VoLXXXL No. 16.
SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1916
$1 a Year ; 5c a Copy
Open the Door of Knowledge the Farm Boy
OUR readers will recall that( last week, in an editorial note, we stated
that a country teacher had written us that he had tried to organize
a corn club in his district, but not a farmer would allow his son an
acre of grounby for the work. This week, on another page, we are
publishing an extract from a; letter from a progressive' Louisiana x
olaces for men and womK .o 0 ws and m'rls to Kva and rievelnn.
and get the most and best ou xe. ' .
xQorn and clover, pigs and ptaltry, all these are great crops, and we
want to make them bigger and better; but greater than all else are the
farm (boys and girls. If. these are neglected, all the others will have
"W" hi BUu -
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A BOY WHO IS USING HIS HEAD AS WELL AS HIS-HANDS
Sherman Hall of Arkansas, Preparing His Club Acre of Corn
farmer, wkfsavs he has no boy of his own, but that a little boy lives
with him, and he wishes to enroll him, that he 'may learn whatever is
to be learned from the work. -
Here is a contrast we maywell ponder. On the one hand we have
a whole community so indifferent or so prejudiced that it is unwilling
to enlist its boys in a progressive movement nay, even goes so far as
'viuoc iu mi mem emisi. un ine oilier,
we have a man, unblessed by. a son of his
own, who nevertheless' is anxious, that the
boy intrusted to his care shall learn all that
is to hp foarnAri ohnnf nnfi.i-A;ciny oH sirn.
' gressive farming . , On the, one hand we
havo foi-m
have farmers , who have shut ths door of
-uuwieuge ana nope- to ntneir sons? nave ,
shown them .pnly the dark, tardrside of.
farm life.
surest of all ways to leave the farm the
moment they are old enough. " On the'other,
a boy is being taught how to mix the labor ,
of his head with the labor of his : hands; .that
farming is a great: complicated, complex
business, requiring f or- the greatest success
the keenest thought anbVmost diligent study,,
and that when given these it is a business
that affords the most satisfying returns. It
goes without paying that a boy sotaughtwill
have a strong incentive to stay on the arm,
to help make it and his community better.
been in vain. Men who think right, whatever they may be themselves,
would, above all else, haVe their sons grow into strong and good men.
Not merely mentally and physically strong, but strong for the right,
strong for material and spiritual progress, strong for all things that
make for the betterment of human life and happiness; not merely neg
atively good, but good for something. .
.With the poet, we believe that" (
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean
v bear;" .
that we have among us many Aa mute, in
glorious Milton. ' How many of us have
heard it said of personal acquaintances :
"If he had only had an education, what a
wonderful man, what a leader of men,
he would have been!'
It is a crime, and there -are few
greater, to deny the light of knowledge
to the developing boy or girl. Open the
door of knowledge and of hope, and
open it wide; put your; boy in the corn
club and the pig club; encourage him to
read and to study; show him the value
of labor-saving ideas and methods; show
him, in a word, that brains and farming
will mix, and that the mixture is good.
When you have done this, you will have
helped to light the path of a soul, and
there is no bigger or better job in life
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DON'T FAIL TO READ- p
Do You Boost or Knock Tour Neighbors? 4
Crop Rotation; Diveriification and Living:
. at Home . . ; .
Three Crops in One Year . . ; . . .
Advantages of the Club Work. . . .
A Visit to Lincoln County . ..... .
A Self-feeder for Hogs . . .... .
Get a Pro'gres live Farmer Index and Binder 1 4
Let's Make 1916 Thrift Year . .... 14
Brotherly Love the Basis of Cooperation .15
More Comradeship Needed in Country Life 15
The Small Farmer's Handicap . . . .15
Swat and Screen . .. . . ' . ..... 16
Library the Power House of the Community 17
Cooperative Merchandisinj Risky . . . 20
Taxation Reform . . 20
Let Farmers and Farm Boys Try for Our
$2500 in Cash Prizes . . . . .; . . 26