an inclination for the
work on the farm? In the first place do not provide him with any
spending money unless he earns it. The prime thing necessary is to
give the boy a personal interest in what is going on upon the farm.
Give him a plot of land as his own, let him understand that anything
he may grow upon this land shall belong to him, but do not give him
this plot and say, "There, take that; do as you like with it," he
will wonder what to do with it. He will need somebody to help him by
teaching him what he is to do. Enter into a partnership with him at
the start, give him some instruction as to what it is best for him
to do with his plot. Find out his inclinations; give him sympathy
and help. Bring out his natural aptitude for farming life, teach him
method in his work; teach him to think his way out; and, best of
all, teach him to work for definite results; that is what is wanted
in any line of life, especially in farm life.

Let the work of the boy have a meaning and a purpose. Let him
understand that certain results cannot be accomplished in any other
way, and give him chances to go outside and see what other people
are doing. Let him see good scientific agriculture and be encouraged
to pursue such methods.

Provide for him the very best reading that can be found in
agricultural journals and books. Let him have three or four years at
an agricultural college. All the influences there point to
agriculture as the best calling for a young man who is fit for it,
whereas in other colleges the influences are all in the opposite
direction. At our agricultural colleges a youth has all the
necessary advantages of general education, and also an education in
the lines fitting him especially for the calling he has selected.
(United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 138, condensed.)

"Among farmers and gardeners not enough thought is given to the whys
and wherefores, or cause and effect; as a rule, they go on year
after year without profiting by the personal opportunity afforded
them of observation, or by the results of experiments at scientific
stations.

"With rare exceptions the young farmer and gardener takes up his
work, not from the scientific side, but strictly from the labor
side; and he begins at the bottom, meeting the same difficulties as
did his father and too often not acquiring information beyond what
his father possessed.

"This should not be; agriculture should be taught in all our public
scho