Here is seen the beginning of better methods in primary education. In the rural districts of America, this system needs but little modification to fit it to the rural home. All else must yield to the inborn rights of the children. If that Brussels carpet which adorns the dark and unused parlor must be pulled up and some of the worst pictures relegated to the garret, in order that provision for a school-room for the children of the family or for those of the immediate neighborhood may be made, then pull it up. Receive the visitor in the sitting-room or on the veranda, and let the neighborly chat be where there is “air, and light, and space, and verdure.”
Reduce the above picture of an English school to suit environment, and we have the family as a unit; the mother and her companion as teachers; and we shall have not only the appearance of home, but a true home, where duty commands and love obeys. This is no far-fetched picture; it is one drawn from many observed instances of these farm home schools. The youths on the farm have a right to a liberal education if they desire it; they own the earth, and why should they not have the best it affords if they make good use of what the earth and all that therein is has to offer.
When we come to the higher education, there are good and sufficient reasons why pupils should be massed. At the college, expensive and rare appliances, great laboratories and museums, ample and expensive libraries, and distinguished and able teachers, must be provided. Then, too, the pupils of the college have arrived at that period of maturity which gives them a fair degree of self-restraint and discretion.
Connected, as I have been for more than a quarter of a century, with college life, I have had many opportunities to observe the freshness, vigor and purity of many of the country lads and lasses who come directly from the healthy, solid home instruction of their parents.
I am well aware that this chapter will not revolutionize rural primary education. I do not want it to do so. Revolution destroys; evolution builds. But if these brief words of one who received until near manhood the thoughtful, loving home training of a mother, who said, “I received a better education than my parents did, and, come what will, I determine that my children shall have better opportunities for securing an education than I had,” shall persuade some that the farm home is the natural, the appointed place for training children until they have passed the critical mental and physical period of life, I shall be content.
CHAPTER IV
SELECTION AND PURCHASE OF FARMS
In selecting a farm, many things should be considered. One purchaser may lay stress on the quality or productivity of the land, another on its location as to market, another as to the outlook or scenery, and another as to the society in the immediate locality. Some would be unhappy if far removed from city or town, while others delight in many broad acres far removed from the busy crowd. All these different phases of the subject, with many others, should be considered before the purchase is made. It is seldom that a farm can be secured which fulfils all desirable conditions; therefore, such choice should be made as will most fully meet the desires and tastes of the purchaser.
Some farms are purchased with little or no thought of their producing a livelihood, while others are selected largely for the purpose of securing profits in their cultivation, and others are bought because they are expected to furnish safe and profitable investments. It is evident that no specific or even general rule can be formulated which will be applicable to all purchasers, since tastes, training, needs and desires of the purchaser vary widely; nevertheless, a discussion of the subject may be profitable. Those who secure their income and profits by agriculture alone should lay stress on four things; viz., healthfulness, environment, quality of land, and water supply.
Without health, life often becomes a burden; therefore, climatic conditions, soil and surroundings, so far as they relate to physical and mental vigor, should be considered first. But health and vigor are not all, for if the moral, intellectual and social conditions of the people in the neighborhood are undesirable, the children may take the road which leads towards semi-barbarism. This road is open to all, in city and country, but parents should avoid thrusting their children into it. Church, and social congenial and God-fearing associates should be accessible to the growing family. Children are and must be active, physically and mentally, if they are to grow straight; and if provisions are not made for directing their energies into proper channels, they are likely to find improper ones. Wherever the farmer sows not a full abundance of good seeds, weeds are certain to spring up. The farm must provide a fair and liberal income, because want brings lack of true pride, breeds carelessness, even hatred of others, filches self-respect and courage. Therefore, if profits are desired, good land, land of wide agricultural capabilities, should be selected. The greater variety of crops the land is capable of producing and the more varieties the farmer raises, provided he does not exceed his mental and executive capabilities, the better will be his education and training.
Frequently the purchaser has too little means, and feels that he must secure cheap lands, which too often are situated far from the railway markets and centers of activity. In such a case, he places himself outside the activities of the towns, which are extremely helpful to him if he be wise enough to choose the good and refuse the evil which they offer. Of course, much depends on the good sense of the parents and the inheritance and training of the children as to how much they will imbibe of that which is good and how much they will refuse of that which is evil. Children cannot be placed entirely beyond evil influences, but they can be prevented from becoming too familiar with them.