As stated above, no natural boy probably takes up hard work willingly or voluntarily. Parents may as well accept it as their peculiar duty to direct and discipline their boys with required tasks. But after considerable persistent and conscientious enforcement of the boy's labors the parent is almost certain to be rewarded with the latter's manifest willingness and fondness in doing what was at first thought of as pain and punishment. It is a serious matter, however, to observe how many grown men there are who look upon their work with the dread and disfavor natural to little boys. One is inclined to wonder at this and at the cause of it. So far as can be learned by inquiry among workmen and those who dread their enforced labor, their view of the situations is about as follows, to render liberally the language of a stonemason-philosopher: "Work is something no man is naturally fond of. Every worker would quit if he could afford to and take life easy. If I had ten thousand dollars ahead, I would never work another day. Of course somebody has to work or we should all starve, but my advice to a boy is that he get a good education and thus learn how to make a living some other way." Here the parent who has true foresight in respect to his child's development is confronted with a serious problem. It is not merely a matter of teaching the boy to work, but rather that of teaching him to become master of his work in order that personal pleasure may finally come from the performance thereof. So, one must follow the boy most thoughtfully in the latter's initial steps toward satisfactory industry. While it is sometimes advisable to take him forcibly back to the place where he failed and even to enforce obedience and effort with the rod, it is most certainly the parent's duty to praise the small lad for his first light tasks well performed, and otherwise to show appreciation thereof. "It took me a year to get this boy down to business," said the proud father of a fifteen-year-old who had just won a second prize in a state-wide corn-raising contest. "During the summer of his sixth year I took him with me into the field on occasions when he could do something light and learn from it. But my chief plan was to train him in garden work. I gave him a small plot to tend and helped him lay it out and plant it. At first he showed great interest, but I knew that it was of the playful kind and that it would soon wane. Sure enough, in a short time he was dodging and slighting his garden work. Then, I began a more definite method. At morning I would instruct him very carefully what he must do for the day, and at each evening I required him to compare results and instructions with me. Punishment was necessary more than once, but slowly he began to catch my point of view."