practical papers —Education for farmers . 447 
all the land, ami at the same time make the formers believe that 
they are running the concern. Of course, these politicians ask 
the passage of a few laws in their special interest, which the 
farmer statesman is in duty bound to vote for. The balance of 
the business is transacted by those owning the brains of the con¬ 
cern, in the interest of the dear people. 
If the farmer possessed a greater degree of intelligence, he 
would be able to produce a larger amount of produce from a less 
quantity of land than he now does ; he would be able also to know 
what kinds of products' would be in the greatest demand and 
would reward him best for his labor; he would know what season 
of the year was best to dispose of his surplus products, and in 
what shape to dispose of them. The habits that he would ac¬ 
quire in his higher order of education would enable him to do 
everything in the right time and in the best manner, thus giving 
him a greater reward for the time engaged, and at the same time 
affording him a greater amount of leisure to enjoy the fruits of his 
doings. 
I would advocate this system of thorough home education, be¬ 
cause having spent my entire life on the frontier, where it was a 
necessity for parents who wished to give their children a good ed¬ 
ucation to send them out from under the paternal roof, at that pe¬ 
riod m life when they were in the most need of parental guidance, 
and when the mind was the easiest allured from the paths of rec¬ 
titude. I have observed the evils which attend an education 
abroad. From my own observation of those who have been liberally 
educated, nine out of every ten have proved a total wreck, in con¬ 
sequence of habits formed while at college, separated from the 
moral and social influences of home. If we cannot accomplish, 
all these things, let us labor in the right direction, doing what we 
can, so that the farming interest and the world at large may be 
better for our having lived in it. 
