The time will come when the farmer will have no trouble to find help to put in his crops and to gather them, for men will seek opportunity for the healthful outdoor exercise which farm work gives them, and no man will feel ashamed to be called a farmer.

Farm work is as dignified as any other kind of labor a man may be engaged in, there is nothing more healthful, nothing more honorable and nothing more satisfying in its returns. The only thing that is lacking today to make agriculture more attractive and respectable in the eyes of professional men, is to give it larger recognition in our educational system; the subject of agriculture has not yet received the recognition which it deserves in the educational field; it is one of the newer claimants in the educational curriculum.

There are many reasons why agriculture should be made a distinctive study in the education of our youth; first of all its value appears from the fact that it affords a means of livelihood. In the educational world we have been inclined to ignore or pass over lightly the things which savor of practical life, feeling that such subjects were out of the domain of education and culture; when God decreed that man should earn his bread in the sweat of his face it was not the result of anger or of ill will toward man but for the good of his physical and moral life.

Only by work do we grow. The mechanic is made at the bench, the teacher in the schoolroom, the painter at the pallette. No matter how thorough the preparatory training may be, true ability develops only in its accomplishment. Culture without work is as impossible as physical growth without food. Therefore, what we need in our education is the information and training that will fit us for the practical duties of life, those duties which come in the line of our special calling.

Such training is of vastly more value to the individual than all the accomplishments he can acquire for social life and pleasure. One lesson on the subject of agriculture properly taught is worth a half a dozen lessons in music and drawing, so far as practical benefits of life are concerned.

If our public schools would have a little more of the practical side of life represented in their curriculum of study and less of the veneer of culture, they would be far more successful in rendering help to the youthful mind and of laying the foundation for a useful life in the scholar; but I plead not so much for the elimination of subjects, which to my mind are unnecessary and valuless which are only fit for the purpose of show and polish, but for the introduction of more practical subjects and of sufficient time being given to the teaching of these to make them thoroughly comprehensive to the student. I am not saying what I do in a spirit of criticism, but merely as a suggestion and to give expression to my convictions concerning the importance of the subject of agriculture. I remark again that as a means of livelihood agriculture is an important subject and should find a place in our educational work to an extent greater than it does. It is work in which women as well as men may engage.

It is true that parts of the duties are too heavy for the strength of women, but it is also true that nearly every business develops beyond the ability of one person to manage. It is also true that one can hire common labor at a less figure than skilled workmen; where only brain and muscle are necessary the man can be hired at a less cost than where brain and skill are requisite, and there are always more such men seeking employment, so that a woman need not hesitate to engage in agricultural pursuits because parts of the work are hard for her.

Again, farming is a work that one may begin on a small scale and without much capital. To establish a manufacturing industry much capital and extensive plants 'with a large output are needed to insure success.

And then again farming offers such a variety of work. There is the opportunity for the flower garden, the raising of vegetables, the growing of fruits and the breeding of stock, all of which affords diversion and pleasure, to say nothing of the returns in money.

Just a word on fruit growing. This is a big subject and deserves a liberal discussion by itself, but I must say just a word in passing. We farmers as a rule do not interest ourselves enough in this matter; we are too easily satisfied with the quality and quantity orchards bear us; we are too careless of our trees; we do not prune them enough or cultivate the soil about the roots and replace the dead ones with live ones; too often our orchards are only pasture ground for our hogs and young calves, the ground covered with dead branches and old stumps. We can not have either good fruit or much of it under such conditions. Apples are our principal fruit in this country and there is no good reason why we should not raise the very best that grows. These can be made a very profitable product of the farm; they are easily marketed and usually bring a good price.

Of course I would not advise anyone to turn a good rich farm all into an apple orchard; but I believe that every farmer ought to raise all the fruit of all kinds that he needs for himself. All it requires is a little attention, and this need not interfere with any of his other duties.

I do not take much stock in the current stories of fabulous prices paid for apple orchards in different parts of the country. If they are true in any instance they prove the exception which men have attained under peculiar conditions and by those who have been long engaged and became experts in their line.

But to return again to our first proposition, namely, that agriculture affords means of obtaining a livelihood and therefore should find a place in our educational curriculum. I do not mean to be understood as saying that the study of agriculture should be so incorporated into the common school work that it would be obligatory on all scholars to pursue its study at school as they now do the study of reading, writing and arithmetic. I do not mean that it should be considered in any sense a fundamental in education; I only mean that ample provision should be made for its study that all might have the opportunity to learn about it, and especially those who of their own choice or the choice of their parents wish to study it.

