oses. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded that you lack ability
to acquire a good education. All you require is opportunity,
determination and honesty of intention.

Farming is worthy, moreover, of the most highly educated as well as
the most capable. If lack of means prevents a young man from taking a
four-years' training in agriculture, he will find a two years' course
offered by many of the state agricultural schools. While it is
obviously impossible to give in two years as much training as in four
years, these two years' courses contain the more technical subjects
and are usually very thorough and efficient. No young man, no matter
how thorough his previous training, need hesitate to pursue one of
them.

There are, however, young men who cannot spare the time and expense of
even two years' training. For such many state agricultural colleges
offer winter terms of eight to twelve weeks. These courses are
arranged to allow the student to specialize along some particular
line. The better prepared the man is who enters these winter courses
the more he will benefit by them. This leads to the caution that such
courses should not be substituted for the education offered in the
public schools, but should only be sought after all the opportunities
for education at home have been exhausted.

For the somewhat older young man who is now farming and cannot leave
his farm or for the younger man as a preparation for the short
courses, one or more correspondence courses will be found useful. Not
all colleges conduct correspondence courses, but fortunately those who
do will accept students from other states on equal terms. There are
many persons who will testify to their helpfulness.

Every young farmer should have a carefully selected library of
standard books on agriculture, not only for reading but for reference.
An instance of the value of a standard book of reference came recently
to the attention of the writer. An educated young farmer in Iowa paid
$2.50 for a peck of crimson clover seed which he sowed in the spring
in his oats. A reference to any standard publication on forage crops
costing less than the peck of seed would have disclosed to him the
probable hopelessness of success under the conditions named.

The books to include as well as to exclude from a select list will
depend upon the previous training of the man making the purchase, the
character of the farming to be pursued, and, to some extent, to the
section