Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Nov. 4, 1909, edition 1 / Page 3
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Thursday, November 4, 1909.1 THE PROGRESSIVE PARMER. 3 (lore a Year Farming : How to XLIV. By Making the Most Out of the Boys and Girls. By Dr. Talt Butler. H I HIS ISSUE of The Progres sive Farmer is for- the voung people; but this article is to the fathers and mothers in De half of the boys and girls. The gen eral title of this series of articles has no reference to the special sub ject we discuss. In-fact, it Is entire ly inappropriate, for we intend to discuss, "MaKing me jawk wut uj. iuo Boys and Girls," without regard or consideration of money matters. What we have to suggest to the fa thers and mothers of our farm boys and girls' does not require money for its accomplishment. Money may be the making or the unmaking of the farm boy or girl. More frequently we believe it is the unmaking of a promising boy, but however this may bo, its absence or possession certain ly need not defeat or prevent the de velopment of true manhood or wo manhood. Any properly constituted boy or girl, having the right sort of father and mother, will not be de feated in life's purposes by merely an inheritance of poverty. What Money Cannot Do. E DO NOT under-estimate the aid which money sometimes gives in the development of character, but it is never an essen tial feature in such-development. We go further and state, with all confi dence, that poverty nor any other obstacle need prevent the boy or girl possessing a sound body and mind troro. attaining a life of the highest type of usefulness. Since money is not essential to the development of the highest type of manhood and womanhood it plainly follows that life's accomplishments must not be measured by a money standard. For these reasons the title of this series of articles is inappropri ate to this discussion. The making of the most out of the boys and girls rises far above and can not be meas ured by money values. It so far transcends all other duties and re sponsibilities, and is so plainly the first great duty of every father and mother, from the humblest to the greatest, that we offer no apology for injecting it into this series of articles devoted to better farming. If we can give ever so little aid in the making of better men and women out of the boys and girls now on the farms, we shall have done much for better farming. , Some Advice to the Old Folks. which the most may be made out of any particular boy or girl; and yet there are a few basic facts and prin ciples which we may discuss, the ob servance of which can not fail to be productive of good results in direct ing the development of farm boys and girls. Our first purpose must be to produce those influences which will give the boy or girl a true conception of the duties and pleasures of life, and in the second place to inspire a wholesome, sane ambition to obtain the fullest measure of the best that life has to offer. If the boys and girls can be given the right ideals and then inspired with a burning de sire to attain these ideals, the prob lem is solved. How are higher and better ideals to be developed? Example is the strongest influence over development during the earliest years of the child's life. As age advances its po tency lessens, therefore its import ance in forming character can not be over-estimated; but in the space at our disposal we can only touch brief ly on a few points which our obser vation teaches us have special appli cation to our conditions. m ROM TIME immemorial it has been the accepted privi lege and practice of fathers, mothers and teachers to. give advice to the young. If, therefore, they are for just once forced to take a little of their own medicine there can be no great injustice in it. The inheritance of different ten dencies and the influences of varied environment make it impossible to lay down definite or fixed rules by This aeries of articles, will run throughout the year, the next lour articles In the series beta as follows : ' Nov. 11. By Better Care of Farm'Machlnery and Live Stock During the Winter. Nov, 18. By Getting better Results from Tenants and Farm Labor. Nov. 25. By Mapping Out a Good Course of Reading for the Winter. ..''. Dec, 2. By Getting the Most Out of the Cot tonseed. Why the Young Folks Leave the Farm. NE OF THE most notable ob jections to farm life is the nhvslcal labor involved. Not only is the work hard but in some re spects it is not always agreeable or conducive to personal cleanliness, good dressing or the more refined so cial intercourses. Of course, these objections exist mostly because those living on the farms do not give suffl- cient attention to their removal, but there is no denying that hard physi cal labor is usually an accompani ment of farm life and that it is one of the real although not always ad mitted objections, which many peo ple have to living on the farm. A happy medium or balance between work and recreation is too often ab sent on Southern farms. In fact, we probably have to a greater extent than anywhere else the two extremes of hard work and idleness. It is common advice that the boys and girls should not be worked too hard on the ground that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." All work and no play also makes Jack's father a dull companion for Jack and an ever-present example to him of the hardships and undesirable fea tures of farm life. How can Jack be expected to like the farm when work is all he sees to it? How can he I develop a desire and ambition for knowledge and greater power when he fsees no time devoted to acquiring knowledge, no use made of knowl edge in the farm life and no respect shown for the greater power which it elves? In these days we are beginning to hear much of the necessity for our girls studying home economics and learning the scientific facts underly ing home making, in order that they may be able to build and keep better homes at less cost of money and ef fort. Many conditions have conspir to make housework distasteful to Southern women and consequently in the homes as out on the farme we havfi a ceneral tendency to the