"Oh, the girls on the farm have minds and pride and ambition just as big as their brothers' too; and in many cases they are not given half a chance to realize one iota of this ambition. It is then that a career off the farm and away from the farm home appeals to them. Then the thought comes that even though the salary to be earned may be small, still it is all one's own, and there is no fear in planning where and in what it shall be invested." Likewise, Mrs. F. L. Stevens, writing for _Progressive Farmer_, says:-- "How often have we seen young girls leaving comfortable farm homes to go into typewriting, clerking, or bookkeeping, in order to have their own money. An allowance for personal expenses in the beginning would have solved this problem. But the father has not seen it that way. [Illustration: PLATE XXVI. FIG. 33.--At a tender age girls are instinctively fond of doing such work as is displayed here. Strange to say, some mothers deny their little daughters the character-forming benefits of this childish occupation.] "It is not necessary that the daughter be given a monthly or yearly allowance of so much cash, but the really better way, it would seem, would be to start her in some special branch of work, say, poultry-raising. Or perhaps she might be given a cow or a horse or a pig, which would in time bring in sums of money by careful management; and the business, a small one perhaps in the beginning, would easily develop. Many young girls like to work in a garden as the produce is always a good source of income and an interesting and educational work." CERTAIN RULES TO BE OBSERVED If we are to give up the idea that the young woman naturally possesses the necessary business judgment, and to substitute the better idea that she must be taught how to manage her own affairs; then, What are the fundamental steps necessary to impart such instruction? It seems to the author that they are these:-- 1. _Teach the girl to work._--As was shown in a previous chapter, the girl must be taught carefully and conscientiously how to work. Even though she may be so fortunate--or unfortunate--as not to be compelled to do any of her own housework, only a first-hand knowledge of how such work goes on will enable her successfully to direct it. The strength of our democracy is much dependent upon the character of our women. The modern tendency toward the development of a leisure class among the women and girls of the wealthier families is quite as much a menace to social solidarity as was the older order of keeping women in ignorance and servitude.