The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1893-03-16

| nsneu 10 the world, but any individual
farmer wishing an ANALYSIS of any
brand of goods sold in this state. has
only TO drop me line and the knowl.
edge will be forthcoming.
In the sampling and testing of illumi-
mating oils much simpler and less diff
icult test is made. Under the present
law the inspector is only required to
make fire or explosive test. 1t is not
allowed to be stored or offered for sale
IN this state unless it is demonstrated
by the test Chat it will not explode at
12O degrees Fahrenheit. The depart
ment has no power to amply an illumi-
mating test, and req ID complaints
have reached us as to me inferior illu-
minating qualities of much of the oil
which has passed the fire test. The
defect in many cases probably arises
from the pressure of foreign matter in
the OIL notably sulphuric acid. which
is largely used in refining the crude oil.
10 meet this difficulty will require a
special act of the legislature. During
the last session of that body 1 called
| attention to this defect in the law, but
In the pressure of other matters this
was passed over. Until we have fur
Their legislation on this aubject the rem
edy must be with the people themselves.
When inferior oil is put upon you, write
to the merchant from whom you pur-
| chased and ascertain the name of the
! company manufacturing it, and also the
| inspectors name, which should be
branded in plain letters on the barrel.
AS soon as you ascertain these facts
notify me at the department. In this
way we have been able to have several
lots shipped back to the manufacturers.
and we can thus create Il decided
demand for further legislation on this
important matter.
In its educational capacity the depart
ment is further charged with the duty
OF collecting such farm statistics and
information as. when properly pre-
sented, will aid the farmers in the intel
| ligent management of their affairs. To
| say that this information will not be of
value to our farmers is to assert that no
agricultural education is necessary and
to set at naught the painstaking and
| successful investigations of such emf
nent men as DeSaussure, Sir Humphrey
| Liebig and others. But for the patient
and scientific researches of these men
we would be today cropping in darkness.
not only as to the necessary elements of
| plant food, but as to the best methods
crops. 1t was only after years of per
| picking experiment that Liebig discov-
! cred that these elements, to be effective,
| must be in soluble form, and that the
| very means he had taken to hold them
in the soil was the cause of successive
| disappointing crop results. Thanks to
| him, we now know that we might apply
| ton after ton of high grade fertilizers
and unless the elements of growth were
in soluble form, or if there was not suf-
| ficient moisture in the soil to render
| them soluble, the plants would actually
| starve to death, the elements OF life
| within their reach, but entirely unavail
| able.
The department has used every means
| in its power, through the press and
| through its monthly seports, to dissem-
mate such information as would benefit
| the farmers. but until the interest in
these questions is more widespread
| feel that much of the labor is lost. The
| Department has also contributed some
where near three-fourths of a million of
dollars to the public school fund of the
state, and this brings me to the second
branch of my subject, viz:
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.
"The Relations of Agriculture to the
| youth of our land and the Importance of
its being taught in our public schools :"
For my treatment Of this subject
am indebted to recentvery interesting
! bulletin from the Canada Department
of Agriculture, and from this l have
taken the liberty of quoting at length.
| The comparative statements I have col
lected most carefully, and their evidence
&c 10 ~
| on the affirmative side of this most i'm
portant and far-reaching question. In
| discussing the subject it naturally re-
| solves itself into three heads
Should agriculture be taught in our
| public schools?
Can it be taught?
| How can it be taught?
1st. Should it be taught?
Among the foremost of the reasons for
an affirmative answer and view of this
| question is that the large per cent. of
| our people who are engaged in agricult-
ure are dependent upon it. either di-
| rectly or indirectly. Nearly so per cent.
| OF the people of Georgia are farmers. or
are obtaining their living either directly
| or indirectly from the soil, and four
| fifths DO of the public school popula-
| ton belongs to the farms and villages.
In studying this phase of the subject
we must note one fact-that is the
/ movement citywards of our rural popu-
lation. The farmers sons and daugh-
tiers are each year being drawn towards
the towns, and as time moves on the
changes produced by this tendency are
becoming more and more'marked, and,
if not checked, will seriously affect our
prosperity. Various reasons have been
adduced to account for this fact, which
is also true of nearly every other coun-
try, except, perhaps, France, but among
the most plausible is this, that the fault
lies in the defective systems Of educa-
ton. The systems Of education NAV
not be the direct cause, but perhaps
through them something may be done
to check the exodus from the country
| to the towns. This tendency must
eventually affect our social and polti-
ical life. because as a rule it is taking
from the country its best element
those from 20 to 40 years of age-and
leaving on the farms the old and infrm
and the young and immature.
In the United States the rural popu-
lation, which was, in 1890, 1856 per
cent. of the whole, was, in $780, only
| 70, SO per cent In Georgia from 1880