--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Bennion, Milton collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 9 number: 7 published: 1906-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Milton Bennion, "Concerning the Education of Young Men. III: Home Activities," *Improvement Era* 9, no. 7 (May 1906): 505–513.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0907unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0907unse start_page: 505 end_page: 513 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0907unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Concerning the Education of Young Men. III: Home Activities IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. IX. MAY, 1906. No. 7 CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN. BY MILTON BENNION, M. A., PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVER SITY OF UTAH. 111.—HOME ACTIVITIES. Of all the institutions that educate, none is more important than the family. The foundation of a life of usefulness or of idleness, of virtue or of vice, of happiness or of misery, is laid in the home. And whether a man's life shall be the one or the other is not determined by the wealth or poverty of his home, or by other external circumstances, but rather by the opportunities the home offers for loving service. Education as service does not necessarily imply that a man shall travel all over the earth for the purpose of serving everybody indiscriminately. On the other hand, it agrees with the maxim, ' 'Do the duty that lies next to you,'' and with this idea of the apostle Paul, "If any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." It is in the family that the best and the most appropriate condition is found for one to lose thought of self in the service of others. Sweet smiles and kind words are appropriate manifestations of love in the home, but that love 506 IMPROVEMENT ERA. should also be manifest in the doing of a great variety of little things that minister to the needs of the household. Everybody should realize that all labor, that has a useful purpose is honorable and educative, and that no one is too rich or too high born to engage in such labor,and to associate on equal terms with those whose business it is to serve others. When you would find fault with the "servant girl" or the '"hired man" for not doing readily and willingly something that you regard as beneath your dignity, imagine yourself in their places, and remember that we are all human, descended from a common ancestry. When those employed in the home have opportunity and inclination to put intelligence and a feeling of willing service into their work, and when each member of the household realizes and acts upon the principle that he is under moral tobligation to render such ser vice as he can, the present unsocial feeling, if not ill-will, so frequently manifest between members of the family and domestic servants, will be supplanted by a feeling of sympathy and good fellowship. This result will contribute much to the peace and educative power of the home. Educators sometimes lament the passing of the ' 'old home,'' with its great variety of activities, and the broad all-round training that it furnished young men and women. But is there not still abundant opportunity for educative service? We need only to adjust ourselves to the changed conditions. If there is no longer need of washing wool, of carding and spinning, and running the loom, there have arisen new needs, in addition to many old ones that persist. In most homes there are still fires to be made, kindling wood and coal to be moved, and, where there are no water-pipes in the house, water to be carried. But, you may ask, what has this to do with education? It has much to do with the education of a youth. Are not these simple, routine activities necessary? Do tbey not serve a useful purpose? Should not a boy or a young man, when he has strength and opportunity, form the habit of sharing this labor? Or should he form the habit of shifting the burden upon those having less physical strength than himself, while he idles away his time, or works off his surplus energy in sports or in formal gymnastics, if not in dissipation? If it is now the "servant girl" that must carry the load, some day it may CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN. 507 he the young man's wife or his aged mother that bears the burden, while he continues the habits of youth. If habit does not rule the world, it is, at any rate, a power before which reason and even conscience commonly bow in humble submission. Then guard in the minutest detail the formation of habits in childhood and youth. