VOL. LX.
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 10, 1905.
NO. 23
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HOW TO KEEP THE BOYS INTERESTED
IN THE FARM.
Take The Boys Into Partnership.
1st Premium—Kvery boy likes responsibility. My little grandson, who
is hardly threo feet high, wants to
push the wheelbarrow and the garden
plow, and always asks to drive the
horse. And he never sees me digging
with a spado, or using a rake, that ho
does not want the job. It is the native
manliness of every little fellow that
later prompts the grown-up boy to cut
out a tunnel, build a railroad, or command an army. Such Impulses should
not be discouraged. If the colt or calf
or pig is the boy's very own, he will
feed it and see that it has shelter. If
the crop is so ' apportioned that the
bushels of the boy's share are his own,
to house or sell or sow, the boy is full
of incentive to strive.
So it is good to take hi minto partnership, so to speak, and allow him to feel
the responsibility lie likes.
Qivc The Boys a Chance.
2d Premium—I remember speaking
with a gentleman, a short time ago,
about his experience on a farm whero
he worked, when a boy, during his
summer  vacation.
"Tho day I got there," he said, "Mr.
Blank set me to hoeing corn, and he
kept me at It until I was sick of the
sight of a com field." And he added,
with a smile, "I thought ho was the
meanest   man  on   earth."
"Why," I asked, "was the work too
hard for you?"
"Oh, no; but it was so monotonous.
It was the same thing, hour after hour,
day after day."
That boy never took an interest in
farm work, though he worked on a
farm several summers. He was bright
and willing, and a change of occupation would have mado his hours of toil
more pleasant, without loss to his employer. We older ones ought to remember that it takes a long time to harden
tender feet to the work of a tread-mill.
If boys are to become interested
in the work of tho farm, tlieir tasks
must not be too great for their strength,
or that he shall do work exactly as the
father has always done it. Some boys
have ideas of their own, ami very good
ideas too. I have seen a fifteen year
old boy do good work with an old mower that a man had pronounced worthless. When there is a boy on the place
who has :i mechanical turn of mind, it
is a good thing for him and the farmer
if he have the care of the machinery.
The boys should help select and care
for the seeds used for the farm and
garden. They will soon learn to notice
the difference between crops grown
from good seed and those grown from
poor seed, aud take an interest in the
improvement  of  yield  and   quality.
Besides bis regular school work, a
boy should havo some timo for reading, and he should be supplied with
books and papers suited to his tastes
and years, and remember that it is
just as annoying to a boy to be sent to
do some forgotten bit of work just as
he has settled down for an hour with
a good book as it is to a man. He
should have some time that is his own,
and his right to that time ought to be
respected by every member of the family.
were four boys in this family, three of
whicli were near In age, with no break
of  sisters  between.    They  were John,
Davie  and  Hal.    In  this  instance,  because of a fall, the father never dared   *
do long and protracted work, and must
rely upon his boys to help him with all
tho  work,  and  when  they  were   very
young at that.    Davie, the second boy,
proved   most   dependable.     John   must
always  be called  in the  morning, and
was  inclined  to potter,  if feeding the
stock  or  some  similar  work  was  set
for liim to  do.    Not so Davie.    When
but a lud of ten, he began getting up
very early, without the calling, to build
the fires, and then feed and water the
stock,  as  well  to  help  get  the  teams
ready  for  the  day's  work.     It  fretted
and worried him to know that any part
of  the  stock  had  missed  getting  feed
or water at the regular time.    It was
soon  the  same  with  the  planting and
reaping.    He would not be behind the
neighbors, and gloried  in being ahead
of them,   liy the time Davie was fifteen
he was doing a man's work on the farm.
His opinions on  matters  pertaining to
the crops were given due creim. by his
brothers, and he was rather looked up
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Breaking The Wild  Prairie iir The  Western Canada    Wheat  District
There is usually a natural difference
of taste in the- family;' so that one
craves stock and one crops or machinery. As it is good for the boys to learn
all these departments of farm work,
it is not the best to allow them too
exclusive a separation; but they may
be encouraged in the line of special
taste and at tlie same time held under
parental authority for full portions of
the work. That is, do not allow the
lover of machinery to neglect his calf
or colt, or the general stock of the
farm. Nor is it best for him to ever
possess enough of stuff, entirely his
own, to be free from parental authority or advice. Even after he passes
21, he should observe enough of respect for his father and mother to be
obedient and to accept their counsel.
And again: No boy should be so independent of his father as to trade and
scheme altogether on his own judgment. The father should know enough
for all the business plans of his children to save them from unwise or unrighteous investments and undertakings. So it is an interesting matter.
Just enough of a good thing is better
than too much.
Rush Co. W. S. S.
nor should care and responsibility be
forced upon them before they are able
to bear the burden. The hands must,
indeed, learn to labor and the brain
to plan. In time the weight of responsibility must rest on the shoulders of
every man who is worthy of the name,
hut it is a part of the plan of the Creator that childhood and early youth
shall be comparatively free from toil
and care.
The work should be so arranged that
tho boys will not be obliged to get up
too early in the morning. Every boy
and girl in the land has a right to as
much sleep as the system requires. The
work should be apportioned in a spirit
of fairness. Disagreeable tasks should
not be given to a boy, merely because
ho is a boy, and, when possible. It is
best for him to do the kind of work
that he enjoys. A wise man once said
that half the failures ln life are due
to the fact that many people attempt to
do work which they do not like, and
to which they are unsuited. Many a
boy might make a successful cattle
raiser who would be a failure at breeding horses.
It is both unwise and unjust for a
father to insist that his son shall do
the kind of work that his father likes,
"All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy," and it also makes him a
discontented boy, and if he does come
home as happy as a lark after he has
been out fishing for ten hours, it is no
sign that he don't get tired following a
drag all day. M. W.
Hd Premium—How to apportion the
work on the farm so that the boys may
take an interest in it would require
some tact as well as some extra
thought on the part of the parents—I
say parents, for I havo known a mother to upset some excellent plans laid
out by the father in this line. To apportion the work In a way that would
not lead to discontent and bickering,
as I so often have seen, the parents
must study the natural inclination of
each boy to do certain things better
than the other boys, and to do it cheerfully. This tendency they should help
with needed tools for work, and encouragement in ways too numerous to
specify; although, if the farm is large,
each boy should know that at certain
times all must work together, and
should co-operate In the work.
I might best illustrate what I mean
by telling you how this was done by
a farmer with whom I once lived. There
to by them. He learned, as others do,
by many mistakes, and yet he never
heard a word of complaint from his
father, but always words of praise that
put him upon his mettle to deserve.
John, the elder son, was not lazy
by any means, but lie would get out of
feeding and caring for the cattle and
horses if allowed; and although he
made a goon hand in the field, he seemed happiest when tinkering about the
barn or fences with saw and hammer.
Seeing that he possessed the faculty
for making things look better about
the place, if given the chance with
these tools, as far as he was able the
father supplied the boy with carpenter
tools, had him fit up a shop out of an
old shed, and thus encouraged him to
do   carpenter   work   about   the   place.
Hal, the third boy, was kept about
the house more than the others had
been to help the mother. This did not
suit him in the least, as he was strong
and ambitious to do something or have
something for himself. A plot ot
ground was given him to raise potatoes upon. These were all his
own, although if necessary the other boys helped cultivate them. A runt
pig or undersized calf was handed over
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