Second, we argue in favor of education on the subject of agriculture for sociological reasons; many people have gotten a wrong sense of proportions; they have sought wealth and well-being away from nature, and have lost the the charm and influence which she is ever ready to shed about them.

Boys and girls have turned their_steps cityward oftimes leaving the old farm to neglect and deterioration. This might be all right and pass without comment did they better their condition by so doing. In some rare instances they may, but oftener they do not.

Hundreds of toiling men and women in the dense centers of population know far less of life in the fullness of its enjoyment than they would away from those centers; the increase of poverty, wretchedness, dependence and the charity which necessitates, has become a source of greater alarm to the city than has the depopulation of its farms to the country.

Few adages contain more truth than one which says "distance lends enchantment." Only the glitter and brightness of city life is manifest to those who live in the country, while oftimes only the routine and toil of their own life seems prominent; the reason of this lies chiefly in our failure to see the things of interest within our reach.

No surer way of correcting this condition has appeared than the present nature study movement, the object of which is to open the child's eyes to the things of interest to be found on every hand. The boy or girl who becomes imbued with the love of nature, who obtains the key with which to unlock her secrets, is not likely to find the farm home irksome and monotonous.

Such a childhood leads naturally to a love for plants, and animals, and the outdoor life and to interest itself in the farm work, and such a love works mightily to hold the son or daughter on the farm.

So, too, an opportunity to learn something of nature is even more likely to excite interest in the city child and may arouse a longing for its gratification which will turn his steps toward nature's fields and flowers.

A quiet but strong force tending towards the correction of one great present sociological problem is thus at work.

Now in conclusion let me again express my pleasure at being permitted to meet with you, my agricultural friends, in this county institute, and allow me to urge you all to take a deep interest in these gatherings for the good you may get out of them individually and the good you may do-these inst.tutes a medium of education, not only to ourselves, but also to the community and to the State.

The farmers are a power in the country, therefore let us see to it we not only retain this power but let us try to increase it by keeping posted on all current topics and by manifesting greater enthusiasm for our work.

Aberdeen-angus cattle on blue grass pasture, property of Israel Mills, Clay City, Clay County, Illinois.

FARM DEPARTMENT.

PROFIT AND Loss.

[By Chas. Francis, New Lenox, Ill.]

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Will County Farmers' Institute: It gives me great pleasure to be honored with a position on the program of this Institute, for the fame of the Will County Institute is known far and wide, throughout the State as the best.

This has largely been brought about by its able management, and clean cut principle of right and justice, and as long as right and justice are the predominating factors in any organization, it is bound to succeed.

Progression is essential to success, what we do well this year, we hope to do better next year. This is the spirit that has made the institute what it is. For many years this organization has promulgated and carried forward principles calculated to benefit alll business pursuits, and we think the fruits of its labors are widely felt throughout the county and State.

Now, as I look into your intelligent faces, I see the stamp of refinement of educated minds, representing prosperity, good government and happy homes. This has not been brought about by mere accident or chance, but by work, by study, by close application to the different pursuits which you have chosen to follow.

I will not attempt to tell this intelligent audience anything new, but will try for a short time to present such facts that you all may know, and my purpose will be attained if I may say something that will be helpful and instructive.

My subject, "Profit and Loss" is old but ever new. From the earliest ages to the present day, these two words have been the subject of thought and consideration of men of affairs, men who strive to better their condition and make the world better. It should be the impulse of everyone to leave the world better than he found it. Our subject is one that covers a wide range of thought-as wide as the world. Every branch of industry is looking forward to a profit commensurate with the labor and capital employed. But is this always the condition? We say partially, for all conditions are not favorable for the best results.

As this is a Farmers' Institute, and the audience is composed largely of farmers and stock raisers, we will, for a little while discuss the farm as to profit and loss. There is just as much difference in farms as in farmers. You will agree to this as a fact. If a farm is to produce a profit in this time of close competition, it must have the best treatment that labor and science can bring to bear upon it.

No one will dispute the labor part on the farm; that is, there is never a lack of labor to be performed; but some one may question the science or scientific proposition.

One of the coming great political problems will be the harmonizing of capital and labor; one cannot long exist without the other.