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Rise «arly each day and perform gratuitously some service that will minister to the necessities and the comfort of the family. In addition to the daily routine activities suggested above, a few others of like value may be mentioned here. Where manua 1 training is taught in the schools, a boy with a few tools and an inclination to use them can make many little things for home use, and especially for children, which will be more highly appreciated than costly household furniture or expensive toys. Again, a young man with two pipe-wrenches can open and clean out a water pipe or water-jacket and put it in place again often with less trouble than the housewife would have in getting and waiting for the service of a plumber. A door lock sometimes remains out of order for six months, when, in ten minutes, a young man with a screwdriver could take it out, and, by making a very slight adjustment, repair it. But the outward convenience resulting from this service is only a trifle compared with the reaction of these activities upon the character of the doer. He is giving expression to the better side of his nature, thereby strengthening and developing it. The habits thus formed are in themselves good, in addition to the fact that they tend to exclude the possibility of evil. Every young man can do some of these necessary things. What else he should do to add to the comfort and welfare of the home will depend upon how he is otherwise occupied, and the situation of the home. I shall suggest a variety of things that may be done as avocations, especially by one whose vocation is in connection with any kind of indoor work. Such a one needs a little relief every day in some sort of out door employment that will exercise the body and rest the mind. As many professional men renew life by taking a hunting or fishing trip once a year, so may any one who is employed indoors retain his hold upon health and life by reverting to some outdoor occupation for an hour or more 508 IMPROVEMENT ERA. every day. If this recreation can be had in some useful industry, so much the better. Generally, some phase of agriculture, in the broad sense, offers the best opportunity for diverse and varied activity in God's fresh air and sunshine. Any one or more of the following activities, conducted in reference to home needs, may serve such a purpose: Poultry-Keeping.—This has come to be a fad with so many professional men that the Utah Poultry Association is under their control. That poultry-keeping serves a useful purpose in the economy of the home, every house-wife can testify, and I shall endeavor to show that it may be made a valuable means of education. If a young man is going to enter upon this activity intelligently, he must know the origin, characteristics, and classification of the various breeds of domestic fowls; what kind of houses and sheds to build; what sort of inexpensive material will best keep out the frost in winter; how best to arrange roosts, nests, scratching room, and dust baths; the use of litter, gravel, and grit; the kinds of food needed and their relative proportions; and when and how to feed. The reading of a few first-class poultry magazines or books, and a number of agricultural bulletins, dealing with the application of chemical and biological science to the poultry industry, will convince anyone that there is here abundant room for brain activity.* Dairying.—Where circumstances are favorable for keeping one or more cows, opportunity is again offered a boy to render a * The following bulletins, issued by the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., are helpful: Farmer's Bulletins: No. 41. "Fowls: Care and Feeding." No. 51. "Standard Varieties of Chickens." No. 141. "Poultry Raising on the Farm." No. 128. "Eggs and Their Uses as Food." No. 182. "Poultry as Food." No. 114. "Experiment Station Work." No. 200. "Turkeys." No. 64. "Ducks and Geese." Also Utah Experiment Station Bulletins 92 and 67. Maine Experiment Station (Orono, Me.) Bulletin 117. California Experiment Station (Berkeley, Cal.) Bulletin 164. Poultry magazines may be had for 50 cents per year. Th e Reliable Poultry Journal, published at Quincy, 111., is one such. CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN. 509 valuable service, and there is also opportunity for the exercise of intellio^ence in learning of the different breeds of cattle, the points to be observed in judging a dairv cow, and everything pertaining to the housing, feeding, and care of dairy cattle. * The objection may be raised that tending cows is unclean work. No; the term unclean is appropriate in speaking of certain moral conditions, and may be properly applied to grafters, liars, and libertines. T le little dirt and stable odor ccnnected with cowtending can be removed readily by change of outer clothing and the application of warm water and soap. A young man who is afraid to soil his hands in-doing useful manual labor, at once proclaims himself deficient in breadth of view and strength of character. Horse-Keeping.