cupation may bring to himself and the self support he may derive from it. It is true that every occupation in which men engage is expected to bring to them the means of living as well as some additional reward, but the farmer's occupation stands practically alone as being one in which his obligation to his fellows must be considered. If these assumptions are correct, farming is not only a profession, requiring a liberal education, including a knowledge of the natural sciences, but the farmer himself is a public benefactor and as such is entitled to first honors.

If the young people brought up in rural districts were properly taught along these lines, it would no doubt help to check the exodus that for the past two decades has been going on from the farm to town and city.

Another unfortunate situation that is no doubt contributing to the. exodus of the young people from the farm, is found in the character of the instruction given in our public schools. I hesitate to speak of this for the reason that it is mentioned so often, but many times the most important truths become commonplace and need to be reiterated and emphasized in order that their significance may not be forgotten or overlooked. For example, I have never been able to understand why boys and girls in our rural schools should be taught so much Arithmetic relating to Banking, Brokerage, Building and Loan Associations, Building Contracts, including Bricklaying and Paperhangng, Gauging, etc., and so little or nothing at all about the Construction of Silos, the Computation of Feeding Rations, the Adjustment and Equalizing of Drafts where horse-power is used, the Computation and Comparison of Values of Farm Products sold in open market or fed upon the farm, the Computation of the Value of Commercial Fertilizers according to market value of ingredients used in compounding them, and a number of other practical problems, too numerous to mention, that are constantly coming up on the farm.

It may be said that the principal object to be gained by the solution of the problems given, is mental discipline, which no doubt is correct, but in the country school, especially why not get this mental discipline in solving problems that will direct attention to, and awaken interest in, the operations of the farm? A noted priest said years ago, "Give me the direction of the first fifteen years of a child's life and I care not who shall have the balance." His meaning evidently was that the bent of mind acquired by the child during the first fifteen years of its existence would give direction to its entire life, and, if this be true in matters of religion, why may it not be relied upon when it comes to choosing a vocation?

Another thing needed in connection with our public school system, is the Township High School. Here again I call attention to a subject as trite as the one referred to in the last paragraph; but many of the most important reforms that history records were brought about by persistent and constant agitation, so I do not hesiate to mention the Township High School as an important factor in the methods to be employed to build up and foster a better agriculture than we have at the present day.

The Township High School will prove an efficient factor in stopping the unwarranted exodus from the country to town. In many instances the change is made by parents before their children reach the age at which they begin thinking for themselves or exercising

choice in the selection of future homes and occupation. A farmer, by industry and good management, reaches a point, about the time his children are ready for high school, at which he feels able to retire from the farm, and being prompted by a commendable desire to give to his family better educational advantages than his country home offers, either sells or rents the farm and moves into town where there is a good high school. The boys and girls of the family readily acquire a taste for the amusements and social enjoyments they find in the new home, and by the time they have completed the high school course and are ready to enter college, all thought of country life and farming, as a vocation, has vanished, and instead of going to an agricultural college, they seek some other institution; or if they should choose a land grant college, they are quite as likely to choose some of the other courses as they are to take up agriculture.

The same conditions obtain and end in like results in many cases where the thrifty farmer does not leave the farm to give his children better educational advantages, but prompted by a laudable desire to do for them the best that is possible, he sends them as soon as they have completed the primary school curriculum to a high school. In many instances, township school directors have arranged for the admission of such pupils as are prepared for high school to the schools of adjacent cities or boroughs, and whether such arrangement has been made or not the high or intermediate school to which they are sent is located in town, and the result is the same as in the case where the farmer leaves the farm and moves into town. The instrumentality or remedial agency that will prove effective in each case is the Township High School, located, not in a borough or town, but in the most desirable spot in the township.

