American Agriculturist 
I THE FARM PAPER THAT PRINTS THE FARM NEWS 
“Agriculture is the Most Healthful, Most Useful and Most Noble Employment of Man ”—Washington 
J Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Established 1842 
Volume 112 For the Week Ending October 20, 1923 Number 16 
Paths of Promise Not Always Cityward 
An Experiment in Teaching City Boys Country Ways 
M ANY a country boy dreams of the 
things of the city—its massive 
buildings, its great factories, its 
banks and busy marts of trade, and 
its teeming people on business or pleasure 
bent. His heart grows warm and his eyes 
grow bright as he paints a picture of these 
things with himself the central and con¬ 
trolling figure in the years to come. Often 
his dreams come true. The world has use 
in its schools and churches and in its count¬ 
ing houses and factories for the country 
boy. And it is both the undeniable right 
of childhood and the indispensable attri¬ 
bute of a life well 
lived to dream dreams. 
But the city boy has 
his rare moments too, 
when he lives in an¬ 
other world. He fills 
it with trees, and 
birds and green grass, 
and open spaces, and 
cows and kindred 
things. That is, some 
city boys do. And he 
wonders if his' dreams 
may not also come 
true. 
We say that in 
America, one may 
choose the life he 
wishes to live and the 
thing he desires to do 
without let or hin¬ 
drance, so long as he 
does not encroach up¬ 
on or place in jeopardy 
the inherent rights 
and liberties of other 
men. We mean that 
this shall always be so. 
But one of the greatest 
problems facing u s , 
especially those deal¬ 
ing with the youth of America through the 
medium of the school, is to make it possible 
for a boy to arrive at a fair estimate of what 
he really wishes to do, the decision to be 
based on real facts and a real acquaintance 
with the field in which he thinks his happi¬ 
ness lies. 
How many a city boy determined in some 
definite measure whether or not the end of 
his rainbow of promise lies in the open 
country, and do it soon enough to shape his 
activities in that direction? If he finds that 
his desire rings true on the anvil of actual 
contact with things of the country, then well 
and good; he has passed a milestone in the 
journey of life. If he finds otherwise, then 
a real service is rendered both him and 
society by determining that fact as soon as 
possible. 
Thirty miles northeast of the State School 
of Agriculture at Cobleskill, is the city of 
Schenectady with 89,000 souls. Among the 
youth of the city are some adventurous and 
enterprising boys who like not the brick and 
mortar and noissome goings-on which are 
with them when they awake and when they 
By H. B. KNAPP 
Director, Neio York State School of Agriculture 
at Cobleskill 
fall asleep. These boys dream of other 
things. By arrangement with the superin¬ 
tendent and principals of the city schools, 
and with the cooperation of the State Educa¬ 
tion Department—the State School of Agri¬ 
culture at Cobleskill brought twelve of these 
boys to the school farm during July for a 
try-out course. Some of these boys had en¬ 
joyed some contacts with farm life, others 
had none, some knew that cows had to be 
milked and some did not. All thought they 
were interested in farming as a vocation. 
They were on the average, fourteen years old, 
one being eleven and four being fifteen. 
They were housed in quarters provided for 
them, and fed in the school dining room, 
being given plenty of eggs, fruit and all the 
milk from the school herd that they wished. 
Ev&ry boy drank milk, some drank four or 
five glasses at a meal. 
In the morning they worked in the barns 
or on the farm. The first morning they were 
up at four o’clock, although not due at the 
barn until 5:30. They fed cows and calves, 
milked, cleaned stables and watched the 
milking machine at work. They watered, 
fed, harnessed and cleaned the horses. They 
fed the poultry, and gathered the eggs. They 
bunched and loaded hay, mowed it away, and 
drove on the horse fork. They saw the mow¬ 
ing machine, tedder, rake and hay loader in 
action. They pulled weeds and thinned beets 
by hand, and hoed corn, and potatoes, and 
drove the walking cultivator. They picked 
berries, and currants, and cherries. They 
whitewashed the cow barn, help mix con¬ 
crete and set up oats and watched the self- 
binder work. They opened one of the new 
silos, and threw off the top until the silage 
was fit to eat. And they asked questions 
all the time—when the new calf came 
and the old cow went for beef and the 
hens laid in the trap nests and some of 
the white hens laid brown eggs and some 
of them didn’t. 
In the afternoon they played baseball, or 
went fishing, or swimming, or for hikes. 
Sometimes they camped out overnight at a 
nearby stream or lake and told stories around 
a campfire with the stars overhead and the 
city far away. The il¬ 
lustration shows them 
starting on such a 
trip. 
Of course, every¬ 
thing was done under 
close supervision of 
members of the school 
staff, both work and 
play. It was a strenu¬ 
ous time for those in 
charge. Although they 
were active every 
moment that they were 
awake, the boys made 
an average gain in 
weight of one and one- 
half pounds during 
their stay. 
The main thing is 
that the experience 
seemed worthwhile. 
The school has learned 
some things and will 
try again next year,' 
running several such 
camps during the 
season. 
Some of these boys 
will surely become 
farmers. That is well. 
Some will not. That also is well. But every 
boy had a real opportunity to learn for him¬ 
self some things about country life, so that 
he may more intelligently choose the way he 
shall go. That is best of all 
I Wouldn’t Go Back to the Old Times 
HAVE been reading the different arti¬ 
cles by various' readers of the American 
Agriculturist about the good old times which 
they claim were so much more superior than 
the present times. Now I come to the defense 
of the present generation to which I belong, 
and I think in fairness to this generation my 
side of the question should be heard. 
I like living now. I wouldn’t go back to 
the old times. I see dozens of things about 
our modern life which seem to me vastly 
more desirable than the old time ways of 
living. Everybody seems to harken back 
to the old times and think they were perfect. 
I guess the reason must be that time has 
softened the memories and made every- 
(Continued on 'page 270) 
“Some of these boys will surely become farmers. That is well. Some will not. That is also well. 
But every boy had a real opportunity to learn for himself some things about country life, so that 
he may more intelligently choose the way he shall go ” 