—When the circumstances of the family and their inclinations favor the keeping of a horse and carriage, the care of these v/ill furnish another opportunity for a young man to do something that will add greatly to the pleasure, and perhaps to the health and well-being, of others. A drive in the fresh air is one of the best sources of renewed life and energy to those who are shut indoors most of the time; and nothing is more pleasing, and at the same time more beneficial, to children. The youth who is charged with the care of the horse should have considerable knowledge of the mental characteristics of driving horses, so that when a horse has been obtained having good qualities, he may be so managed as to retain them. Upon this depends the security of life and limb of the women and children who ride. Then there is the question of the scientific economical feeding and care of horses, and the almost unlimited possibilities of investigation in regard to the varieties and their characteristics in reference to certain ends. * See Farmers' Bulletins: No. 106. "Breeds of Dairy Cattle." No. 124. "Experiment Station Work." No. 42, "Facts About Milk." No. 63, "Care of Milk on the Farm." No. 74, "Milk as Food." No. 29. "Souring of Milk." No. 57. "Butter Making on the Farm." No. 166. "Cheese Making on the Farm." Circular No. 45, Bureau of Animal Industry on "Milk Fever." "A Model Farm," reprint from Yearbook of Department of Agriculture, 1903. This deals extensively with dairying. Bulletins Nos. 42 and 73, Utah Experiment Station, Logan. 510 IMPROVEMENT ERA. judging a horse by points, and other matters of consequence in horse-breeding. * Vegetable Garden.—This is an activity that is possible in somedegree in connection with almost every home, except in the most densely populated cities. It is one of the most useful avocations, and one that in itself offers varied activity, both mental and physical. Where the land available is very limited, it may be devoted to the cultivation of the most perishable vegetables, those that should be used as soon as taken from the garden; i. e., spinage, radishes, lettuce, peppergrass, green onions, and other things that can be had in better condition direct from the garden to thfr kitchen than when purchased in the market. Asparagus, pieplant, parsley, and the Jerusalem artichoke may be cultivated in the corner of a lot that commonly produces only weeds. In a town lot of ordinary size, very much can be done in vegetable production. To the list named above, we may add, early potatoes, garden carrots, pickling beets, parsnips, peas, beans, sweet corn, hubbard squash, both summer and winter varieties of melons, and, where conditions are favorable, celery. The soil, moisture and other local conditions,must be studied,and the kinds of vegetables to be gro4vn selected in reference to these conditions. Varieties of seed should be secured, and times of planting so adjusted that there will be a continuous supply of vegetables of some sort.t Fruit Garden.—The science of horticulture is becoming almost as complex as the science of medicine. Both represent the * Farmers'Bulletins, No. 170, "Principles of Horse Feeding." Also Bulletin No. 77, by Utah Experiment Station. t Farmers' Bulletins, No. 94, "The Vegetable Garden." No. 138, "Irrigation in Field and Garden. No. 28, "Weeds, and How to Kill Them." No. 192, "Barnyard Manure." No. 39, "Onion Culture." No. 16, "Leguminous Plants." No. 61, "Asparagus Culture." No. 121, "Bean, Peas, and other Legumes as Food." No. 148, "Celery Culture." "Fertilizers for Special Crops"—Reprint from Year Book, Department of Agriculture, 1902. Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 71, "Soil Inoculation for Legumes." Utah Experiment Station Bulletin No. 12, "Experiments with Garden Vegetables*." CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN. 511 practical application of a group of the most fundamental sciences. However, under ordinary conditions, a young man may succeed fairly well with a small fruit garden by seeking competent advice and learning by his own experience and that [of other fruit growers having like conditions. He should know what kinds of fruit are adapted to the climate, and his situation with reference to early and late frosts. These sometimes vary within the radius of a few miles, since they are influenced by the proximity of mountains, canyons, and bodies of water. The physical and chemical qualities of the soil, its depth, the nature of the underlying; strata, and the situation of underground water, if near the surface, must be known. Then, having found out what is best adapted to the soil and climate, and having secured a variety of the most desirable fruits, there remain a multitude of other questions to be solved, such as, When and how to plant and prune. How to recognize any one of the numerous orchard pests, old and new. How to check these pests by the use of insecticides and fungicides. What kinds of birds and insects assist in this process. * After a man has wrestled with these and kindred problems for a few years, he may well philosophize on the function of evil in the development of intelligence and character. * Farmer's Bulletins: No. 154, "The Home Fruit