In this Township High School the Elements of Agriculture together with Farm and Household Economics must be taught. The means by which country homes may be equipped with all the appointments that add so much to the comfort of urban populations must be pointed out, and by means of Nature Studies, which should be embraced in the curriculum, the most thoughtful of our country boys and girls can be made to see the many advantages that come from the open air and sunshine, the vastly better sanitary conditions and the comparative freedom from moral and physical contamination that are to be enjoyed by those having their homes upon the farm; and when they are ready to enter college the choice they will make of the course of study to be pursued is likely to be one that leads toward country life.

I mention this necessity of the Township High School, not because the thought is original or new, for this movement has been on foot for several years and a number of such schools are already in operation; but the movement in this direction is not as prompt and active as it should be, and I want to urge school officers, particularly township School Directors, to take the matter up and push the movement forward as rapidly as possible. If to make the Country High School a success, it be necessary to consolidate the district schools as they now exist, I feel sure that, in many instances, it will be found that this can be done with but little, if any, increase of the rate of taxation.

COOPERATION

Another thing essential to the advancement of the farm industry in our State, is closer cooperation among farmers in matters relating to their occupation and its interests. It is doubtful whether persons engaged in any other vocation can get along as well, acting independently of each other, as farmers, but that does not imply that they can get along as well without organization as is possible by working in harmony with each other. A great deal has been accomplished by organizations such as the Grange, Farmers' Alliance, Farmers' Cooperative Insurance Companies, etc. and the success that has been achieved by such cooperation should lead to still greater effort in this direction. Much of the legislation beneficial to agriculture and rural life secured in recent years from our National Congress, as well as from the General Assembly of our State, resulted from the efforts of the National and State Granges, and if in all matters related specially to the farm industry and rural life, farmers should stand together as closely as do the people engaged in most other vocations, they would find such union of purpose and action much to their advantage, while it would, if properly controlled, work no hardship to their neighbors engaged in other vocations.

In a recent conversation, a dairy farmer who supplied milk to regular city customers remarked that if he should charge regular prices for the labor of himself and family, he is furnishing his product for less than the cost of its production and delivery. A little calculation based upon the statements he made, which statements seemed quite reasonable, showed that his assertion was correct, and that his product delivered to his customers was costing more than he received for it. Assuming that he was employing proper methods, there is no reason why such condition should exist, and if a union, as close as exists among the grocers, feed dealers and other business men from whom he buys his supplies, existed among the dairymen in his neighborhood, the condition of which he complained could have been corrected before the end of the day upon which he made his complaint. The fact that everybody is dependent upon the farmer for the actual necessities of life should, and I feel sure, in every case would, prevent the fixing of an exhorbitant rate at which his products shall be sold. But farmers, as a class, have, and should exercise, the same right to fix the price at which their commodities shall sell that is exercised by other men, and the sooner they come into the enjoyment of this right the better it will be for all concerned.

The farmers, in a few counties of the State, already have cooperative associations through which they both buy and sell, and this Department not only recommends the extension of this important movement, but stands ready to assist it in every legitimate way that is possible.

SCARCITY OF FARM LABOR

Another trouble confronting the farmer, is the scarcity of farm labor. For more than a decade this condition has prevailed. The opening up of new coal fields in our State, the remarkable develop

ment and prosperity of the lumber business and the unparallelled activity of iron and steel manufactories have created such demand for the service of able-bodied men as to draw away from the farms the class of laboring men upon which farmers formerly relied and without which they can not hope to achieve the best results.

There can be no doubt but that many of the laboring men who during this prolonged period of unusual activity and prosperity along other lines, left the farm, failed to estimate as carefully as they should have done the advantages and disadvantages of taking such a course. Single men employed on farms are usually provided with board and laundry work for which they must pay when they get employment elsewhere from $20.00 up per month. In addition to this, they find many incidental expenses to meet, such as trolley fares, admission to picture shows, etc. of which they knew nothing when working on the farm, and at the end of the year, if they keep the account correctly, they have less than would have been the case had they remained on the farm.

