Chapters in Rural ProgressButterfield, Kenyon L. (Kenyon Leech)
Science
Chapters in Rural Progress
Butterfield, Kenyon L. (Kenyon Leech)
Agriculture -- United States
The agricultural colleges also offer shorter courses of college grade,
perhaps of two years. These are very practical and useful courses. Not
only that, but nearly all the colleges give special winter courses of
from ten days to fourteen weeks. These are patronized by thousands of
young men. So in many ways are the colleges meeting the need. We all
agree that it is desirable for a young man to take a full college
course, even in agriculture. But it is better to have a half-loaf than
no bread. Yes, better to have a _slice_ than no bread. The colleges
furnish the whole loaf, the half-loaf, and the slice. And young men are
nourished by all.
One reason why agricultural education has not made more rapid progress
is because the children of the country schools have been taught in such
a manner as to lead them to think that there is no chance for brains in
farming. Both their home influence and their school atmosphere have, in
most cases perhaps, been working against their choice of agriculture as
a vocation. It therefore becomes important that these children shall be
so taught that they can see the opportunity in farming. They must,
moreover, be so trained that they will be nature students; for the
farmer above all men must be a nature student. So we see the need of
introducing into our rural schools nature-study for the young pupils and
elementary agriculture for the older ones. This is being successfully
accomplished in many cases, and is arousing the greatest interest and
meeting with gratifying success. We shall within ten years have a new
generation of young men and women ready for college who have had their
eyes opened as never before to the beauties of nature and to the
fascination there is in the farmer's task of using nature for his own
advantage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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