Garden." No. 161, "Practical Suggestions to Fruit Growers." No. 208, "Varieties of Fruits Kecommended for Planting." No. 113, "The Apple and How to Grow It." No. 198, "Strawberries." No. 116, "Irrigation in Fruit Growing." No. 181, "Pruning." "Promising New Fruits," Reprint from Yearbook, 1902. "Top Working Orchard Trees, "Reprint from Yearbook, 1902. "Small Fruit Culture for Market," Reprint from Yearbook, 1895. "How Birds Affect the Orchard," Reprint from Yearbook, 1900. "Prune Culture in the Pacific Northwest," by E. R. Lake, Division of Pomology. Biennial Reports of the Utah State Board of Horticulture, Salt Lake City, Bulletin No. 25, Utah Experiment Station, "Fruits and Forest, Shade and Ornamental Trees." On orchard pests and their exterminatior, see Bulletins Utah State Board of Horticulture. Also Farmers'Bulletins Nos. 127, 153, 171, 146, 38, and 80. Bulletin No. 55, Utah Experiment Station. "The San Jose Scale," Reprint from Yearbook of Department of Agriculture, 1902. "The Cause and Prevention of Pear Blight," Reprint from Yearbook of 1905. ' 'The Woolly Aphis of the Apple," Circular No. 20, second series. Division of Entomology. 512 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Landscape Gardening.—Except where people live in flats or apartment houses, there is almost always something to be done byway of beautifying the grounds about the house. There is the making and care of a lawn and hedges, the planting, pruning, and otherwise looking after shade and ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, and vines. A strip of ground two feet wide, next to the house, and a small front yard, will furnish room for a variety of trees and plants that will add much to the beauty and attractiveness of the home.* In addition to the bulletins and circulars cited in the foot notes, there are others more general in their nature. The Department of Agriculture issues lists of bulletins and circulars available for free distribution, and other lists of documents for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. These lists will be sent to anyone on application, and from the list of titles those desired can be selected, t The series of bulletins on Experiment Station Work contains much valuable information on a variety of topics. By consulting the table of contents, one may select the bulletins desired. J If a young man is going to devote his surplus time and energy in the main to only one of the activities suggested, he may well subscribe for a first class magazine devoted exclusively to this branch. If, however, he is going to attend to a number of these activities, a general agricultural paper may be most desirable. The Deseret Farmer, published at Salt Lake City, might serve this purpose, as it deals somewhat with all of these problems, in reference to local conditions. * Farmers'Bulletin No. 185, "Beautifying the Home Grounds." No. 173, "A Primer of Forestry." "Lawns and Lawn Making," Reprint from Yearbook, 1897. "Plants as a Factor in Home Adornment," Reprint from Yearbook, 1902. Bulletin No. 62, Utah Experiment Station, "Tree Planting in Utah." t Of those that are more general in subject matter, the following are good examples: Farmers' Bulletin,'No. 109, "Farmer's Reading Courses." No. 126, "Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings." No. 22, "The Feeding of Farm Animals." "A Directory for Farmers," Reprint from Yearbook, 1900. Annual Numbers of the Utah State Farmers' Institute. J Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 84,144, and 186 are good types of those on Experiment Station Work, CONCERNING THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN. 513 Perhaps some readers may object to the varied activity here suggested on the ground that in this day of division of labor a man should undertake nothing outside of his particular business or profession; that, to get the highest economic efficiency, each man's productive activity should be confined within as narrow limits as possible. I answer that we should strive to be well developed and well balanced men, not mere "economic machines," nor should we be merely "book worms." We should rather so direct our mental and physical activities as to preserve the health of both mind and body, and bring all the powers of both into cooperation for the attainment of worthy ends. Then, whatever a man's vocation may be, he can put into it this strength, vigor, and efficiency in thought and action. A little study of the principles underlying any of these activities will show that they offer almost unlimited opportunities in the acquirement and in the application of knowledge gained through both reading and observation. This sort of mental activity has double value, in that it involves the immediate application of knowledge, whereby it becomes vital and powerful; and the habit thus formed, of engaging systematically in some useful labor, is one of the most important factors in the formation of character. Salt Lake City, Utah.