ex tremes of drudgery and Idleness. On many farms the life of the mother is one of almost perpetual drudgery, without knowledge or mechanical or other devices to lighten her burdens. She is without the knowledge of the things which would enable her to do her life work with the least labor necessary to obtain efficiency. Is it any wonder that our girls prefer to study music or elocution, or work in the business office or the store, when they know the life of drudgery which their mothers spend and have never been shown either by example or precept the possibilities of mak ing home-building and household work a pleasant employment for both mind and body? The mother who makes a slave of herself in her work is not a fit exam ple, a pleasant companion, or an in spiration to her children. On the other hand our failure to appreciate the value of science to farming and to home building and the conditions which this lack of knowledge brings about, particularly incessant and disagreeable toil, have created such a dislike of and reac tion against farm and house work that we find too often the other ex treme of idleness. An idle father or neighbor, one who has no other purpose in life than to have a good time without work, is a dangerous example, little calculated to inspire a wholesome view of the purposes of life in a boy or girl. Let us show by our example that by acquiring knowledge of our work it can be done with less effort, leaving ample time for mental cul ture, recreation and other pleasures. home where the parents were read ers that the effect was not plain in the increased refinement and com forts in the home, and the greater efficiency of the work done inside the house and out in the fields. If, however, father and mother do not read, and show neither desire nor respect for the knowledge and power which reading brings, the boys and girls are not likely to form the habit and thereby they miss the greatest pleasure of life and a means of acquiring knowledge which gives power in the work of life. We believe in reading for pleasure and culture, but with reading, as with teaching in our schools, we believe that as great pleasure and culture may come through reading that which will furnish us facts and knowledge to better meet the re sponsibilities and do the work of the life we lead as from any other. We can recall no keener pleasures than thdse which we have experienced in reading for the first time an explana tion of the true reasons for doing certain things which we had been doing over and over again without understanding. Ever after there was a new pleasure in doing those things and they were done better because of the better understanding of why we were required , to do them. An understanding of why he is required to cultivate a clean crop, and how cultivation conserves moisture, can not fail to interest the boy, improve his mind, enlarge his understanding and encourage him to do his work better. The girl who learns by her . own reading why and how milk sours, how and why bread rises, or .why canned fruits ferment can not fail to take more 'interest in her work with these things and do it better. The Children's Right to Knowledge. Teach the Boys and Girls to .Work. E MUST NOT, however, make the mistake of allowing chil dren to grow up in idleness without some regular fixed duties to perform. No person has any right to live and enjoy the privileges and pleasures of this life who does not work. The more clearly and forci bly this is impressed on the boy and girl by requiring them to give some thing in the way of definite regular service for what they receive, the more wholesome view of labor and the responsibilities of life willv they acauire. Usually if the parents are hard workers, the children are required to work, and as a rule we believe too much labor is required of . the boys on the farm, but there are parents who make slaves of themselves to maintain their children in idleness. This is worse than either over-work or idleness for all. The boys and girls kept in idleness while their fathers and mothers slave for their comfort and maintenance are almost certain to develop a supreme selfish ness, as well as habits of idleness, which will remain throughout life. Train the Children to Read. E BELIEVE that the desire for knowledge, for and be- j cause of the power which it gives to life's work, is the most im portant ambition which any. boy or girl can possess and that the forma tion of the reading habit offers tne best means of satisfying this ambl er w have never seen a farm V1VUI . v w - r E HE GREAT Southern patriot, John C. Calhoun, once said: "I pity the man who is too poor or too mean to buy books for his children. He might as well re fuse them bread and meat." How any one can have less ambi tion than a desire to know as much about the things he is doing and to do them as well as any one else, is Indeed strange, and yet how many farm boys and girls fail to receive any encouragement to read and study and learn all about the things they are required to do. No girl Is expected to teach music or attempt stenography without a thorough study of these things. No boy at tempts to practice medicine or law (Continued on Page 15.) BERRY'S K Combination Suit 0 c 00 All Sizes, Man) PaHerns Here's a picture of the suit and a postal request will bring you samples of the five different pat terns all strictly all - wool. C Everybody who 'a heard of BCRRY'S knows our repu tation for the best styles and tailoring, so you can satisfy yourself before or- I derlng about the genuine ' nets and attractiveness of our offer. C We are doing every boy and parent a service whom we can Induce to buy one of these suits. C Write us to-day, and if interested ask for sam ples, catalog, etc, of our com plete line of Men and Boys Suits and Overcoats. .CWe sell everything Men and Boys wear, and Trunks. Banind Cases in which tn carry them. C Stylish Reefers for Girls and Misses. 93. SO to $10. Samples upon request. O. H.BERRY&CO. The South' Largest aotbHry, Rlohmond, Mm. i . is t w m i
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 4, 1909, edition 1
3
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