380 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRIGULTURAL SOCIETT. 
TO EXCOUEx^.GE BOYS TO STICK TO THE FARM. 
This lar^e economy has been the direct means of “ brin^inff out” 
O •/ O O 
very many substantial merchants — number one merchants, quali¬ 
fied teachers, good lawyers and excellent judges, and many hard 
tramps. Can you tell me where or in what manner the inventive 
genius of this age ever aided a boy, while a boy? 
WHAT BOYS DO. 
So little thought is given to boys, so horribly are they banged 
around on the farm, that I am constrained to believe that some of 
our farmers (I don’t think you have any here) have forgotten that 
they once were boys. Did it ever occur to you what the general 
run of farm boys do? What don’t they do? In the morning, he is 
the first one called, and it is not late either. Whether to awaken 
the household, or to churn, I never knew. It is no subdued call; it 
is earnest and inspiring. It can be heard. It is his early start on 
the high road to fame — to habits of industry, to greatness, to re¬ 
nown. He is up. He churns, he milks, he drives the cows to pas¬ 
ture, he cuts up wood and carries it in, and helps to do up the other 
chores before breakfast. How bright the day of labor shines out 
before him. He is in the field at work, with the same old imple¬ 
ments so long ago put away for him. He keeps up with the men 
and is told how smart he is. This is encouraging. And when the 
day’s work is done by man and beast, the boy has work to do. The 
cows are to be driven from the pasture and milked (how my hand 
cramps when I think of him). By the time the other chores are 
done he is a poor tired out boy. These are the ordinary duties of 
the general run of farmers’ boys. Who knows this better than the 
boy, or his mother, there. The boy never forgets his mother, her 
kindness, her sympathy, her love! God bless the mothers of our 
farmer boys! She knows their ups and downs, their joys and sor¬ 
rows, their trials and triumphs. She knows that it is no joke to be 
a farmer’s boy. 
It is not surprising then to find the farmer boy reading up “ the 
way to make money,” in the Prairie Farmer or other agricultural 
newspaper, on Sunday, his only day of rest, while his devoted sire 
is in yonder sanctuary joyfully singing, “ Praise God from whom all 
blessings flow.” Many a good farmer has been spoiled by an over- 
