For example, farmer's didn't know the importance of keeping their farms cleaned up and how to properly house their animals. In return, manure and run off contaminated a lot of the fresh water systems. Another example of their lack of education was the fact that a lot of them had no idea how to properly care for and then store their harvest. Most were unfamiliar to even fertilizing or rotating crops.
They also never made the connection that they were responsible for a lot of the sickness going on around the country by selling their improperly cared for meat and plants for consumption.
Steam powered equipment was just becoming a reality. This could greatly improve the need for laborers. The problem with this was that for the uneducated man, who would be able to learn how to operate it and maintain and fix it if most didn't even know how to read?
Most were never taught how to count either. This was a huge problem in the agricultural industry. For example, most had no idea how to account for what they would need to properly plant their ground or figure out their yields or report anything. Education was a must! President Lincoln realized the importance of this and began to make that