A most commendable work for the rural social leader would be that of showing the possibilities of guiding country boys and girls more scientifically in the direction of their coming vocational life. Too often, there may be found a mistaken farmer who is attempting to force his boy to take up the farm life when as a matter of fact the boy is in no sense fitted for such vocation and should be trained for a distinctly different line of work. Then, on another occasion, you will meet a man who is farming simply because he has to do it, and who is over-anxious that his boy be guided in the direction of something else. The point especially to be emphasized here is that the parent cannot choose arbitrarily a vocation for his child. The native interests of the latter must be consulted again and again, while the child is growing up, and in the end the young person must decide the matter for himself. The world is full of wrecks of human character who are such largely because of the single fault of their never having been trained scientifically in a vocational way. So advance as best you can the idea that parents must be most patient in awaiting the development of the various instincts and desires in their growing children, and for the final decision of the latter in respect to a calling. It should be made clear that many of the best and ablest men in the world floundered about not a little in deciding upon the final choice. This very important matter of choosing a vocation for the young man and the young woman will be taken up in Chapters XVIII and XIX of this book. OTHER LOCAL POSSIBILITIES It will be understood that the possibilities of church and Sunday school work in a rural neighborhood are not intentionally slighted. Little is said in regard to them here simply because of the fact that there is a country-wide organization with well-directed local branches and with a flood of excellent literature constantly at work in building up the church and Sunday school life. The reader may be reminded, however, that this field still presents many excellent opportunities for serving the highest interests of the home community. The matter of purely social gatherings for the boys and girls is important. It will perhaps be found that they are running to cheap, degrading dances, either in the home neighborhood or in a near-by town. If the rural leader can break this thing up and substitute a literary club, a better form of social intercourse, or any other gathering, for the cheap dance and its resultant debauch, the effort will certainly be most commendable. It is not as a rule advisable to condemn and denounce these cheap affairs, but rather to begin at once a movement in the interest of the better substitute. Just as soon as the latter begins to take form, the young people will naturally discontinue their degrading affairs. Chapter XIII of this book will offer a more extended discussion of the social problems of country youth. [Illustration: PLATE XX.