KEEP THE SON ON THE FARM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1210, 19 August 1911, Page 8

KEEP THE SON ON THE FARM.

A SUGGESTION. 0 Farming is the most independent callB ing upon earfh, writes Mr. Henry Lord f (instructor in Agriculture at the Technic. cal College, in the Sydney "Daily Telet graph," especially when the farmer owns s his own farm. The farmer's children 1 should be encouraged to remain in this ~ nuinly, healthy, and independent occur palion, and therefore, the parents should , encourage them tv> take an interest in . their work, Many a farmer has driven, s his son off his farm unintentionally, and > unconsciously. Tho son is sent to school, ■probably from the ago'of sis until he is r iourteen, then ho is put to work oil the , farm, and is housed, clothed, and fed, and 3 sometimes has a little pocket money given ,- t:> .him. After a time ho becomes disr satisfied at hearing that •schoolmates of . his, now 17, 18, or 19 years of age, are : away, in a town whero they earn iit a day 3 more than he receives in i> month; by 5 and by. he runs away from the fafni, 3 where he has no' interest', to some large - town, to earn money.. It*is generally true - that ho is leaving a good "Eoiiie and good' i moral snrroundings; but he is unaware : of the good things he possessed until they > are lost. After tho 5011 has run away I from the farm, the father often has to 1 get.some other lad lo do'the work that I his son used to do, and sometimes actu--1 ally pays him more per week than he i gave his son monthly, and often- the I son was worth more than the new boy. • Ihe farmer, in most cases, could easily: f remedy tho .evil by giving bis son a 1 small monthly wage, and a percentage on [ tho net revenue from one or more .' branches of the farm, such as the dairy, > poultry, pigs, or sheep, of which tho son - had charge under the father's guidance. . By so doing the farmer would be teach--1 ing his fon to take an interest in his • work, and their revenue 'thereby would . increase, while'the son would lie'learning 1 bow to make farming pay." Under such conditions the son usually: develops, into a successful farmer. ■\\.- - • ■••.•.