay the best interest.” Education pays. 
Training helps one profit by the mistakes and 
successes of others. A boy in preparing for 
an occupation is not training for a day only, 
but for a lifetime. 
A boy who is planning 
to take up farming cannot 
afford to neglect his prep¬ 
aration. In farming, an 
education is much more es¬ 
sential now than it was 
twenty-five years ago. Not 
all farmers with an ed¬ 
ucation succeed, but the 
chances of making good 
are much greater for the 
young man who has pre¬ 
pared himself for a life 
work. The study of agri¬ 
culture enables a young 
man to profit by what the 
experiment stations and 
the successful farmers 
have discovered, and what 
good farmers have found 
to be a good practice. An 
education prevents many 
costly mistakes. It helps 
one to plan the work, and 
to work the plan. Men 
may regret doing all kinds 
ntimied on page 295) 