Men with families, when working on farms, usually have house. rent, fuel, if wood is burned, and if coal is used, the use of farm team to haul the same, without charge. In addition to these extras, as they are sometimes called, they have a truck patch upon which at least their summer vegetables are raised, pasture in summer and forage or rough feed in winter, for a cow, a place to keep cow and chickens and a number of other items toward their living expenses that are not counted as payments on wages, and in this way they get into the habit of considering the money they receive as the total wage paid, and when they come to compare the $30 to $40 or more, as the case may be, which they receive per month in cash, with the $60 to $80 or more the laborer upon public works is getting, they become discontented and leave the country and look for employment at public works located in cities and towns, and, unfortunately, in many cases they find, when too late, that they have made a great mistake. The enticement of higher wages which prompted them to make the change loses its charm, when by actual experience, they learn, that if a rainy day or spell of sickness comes, or an unexpected shut-down resulting from shortage in orders or needed repairs on machinery occurs, wages stop, but house-rent and all other expenses go on. As a result of these conditions, there are many men to be found employed at public works that would be glad to get back to farm labor if they had the means, but moving is expensive, the money to buy the family cow, the pig, the chickens, etc. that they feel they must have before making the venture is not in sight, and so, while conscious of the mistake that was made when they gave up work upon the farm, they do not have the courage to make an attempt to get back.

Farmers, too, who employ labor also make a mistake when they fail to place a distinct value upon house-rent, fuel, pasture, truck patch, etc. and charge them up as payment on wages. If farmers would fix the wages they can afford to pay, the same as is done by the manufacturer, contractor or mine foreman and then take credit for rent, pasture, fuel, use of team, etc. both parties would have a better understanding of what each is giving and receiving by the terms of the contract and less room for dissatisfaction would exist. Having referred to the matter of house-rent, etc. to be paid by the farm laborer, I would suggest that very much would be accomplished

in the direction of settling the question of securing farm labor, if farmers would so plan their farm operations as to be able to give employment to their help the entire year instead of seven or eight months as is so often the case. A provident man, whether he be married or single, is not disposed to bind himself by a contract that gives him employment for but part of the year, leaving him no provision for home and comfort during the season of greatest need.

Where the principal farm industry is dairying or stock-breeding, the help will be needed continuously during all seasons, and as both these branches of farming have special advantages for keeping up the fertility of the soil, they are worthy of special consideration by farmers who must employ labor. The provision of comfortable houses with pleasant home surroundings for the married men and satisfactory boarding places for single men employed, will do much to lessen the difficulty of securing the help that is needed.

If some of the various associations organized for the purpose of improving rural conditions would give some attention to the matter of bringing about a proper solution of the farm labor problem, so that the laborer and employer shall each be able to see their mutual interests as they exist, they might be able to accomplish more and show better cause why their existence should be maintained.

WORK DONE BY THE DEPARTMENT

The usual routine work of the Department received the same close attention of both officers and employes during the year that has characterized all former years. The Fertilizer Control work under the immediate supervision of the Secretary was, as heretofore, so far as carrying out its details is concerned, under the direction of Mr. H. E. Klugh, who makes the following statement in relation thereto :

"Fifteen agents were employed during the spring and fall seasons of this year and assigned so that they could visit all counties in the State in the months of April and May in the spring, and August and September in the fall.

"The work resulted in our securing 3,329 samples, representing 1,169 brands, of which 1,164 samples were analyzed.

"The practice of former seasons was adhered to, in compositing samples of the same brands taken in different sections of the State, so that goods of the same brands manufactured at different points could be examined without subjecting the Department to the expense of having duplicate samples analyzed.

"The reduced appropriation made by the last General Assembly made it necessary for us to curtail expenses at every point, and in fact compelled us to withdraw agents from sections of the State where their services were required and place them in other sections so that all counties would be protected. A more liberal appropriation for this work will enable the Department to allow the agents to remain in their respective districts for a longer period of time, secure a larger number of samples and do a greater service to both the honest manufacturer and the consuming public.

"A departure from the regular work was attempted this year and resulted favorably to the Department.