Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-10-23
The Education q Voting Farmers.

Sho INV PSuoS. OhOWSiA w.
ourselves that every other citizen
should be prepared to fill his or her
place in life with advantage to the
public. This is q fundamental prin-
ciplo Of our system of government,
in which every mar has : shtSaf BY
his vote, and needs to DO educated
to use this power with safety to the
public. And it may well be extended.
so far as to include that every person
who must support himself by his
labor should have every facility for
fitting himself in an effective manner
for his work. Doubtless it is on this
principle that the agricultural col
leges hayeibeen instituted and that
experiment stations have been added
to them for tho technical instruction
Of farmers. But the farmer who
neglects or refuses to avail himself.
of these public means of education
fails to perform the part of the duty
which devolyes upon him as a citi-
zen, Which is to make himself useful
to the public which provides means
for the training of his children, and
when he declines to send his sons, or
one of them ut least, to an agricultu-
ral college when he is able to do so,
he neglects a plain duty. No doubt
many farmers suffer disability in
their occupation for want OF a sufi-
cient education. Farming is not to
be carried on by a rule of thumb or
by servile imitation of obsolete prac-
tices. Years ago all mechanical
vocations were carried on without
knowledge of scientific principles
upon which they were based. But
this ignorance no longer prevails.
Every worker in wood knows the
strength IF the timbers he uses, or
at least the master workmen do, or
should, and may if they will. Every
worker in metals is guided by scien-
tifc knowledge. The brewer and
the. tanner understand the chemistry
Of their arts; and so it is with all
technical trades. But the farmer, as
a rule, knows nothing of the science
of his art. Flo plows, but does not
know why his p%lowshare has a par
%ticular curve, nor does he know why
certain lines of draught cause the
pillow to II easily and do good work;
he turns the soil without knowledge
of the reason for it, he harrows in
like ignorance, and when he sows
his seed it is regardless of the ncces-
stiles of the soil for its proper ger
mination and growth. He purchases
and uses fertilizers without intelli-
gent knowledge, and wastes &his
money in ineffective use of the plant
food he buys. At least, this is the
rule, and the exceptions only make
the failures the more, conspicuous.
Agriculture is thus excessively ham
pered by this common ignorance of
the science upon which the art is
based, and the profits of the farmers
arc less than a fourth of what they
might be under a better system.
Labor and material are wasted and
the public wealth is largely reduced
in consequence. This is a public
calamity, and.it justifies tho acts Of
the government in providing means
for the education Of young farmers
by which the public interests may be
advanced. 1T is obviously tho duty
of the farmer to avail himself of tho
opportunities afforded for relief, and,
as he cannot do this in any other
way, he should see that his successor
is better provided in this respect than
he has been.
But the colleges should do their
part fully. Those in charge should
be actuated by a sense of public
duty and responsibility. This is not
always the case. Generally the pro-
~fessors are capable, energetic and
conscientious, but the officials in con-
troll are too frequently otherwise.
The funds provided are in some cases
diverted from their proper use.
Competent teachers arc hampercd
and interfercd with and leave the
college in disgust. Two cases of
this sort have recently happened in
the Southern States-one in Missouri
and the latest ono in Texas-whero
the professors have been forced to
leave because of tho interference OF
politicians, who usurp the manage
ment for base purposes. Other SINH
lar cases are known in which the
funds are used for the support of
Incompetence who have political
friends and tho offices arc sinccures.
At the same time there arc other
institutions which for some reason