This 90 year old magazine is is quite frail, but just as with my 90 year old grandmother, we want to preserve and cherish the important stories.
Preserving the good and passing it down.
Today I am passing down - A Young Farmers Creed -by George M Strayer. But this is not only for Farmers. I particularly find this line important.
TO BE able to get the most enjoyment from life, I believe that it is essential that I know nature, literature, music, and the other arts sufficiently to choose superior from inferior enjoyment.
The full text of the creed is typed out below the image.
Tomorrow I will deposit more pieces into the savings account of our collective memory bank.
An interesting last name, Strayer.
I BELIEVE in life and growth and the joys which are to be derived from a healthy body and the zest of an active mind. Fresh, clean air, a variety of work, and association with the basic elements of nature all have their appeal.
I BELIEVE that any worthwhile farmer must be able to think and study without guidance from others. He must must be a thinker -not a mere imitator. Farming of the future will be a joy to those who participate only because it will be increasingly a matter of intellect rather than brawn
I BELIEVE that it is essential that I have a sufficient knowledge of nature to understand the main processes of life, both animal and vegetable, as well as the foundation upon which human life and happiness depend. The common plants of the field are not common if we know how to call them by name, understand how they seed and grow.
Insects are not just bugs if we know their classifications and life cycles. Soils are not just dirt if we know their uses, their classifications, and their composite elements.
The farm and the field afford the world's greatest laboratory for quiet, unhurried study and constructive thought.
TO BE successful, I would be trained to use the tools of human relations with precision and accuracy. I must know language, both written and spoken, and know the use of numbers. The farmer of today is more and more acquiring the right to sit around the council table and solve his own problems and fight hard for his own rights.
I BELIEVE that it is essential for me to know enough of history to understand the main achievements of man. It will guide me in my movements, give broader conception of life and more complete understanding of world events.
I BELIEVE that every farmer must have not only a general knowledge of his vocation, but training for some particular branch of it. This is an age of specialization and the farmer, as well as any man, must learn to specialize.
TO BE able to get the most enjoyment from life, I believe that it is essential that I know nature, literature, music, and the other arts sufficiently to choose superior from inferior enjoyment. We must come to realize that there is a distinction between mere idleness and leisure, and cease to criticise constructive use of leisure time.
MY HABITS should be those which are called ethical.
I should know the full meaning of the words honesty, good will, helpfulness, and cooperation. In cooperation I will find the satisfactory solution to many of my problems.
STORIES TIME TRAVELLER SCHOOLERS OLD SCHOOL
